HACKERS

Gary McKinnon who hacked into US Government computers causing untold damage has lost his appeal against extradition in the House of Lords. He may be sent across the Atlantic quite soon and reports say he could be jailed for up to 60 years. Good. Personally I would be quite happy if all hackers and spammers were dealt with severely and if our police, politicians, and judges refuse to tackle the problem then they should let someone who will take over.

MINISTERIAL SECURITY

So Hazel Blears, a Cabinet minister, has had her laptop stolen from her office. Reports suggest that apart from information about her constituents there were also files of sensitive government information which should not have been on the computer. Perhaps the solution is to require that every computer belonging to an MP should carry unencrypted files detailing their expense claims for the current session of Parliament. And similarly all bags and briefcases that they carry on public transport or into public places should contain paper hard copies of same. As this is one class of data that many MPs do their utmost to keep under wraps the hope is that they would then exercise a greater degree of care.