The Australian government has been criticised for using the fear generated by the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US to push through the controversial Cybercrime Bill last night.

-Overall, it seems the Government is using the fear generated by the US tragedy to push through changes to the law," Greg Taylor of civil liberties group Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA), told ZDNet Australia.

"The Australian Labour Party seem to have caved in on the Bill, making reference to the acts of terrorism on the US and the changing climate of cyberterrorism," Taylor said. However, as he points out there is no reason why cyberterrorism should be related to the September 11 terrorist attacks, other than unsubstantiated claims the terrorists may have used email communication or encryption techniques to disguise information distributed over the Internet.

-There seems to be a climate of general paranoia without really looking behind the statements being made," Taylor said, adding that the Government was creating -massive concern" out of -unrelated issues" in order to push the Bill through.

In a statement, Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Chris Ellison, commented on the new laws to combat -cybercrime and terrorism" and said the recent events in the US highlighted the necessity of having laws and policing powers to investigate cybercrimes, and to prevent incidents of cyberterrorism.

-The new laws contained in the Cybercrime Act 2001 will cover computer crimes such as hacking, denial of service attacks, spreading computer viruses and Web site vandalism that not only damage commercial businesses but could also threaten our national security," Senator Ellison said.

-Previously if a terrorist attack had been carried out on Australia's national information infrastructure police did not have the power to compel suspects to assist in an investigation of complex computer systems protected by passwords or encryption, or to conduct searches on-line across different locations."

-The new investigation powers contained in the Act will give police the power to move computer equipment and disks off site to undertake expert searches, to search hard drives stored at multiple locations and compel a computer owner to assist police with their inquiries."

However, of concern to EFA is the lack of expertise within the Australian Federal Police and National Crime Authority to handle the Bill.

Indeed, ZDNet recently reported that there are only nine Australian Federal Police forensic investigators countrywide to cover cybercrime.

"You have to wonder whether they are in a position to understand or make effective use of the Bill," Taylor said.

Taylor also expressed concern that the Act was rushed through -amongst a raft of other Bills" before Parliament breaks up. "A Bill of this nature should be properly debated," he said.

According to Taylor, the drafters of the Bill haven't got down to the -nitty-gritty" of what the law actually means, in effect criminalising actions meant to protect networks and raising concerns for members of the security consultant community.

For example, the Bill enforces the release of encryption keys and doesn't take into consideration what would happen if an individual was unable to produce that key, if they had forgotten it for example.

-The way the law reads it would mean six months imprisonment, no questions asked," Taylor said.

Senator Ellison said that under the new laws, sentences have also been increased, with the maximum penalty contained in the Act raised to 10 years imprisonment.

He said the US Attorney General has indicated that the US is currently considering the introduction of news laws to combat cyberterrorism similar to those passed here in Australia.

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