Web passport 'to stop the bad guys'

Eugene Kaspersky says governments and banks need to push passport-style security technology. Photo / Supplied

Governments should crack down on cybercrime by making "digital passports" compulsory for all internet users, says the head of a fast-growing Russian computer security company.

Eugene Kaspersky, the CEO of Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab, says a $122 million New Zealand government project is an example of how the online identity authentication schemes he advocates should be kicked off.

Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy said last year the Government was committed to funding a pan-departmental secure log-on and identity verification service called igovt, first established by Internal Affairs in 2007, for at least the next two years.

The igovt scheme allows registered users of online government services to log on to various official websites with a single username and password.

Their identity is verified by entering a code sent by text message to their mobile phone, or supplied through an electronic "token".

Guy said a review of the project had concluded it could deliver value.

Spending $65 million on the log-on service over the next 10 years would result in up to $727 million in benefits while $57 million spent on the identity verification service over a decade could reap up to $646 million.

However, early take-up of the service by government agencies has been slow. Only 10 participating agencies are listed on the igovt website.

Among those making use of the service are the Department of Internal Affairs, which allows registered igovt users to order copies of birth, death and marriage certificates online.

Auckland City Council provides access to rates information and North Shore City Council allows users to pay rates bills, dog registration fees and fines through the system.

Speaking to the Herald from Australia's Gold Coast, where he has been attending an IT security conference this week, Kaspersky said while he was not familiar with the details of the New Zealand scheme, it was an example of how governments, with banks, needed to drive passport-style online security initiatives.

He said governments in Europe were also adopting the digital passport concept as they made more services available online because it was a cheaper way of delivering them.

Banks were also motivated to move more interactions with customers online, but needed to match the convenience of internet transactions with security measures robust enough to prevent fraud and cyber-terrorism.

"Banks and governments' online projects have to be drivers of future global security. Everything depends on the internet but we don't control the network really. Unfortunately there are too many bad guys."

Kaspersky said he was not advocating computer users be forced to prove who they were every time they wanted to check email or surf the web, but that some form of official identity verification should be required before someone was able to perform sensitive tasks such as banking or voting online, or even uploading files.

He acknowledged the idea was controversial.

"Many people say I'm promoting a big brother world [but] already there's no privacy on the internet for the average user. The privacy is only for professionals, especially cyber criminals. They know how to hide on the internet. They know what to do not to be harassed. What I'm talking about is a system that will stop professionals, which will stop the bad guys."

As technology-savvy criminal cartels continue to pull in millions of dollars a week through online scams and the theft of personal information such as credit card numbers and bank details, Kaspersky said the next area of focus would be data on mobile phones.

"Criminals are more and more interested in smartphones because there are more services developed for smartphones, there is more money in the smartphone world to steal, there is more information to control there."

He admitted this was good news for security companies such as Kaspersky Lab.

"In the past everyone, and every business, had to pay for anti-virus protection for their computers. Now you have to pay twice: to protect your computer and to protect your smartphone."

Since founding the company with his then wife Natalya in 1997, Kaspersky has seen the business bearing his name grow to one of the largest security software companies in the world with a turnover of US$480 million ($700 million) and 1700 staff.

He said while competition in the sector was tough, it was a large enough industry to support the large number of companies vying for business.

It was also an industry that had survived the global financial crisis relatively unscathed.

"Because of the financial crisis people postponed buying a new car or cancelled a vacation but I don't know anyone who stopped using the internet."

EUGENE KASPERSKY
* Born in Novorossiysk, USSR, in 1965.
* Graduated in 1987 from the Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications and Computer Science, an organisation co-sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Defence and the KGB.
* Co-founded security software company Kaspersky Lab with his now ex-wife Natalya Kaspersky in 1997.
* The Moscow-based company had reported revenue of US$480 million last year.