Laws require security backing

Christopher Smith was arrested last week at Minneapolis St. Paul airport and faces allegations that he sent over one billion emails to AOL members, offering them pharmaceutical items.

In Germany, Sven Jaschan is also facing trial for creating both the Sasser and Netsky email viruses. The viruses, which were released early last year, exploited vulnerabilities in Windows and caused massive damages.

Legal experts said that they hoped more cases would be tried in the UK soon to pressure the government into new legislation.

George Gardiner, a lawyer specialising in technology, said mandatory use of more security tools by ISPs may be necessary to trace miscreants. “Sanctions are not enough – there is money to be made from spam and viruses and the two will work hand in hand. There must be a move from a purely legislative approach to one that includes technology,” he said.