Cybercrime experts from around the world are meeting in Europe this week to discuss how governments should counter attacks aimed at crippling the Internet and hitting users with data loss, identity theft and fraud.
Taking the lead in the fight against computer-related crime is Estonia, the Internet-savvy Baltic country that came under a wave cyber attacks last year that paralyzed many of its businesses and institutions.
A conference by the Council of Europe in France yesterday and today will review the implementation of the Convention on Cybercrime, the only legally binding international treaty to address online crime.
It also will discuss new guidelines for cooperation between police and investigators and Internet service providers in the fight against crime in cyberspace.
Separately, NATO's summit in Romania beginning today will debate the organization's own guidelines for coordinating national cyber defense efforts.
The Council of Europe convention -- which helps protect computer users against hackers and Internet fraud -- has been signed by 43 countries, mostly from Europe but also including the US, Japan and Canada. The convention also covers offenses involving electronic evidence such as child sexual exploitation, organized crime and terrorism.
Tiny Estonia has been active in battling cybercrime since attacks last year, which it blamed on Russia, seriously affected its economy because so much of it was dependent upon the Internet.
Russian officials deny involvement in the cyber onslaught, which erupted during violent protests by ethnic Russians against the decision to move a Soviet-era Red Army monument out of downtown Tallinn.
As a result of the attacks, government institutions, mass media and private banks were forced to deny access to their Web sites to users outside Estonia. Estonians who were traveling abroad, for instance, were suddenly unable to access their bank accounts.
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