The Cyber Terrorism Act - can it work?

If you assume all this, then Home Secretary Jack Straw's Terrorism Act 2000 looks quite good.

However, what may ultimately prove sad is that there are good intentions here, but as with most government legislation to do with anything remotely high-tech, it is several layers too removed to get to the heart of a problem.

Terrorism is a real threat, both virtually and in the world at large. There are those out there intent on intimidating people, committing acts of violence and disruption. Quite rightly they should be dealt with. But how can it be proved that the teenager who managed to hack into Bank XY of Z has a religious, political or ideological cause?

(By the way, couldn't it be argued all hackers have some kind of ideological cause? Would protesting against GM foods on a supermarket website constitute a serious threat? Would such a hacker be dealt with in the same manner as an IRA terrorist?)

This Act is too young, too vague and too wide in its scope to act as any sort of deterrent. In the meantime, companies must continue to take responsibility for their own security policies. Only they know their internal vulnerabilities and how to protect themselves.

And only the legal system will be in a position to differentiate real terrorist threats from the pranks that we've come to live with.