Liikanen sets out priorities on e-security
Speaking at the ISSE (Information security solutions Europe) conference in Barcelona on 29 September, Erkki Liikanen, the European Commissioner for Enterprise and the information society emphasised the need for security in e-commerce. 'Referring to the eEurope action plan, Mr Liikanen said: 'Low Internet tariffs, high speed access and common e-commerce rules are essential. But they won't be enough to secure Internet penetration levels and an e-commerce market comparable to the US. What is still missing is trust.' He went on to point out that the Commission had a role to play. 'Our first and primary task is to create a favourable legal environment to stimulate the security market,' he said. His comments come against a background of further viruses and recent research which shows that banks are not placing security very high on their agendas. The research which was carried out by Cap Gemini and Ernst and Young showed that while more online banking transactions are taking place in Europe than the US (four per cent as opposed to three per cent), cybercrime did not figure as a major concern for many European banks. For example, only four per cent of UK financial institutions in the research specified on-line security as their greatest concern.