Internet firms urged to tackle cyber "Wild West"

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Internet companies, retailers and the government must do far more to protect people from the dangers of the "lawless Wild West" of cyberspace, an influential group of MPs said on Friday.

In a critical report, the MPs said the government and industry have a "laissez-faire" approach to online crime that could lead to an "economically disastrous" loss of public confidence in the Internet.

With computer fraud growing more sophisticated, people have little hope of protecting themselves alone, the House of Lords' Science and Technology Committee said.

"You can't just rely on individuals to take responsibility for their own security," said committee Chairman Lord Broers. "They will always be outfoxed by the bad guys."

Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing criminal activities, not just in Britain, and includes a huge range of illegal activity including financial scams, computer hacking, downloading pornographic images, virus attacks, stalking by e-mail and creating websites that promote racial hatred.

The lawmakers said that industry -- from software makers and Internet service providers to banks and shops -- must do far more to protect customers.

And they criticised the government for insisting that responsibility for security rests with Internet users, who are often faced with a "bewildering" set of options.

"This is no longer realistic, and compounds the perception that the Internet is a lawless 'Wild West'," the report said.