Crime Expert Backs Call For "License To Compute"

The Cable Guy writes to mention that Russel Smith, one of Australia's principal criminologists, is pushing for first-time computer users to be required to earn a license to browse the web. "The Australian Computer Society launched computer driver's licenses in 1999. It aimed to give users a basic level of competency before they started using PCs. But the growth in cybercrime has led to IT security experts such as Eugene Kaspersky to call for more formalized recognition of a user's identity so they can travel the net safely. Last week Dr. Smith sat in front of a Federal Government Inquiry into cybercrime and advised Australia's senior politicians on initiatives in train to fight cybercrime. He said that education was secondary to better technology solutions."

Comments

Get break tags for PCs

[mysidia]

Seriously... just licensing the user won't do any good if their PC is already infected.

We need mandatory periodic inspections of workstation PCs. Every 30 days, the user should have to upload an antivirus report that indicates 8 things to keep their "PC break tag" current, and loss of currency means the PC will be illegal to operate, and law enforcement will be sent to collect the errant workstation:

1. The system security configuration is proper, and meets a standard. (No open proxies, no open ports)
2. System was booted from an Antivirus boot CD (so software on the system can't run or interfere with AV detection process, using an approved AV product
3. AV patterns were fully up to date
4. A full scan was made
5. The results indicate no malware.
6. The system was rebooted, and it was verified an approved AV and anti-malware product running on the system
7. The full scan was repeated on the live system, with successful completion and no malware found
8. AV and antimalware patterns were verfied to be up-to-date, and real-time protection was enabled

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Computers ARE dangerous! As our great God-King er, I mean President seems to believe - so our Senators are feverishly (and secretly) working to grant him emergency powers to shut them down. Phew! Good thing we didn't elect that idiot Palin or she'd be trying to find some way to control our computer usage or just take them away.
The ideas we saw today coming from our Senate and White House are making me feel much better!

Re:WTF?

[ImYourVirus]

Yeah because strangers in a college late at night should have the right not to be questioned about who they are, yeah or maybe you should have read the fine print before you came on the campus, note as well it is private property. Their land, their rules, I see nothing wrong with the person asking who you were, maybe if you weren't an asshole or lied to them they wouldn't have given you any shit. The right attitude will get you a lot further than the wrong one will.