Cybersecurity conference battles cybercrime; you can help!

Internet and computer security experts, including Consumer Reports' Technology Editor Jeff Fox, gather in Washington D.C. to discuss online crime and threats. Click on this image to download Jeff Fox's presentation (Adobe Acrobat required) to this online security coalition.

Today, the Anti-Spyware Coalition is holding its fifth annual public workshop in Washington, DC., where software experts, government officials, and public-interest advocates will discuss ways to better fight malware and cybercrime.

I'll be presenting a keynote at roughly 9:45 AM (EDT), highlighting what Consumer Reports has learned from our just-published investigation of cybercrime and our 2009 State of the Net survey.

You can also download a PDF of my PowerPoint presentation here. You can view a webcast of all the morning presentations (including mine) at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/CDT-TV

As our reports of recent years have shown, despite vigorous efforts by law enforcement and security software companies to combat cybercrime, it continues to flourish to the tune of billions of dollars in consumer losses every year.

At today's conference the Center for Democracy and Technology will announce a new effort, called the Chain of Trust Initiative, to coordinate the efforts of groups fighting cybercrime.

While I applaud this move, I remain a tad skeptical about how effectively it will bring to heel the massive worldwide criminal enterprise that stalks Internet users.

The conference will also take on the issue of who should be primarily responsible for tackling the spread of malware: security companies, webmasters, hosting companies, or enforcement agencies?

Other sessions later in the day will look at how cybercrime might be fought by attacking its economic bases; stalker software that lets people spy on others; bogus anti-spyware\ products; and "malvertising," a technique through which online ads install malware.

I'll be blogging as these sessions take place, so be sure to check back here for my take on what's going down and what it means to you the consumer.

If all this talk about cybercrime has you spooked, take refuge at our free Online Security Guide, where you can learn how easy it is to protect yourself online.

What do you think it will take to curb cybercrime? Which will be more effective, providing better funding for law enforcement, or putting more effort into educating online consumers how to protect themselves? Or something else entirely?

We'd like to hear your ideas about how to best fight this scourge, including how you think we at Consumer Reports can most help in this battle. —Jeff Fox