Letter: Brave new world

Sir: The drive by Tony Blair to push Britain to be the leading G7 country in business to business and business to consumer transactions is both highly laudable and highly flawed.

The e-commerce@its.best.uk report fails to adequately address the huge security risks of cyberspace in credit card transactions and computer viruses.

Virus attacks can seriously threaten businesses. Consumers could find their whole computer hard drive wiped after receiving an e-mail from a known and trusted source. Indeed, it has been predicted that future wars will be fought not on the ground, but in cyberspace with electronic viruses.

The security of financial transactions has also recently been highlighted in the Credit Card Research Group's report that 1 in 10 of Net retailers' transactions are fraudulent as opposed to 1 in 200 for traditional retailers' business.

Clearly, people need to be assured of the safety of Internet transactions before venturing into cyberspace and measures need to be taken to assure their security.

Taking leadership in the area of computer security will help us to gain business and consumers confidence and help Britain make its mark in the e-commerce landscape.

JEREMY BATES

Managing Director

Panda Software

Leatherhead, Surrey