Americans support government intervention to stop cyber-crime, study says

May 1, 2001 12:00 PM

Fifty-four percent of Americans approve of the idea of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) monitoring the emails of individuals suspected of Internet crimes, according to a study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

The “Fear of Online Crime” study conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based research center points out that Americans are concerned about criminal activity on the Internet and support actions taken by the government to halt such crimes.

Eighty-seven percent of Americans say they are concerned about credit card theft online; 82 percent are concerned about how organized terrorists can wreak havoc with Internet tools; 80 percent fear that the Internet can be used to commit wide-scale fraud; and 78 percent fear hackers getting access to government computer networks, web sites and files, according to a telephone survey of 2,096 adults conducted by the research center.

Forty-five percent of the respondents who have heard of Carnivore say it will allow the FBI a new way to track criminals.

Overall, 73 percent of survey respondents say they are concerned about criminals using the Internet to plan and carry out crimes and 43 percent say they are “very concerned” with criminals using the Internet.

The study also reveals that 76 percent of the respondents fear hackers getting access to business networks and 70 percent are anxious about criminals or pranksters sending out computer viruses that alter or wipe out personal computer files.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 25 percent of Internet users have had their computer infected by a virus, most likely from an email message.

The fear of cyber-crime has opened the door up for the government to spy on individuals suspected of committing cyber-crimes. Only 34 percent of respondents do not support the FBI's right to monitor a criminal suspect's email.

The results are surprising considering that many Americans have expressed a growing distrust of the government. Only 31 percent of Americans say they trust the government to do the right thing most of the time or all the time. According to the Pew Internet project, that figure is down from 41 percent in 1988.

Fifty-six percent of the respondents approve of the FBI or law enforcement agencies intercepting telephone calls to and from people suspected of criminal activity. Fifty-five percent of the respondents approve of the FBI or law enforcement agencies intercepting letters and packages sent by mail to and from people suspected of criminal activities.

But despite the willingness of participants in the survey to let law enforcement agencies intercept suspects' email, they also support the general idea that new laws should be written to cover how law enforcement agencies monitor email. Only 14 percent of the survey participants say the laws that relate to intercepting telephone calls are good enough to cover Internet communications.

Sixty-two percent of the survey participants say new laws should be written to make sure that ordinary citizens' privacy is protected from government agencies.

According to the survey, Internet users are more sensitive than non-users to potential breaches of their online privacy, and more users than non-users support the writing of new laws. Seventy percent of Internet users say that new laws need to be written to protect online privacy. Fifty-five percent of non-Internet users say new laws are needed.

Among the respondents who have heard about the FBI's email sniffing program called “Carnivore,” there is much more evenly divided opinion. Forty-five percent of the respondents who have heard of Carnivore say it is good because it will allow the FBI a new way to track down criminals. Another 45 percent say Carnivore is bad because it could be used to read the emails of ordinary citizens.

FBI officials say Carnivore is a vital surveillance device, especially because a growing number of criminals are using the Internet to communicate and to commit crimes online.

For more information about the “Fear of Online Crime” study, contact the Pew Internet and American Life Project at (202) 296-0019.

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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