In the last 20 years, the Internet has seen spectacular development. As a part of our daily life, it means, firstly, greater freedom. Greater freedom for the individuals who go online every day in their millions; greater freedom for businesses, who can reach global markets.

But the Internet also means greater threats to security. Fraud, bogus messages and a great deal of bank-card theft have spread rapidly through the Net. Child pornography and drug trafficking have acquired a worldwide market. Terrorism uses it as a propaganda medium and a way of establishing operational networks. We are regularly reminded of this in the news.

Our Action Plan

This is a field where action is particularly difficult: difficult because we are operating in the virtual world; difficult because techniques are evolving rapidly (I am thinking of the recent development of video on the Internet or on our mobile phones); difficult because Internet sites and the data we can access are often provided by servers sheltered in other countries.