US failing to prosecute online criminals

A report by the Center for American Progress and the Center for Democracy and Technology has found there is too little action being taken against online criminals despite rising consumer concern about online safety.

The report found that state officials were spending only 40 per cent of case time investigating online fraudsters, preferring instead to concentrate on higher profile solicitation and pornography cases.

Only 8.9 percent of investigation involved data security, confidential records, or identity theft, and 15.5 per cent involved online sales and services, such as failure to deliver on a purchase. Over the past three years state attorneys general brought only 11 cases against spyware purveyors, despite spyware costing an estimates $1.7bn in losses.