By  Emeka Aginam, who was in Bonn, Germany

While cyber crime continues to cause more  economic harm than good in the global community, especially in  the   banking sector,  experts   at the just concluded Global Media Forum held last week in Bonn, Germany have called for  international cooperation to battle cybercrime threatening global community .

The Head of NASSCOM Security Initiatives, Data Security Council of India,   Kamlesh Bajaj who led other experts during a panel discussion about “security leaks in cross_border data flows”  said that computers are the newest weapons of terrorism in the knowledge economy.

While warning on the impending dangers this may pose to the global community,  he said that the  signs of an arms race with digital weapons are intensifying by the day, adding that something must be done by world bodies to deal with the ugly trend.

Looking at the situation in India , he said that  attacks to tourist centers in Bombay in November 2008, for instance,  were only possible with the help of mobile and information technology.

The attacks showed  how terrorism has developed and just how difficult it is to develop and coordinate the security measures needed to fend off such threats.” He went on to say that small, “digital militias” and cyber pirates need just a few resources to inflict heavy damage and the attackers remain anonymous.

Bajaj said that sensitive and confidential data is flowing by the day  even from banks and companies, hospitals and insurance providers, from industrialized Countries to computer centers in developing countries.

He pointed out that, just  as in India , this form of outsourcing has turned into a $50 billion industry – with several serious security breeches.
Bajaj said that as long as the dependence on transnational data exchange increases, the necessity to protect against data access and abuse – like phishing, viruses, Trojan horses or hacker attacks – increase as well.

Plugging the existing security leaks, he said, is a critical international task.
More than 1,000 participants from 100 countries are discussing conflict prevention in the multimedia age at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.

It would be recalled that, since 2008 the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum takes place regularly in Bonn . The main agenda items change but the event will always address ways to cope with challenges and developments whose course is largely influenced by media worldwide.

The target group is both international and inter-disciplinary. Media representatives from around the world, high_profile experts of inter_governmental and non_governmental organizations, politicians, artists, entrepreneurs and scientists sit around the same table at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. A simple philosophy drives the initiative