According to the Brazilian Federal Police, Brazil is a significant player in Internet crime. Out of every group of 10 hackers, 8 of them are probably from Brazil. And besides that, two-thirds of all pedophilia pages on the internet originate in Brazil.
As might be expected, the survey also found that in Brazil internet crimes, such as financial fraud, are more profitable nowadays than bank robberies.
The fight against cybernetic crime has brought together some 500 specialists from 20 countries at an international conference here in Brasilia (1ª Conferência Internacional de Perícias em Crimes Cibernéticos).
The main idea at the event, which runs until September 16, is to provide incentives for research and scientific development to be used in investigating and punishing internet crime.
Paulo Quintiliano, a criminal expert who is coordinating the conference, says that Internet crime is a growth industry and that it is not always easy to find the criminals.
“Sometimes information can be stored abroad and we have to rely on international cooperation. But we maintain international contacts for this purpose,” he said.
Quintiliano says there has been a disturbing rise in cases of sexual exploitation of minors on the Internet.
Quinitiliano reports that in Brazil a federal Appeals Court has ruled that internet crimes are federal offenses.
The subcommission on pedophilia and child pornography at Brazil’s Secretatiat of Human Rights is drawing up a national plan to deal with the problem of Internet pedophilia.
“We need specific policies so we can coordinate action by the government and civil society to control this problem,” says Alexandre Reis, who coordinates the subcommission.
One proposal under study is a plan to improve the notification of denouncements so more reliable statistics on the problem of sexual abuse of minors can be obtained.
The subcommission consists of representatives of the government, civil society and international organizations.
In 2002, the Brazilian business sector invested US$ 102 million to combat hackers. The previous year they had invested US$ 75 million in electronic transaction security.
“Investments in computer security rise annually, in direct proportion to the growth of attacks by hackers,” an official at Embratel.
The Network Studies Center (Cert) reports that in 2000 there were 20,000 hacker attacks, and 50,000 in 2001.
Agência Brasil