Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Wednesday underlined the need for governments and law enforcement agencies to develop a culture of cooperation to deal with cyber terrorism and asked lawmakers to push governments to take active note of the emerging threat.

Addressing the 57th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference on 'Technological Threats to International, National and Personal Security', Kumar pointed out that the increasing dependence of human race on technology also makes it more vulnerable to technology attacks.

"Parliamentarians must encourage governments across the world to create a culture of collaboration and cooperation among the law enforcement and investigation agencies in order to create a common platform for better understanding of emerging technologies and for sharing best practices, especially in the context of protecting vital information infrastructure and sensitive networking systems," she said.

She said terrorists have access to the same technology which is used for the benefit of mankind and have shifted their activities to cyber space leading to what is called cyber terrorism along with other related types of threats.

Therefore, "threats to the safety and security of the state and its subjects also increase manifold". In this regard, she opined that laws to deal with threats emanating from technologies must be based on best international practices.

Contending that laws to deal with threats emanating from technology must be based on best international practices, she rued the fact that not much progress has been achieved on a global level in creating a uniform legal framework to deal with cyber crimes.

Convergence of computers and network has further revolutionised the way we communicate with each other and has led to the birth of cyber space which poses challenges to the security at the international, national and personal level in various ways," the speaker said.

She felt that cyberspace facilitates anonymity and pseudonymity, enabling persons to acquire new digital personalities in cyberspace, and conceal their identities. Since identification of offenders is essential for imposing criminal law, serious problems are faced in fixing criminal liability, she said.

She said cyber terrorist acts could cripple and disrupt critical infrastructure of the communities so that citizens are denied their basic needs like electricity, gas, communication facilities which will create panic and could lead to a breakdown of law and order.

"Cyber tools can be used by terrorists to disrupt the communication networks which will have far reaching ramifications for aviation, rail and other transport services. Global financial markets are networked and any disruption will result in stock markets crashes which will be disastrous for the global economy. Thus terrorist can use cyber tools to threaten international security," Kumar said.

Kumar said the menace is from various manifestations of technological threats that seek to destabilise social systems and endanger national security and personal security alike, and the real issue is how to ensure security from technological threats.

"It is in accordance with this that India enacted the Information Technology Act 2000 and amended subsequently in 2008, to address the new challenges posed by cyberspace," she said.

She hoped that the deliberations at the Conference would throw more light on the issues involved and generate a greater perspective in order to impress respective Governments on the need for a collective approach and common framework of cooperation.