The Maltese people are generally averse to security systems, one simply has to look at the way people are left to enter parliament just by saying that they are going to meet such and such, IT and Investments Minister Austin Gatt stressed yesterday.

He was making the point at the closing of a session of the National Information Society Advisory Council, that a significant improvement of security levels in the information and communications sector requires a culture change and not merely infrastructure. The theme of the seminar was security in the electronic field.

Yesterday’s session concluded that a permanent eCrime Working Group, which will be responsible for continuing the discussion, should be set up. The working group will treat the points raised during yesterday’s session in more detail and will also formulate an action plan.

The starting point of an effective security system starts from the people, he reiterated. “Having said this there is another element which must be considered when discussing security – the financial aspect,” he added. He said that it is no secret that “up until recently use of pirated software in the public sector was widespread, something which is now history. However,” he pointed out, “this came at a cost as will be the case for a similar transition in the private sector.”

Turning to the police, he said that there was generally a lack of awareness about ICT in the corps, qualifying that he was not making reference to, what he called, the understaffed Cyber Crime unit, but to the corps in general.

In this context he mentioned the need to update the legislation relevant to cyber crimes, which although it cannot be said to be outdated, nonetheless, requires revisions. Furthermore, he said that the Cyber Crime unit must see an increase in its complement.

The advisory council provides a unique opportunity to have all the stake holders in the ICT sector around one table throwing ideas, upon which policy can later be developed. Concluding he made reference to the consultation paper on the introduction of the Internet Protocol version six infrastructure, saying that he hoped that a wide range of stake holders took part in this debate and not just from the public and academic sectors. The private sector must participate in this discussion, he stressed.

Minister Gatt also announced the setting up of a 24-hour hotline which people can call to report certain abuses on the internet.