The figure was revealed by former High Court judge Nazhat Shameem in her paper on cybercrime presented at the attorney general’s conference.
She said computer fraud, illegal access, data interference, copyright violations and child pornography were all great income earners.
“A Web site which uses child pornography can be the source of downloading in a hundred different countries at the same time, all with different cyber-policing regimes,” Shameem said.
“These contribute to the profitability of cybercrime. A good income earner, difficult to police, and unlikely to be the subject of extradition.
“The Internet is a child pornographer’s paradise.”
Shameem said developing countries like Fiji suffered greatly from these constraints.
“Without strong laws and e-policing, it becomes a disincentive for e-businesses to set up shop in developing countries because of an inability to protect customers and guarantee privacy of financial information,” she said.
She revealed that Fiji had included computer offences in the 2009 Crimes Decree.
She said this was vital as the criminalizing of cyber misconduct was not just about punishing those who used computers to act unlawfully, but also about protecting the integrity of national communication technology to ensure dependability, security and confidentiality.
“Further, because cyber space knows no boundaries. Cybercrime and its policing is also about protecting the integrity of international communication systems,” Shameem said.
She said policing of cybercrime also raised the issues of privacy, dependability of data, pornography, racism, hate speeches and illegal gambling.
“The Internet has to a huge degree changed the way things operate. People bank on the net, shop on the net, and use internet effectively in their lives. We have to remember that people who use the internet to commit criminal offences because they can and they can get away with it,” Shameem said.
