Addressing the Australian High Tech Crime Conference, organized by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Sydney on Tuesday, the AFP Commissioner Tony Negus said that in spite of the disquieting increase in the rate of online crime, the international cyber laws have remained “relatively static.”

Calling the threat of cyber crime a grim problem for computer users, Negus further added that the largely unchanged legal framework pertaining to cyber crime helped international criminals operate in countries in which it is difficult to track them.

Noting that cyber criminals “do not recognize jurisdictional borders,” Negus said: “We live in a world where the global nature of technology enables criminals to exploit victims in a transnational environment;” and exploit technology to commit traditional crimes as well as new crimes.

Negus also said that the cyber criminals are “increasingly sophisticated” in their endeavors, and called for the creation of legislation that would not only have the provision of constant evolution, but would also encompass future changes in technology.

Drawing attention to the fact that child exploitation and theft are two of the most worrying aspects of high-tech crime, Negus said that the police always strive to stay ahead in terms of catching-up with most of the Internet-related crimes. 

Adding that police officials do a number of things “pro-actively,” Negus revealed that the AFP had officers seconded to Microsoft and employed specialists like social networking experts to combat cyber crime.