People should be protected from e-crime and it is time the internet ‘Wild West’ was better policed, says a new report from a House of Lords committee,

The report from the Lords Science and Technology Committee branded the net as a ‘playground for criminals’.

“We are firm believers in the internet,” said chair of the committee, Lord Broers. “It is a huge force for good. But it relies on the confidence of millions of users. At the moment it seems that the internet is increasingly perceived as a sort of 'Wild West', outside the law. People are said to fear e-crime more than mugging. That needs to change, or else confidence in the internet could be destroyed.”

He added: “You can't just rely on individuals to take responsibility for their own security. They will always be out-foxed by the bad guys. We feel many of the organisations profiting from internet services now need to take their share of the responsibility. That includes the IT industry and the software vendors, the banks and internet traders, and the internet service providers.”

The report calls on the Government to create a central unit responsible for dealing with e-crime incidents as well as the introduction of a BSI-approved kite mark for secure ISPs and services.

It also calls for more research into e-crime here and, controversially, a measure where hardware and software makers could be made legally liable for damaging security flaws.

Download the full report here.