Lord Broers: chair of the committee
That's one of the more controversial suggestions bandied around in the new report into internet security from the House of Lords Science & Technology select committee, which I've written about today.
Much of the report is dedicated to discussing the government's stance, and the policing situation - but they do mention the possibility that software vendors, banks and other organisations could be held increasingly liable for security breaches.
Unsurprisingly, that's gone down like a lead balloon in the tech industry.
The Confederation of British Industry said that "increased liabilities on ISPs and software providers need to be treated with caution. Such catch-all legislation to address personal security is not guaranteed to work in the fast-evolving landscape of the Internet."
Meanwhile Nick Kalisperas of IT trade body Intellect told me that he was also concerned by this: "We're very supportive of the report and its recommendations. But one area which is cause for serious concern is the idea of placing liability for security breaches on technology companies. We don't buy a car and then expect the manufacturer to pay up when it gets broken into."
In that way, I can certainly see there's a strong argument that we should be able to take action against, say, a bank which fails to protect its customers. But what about the people who make the software on your computer? Should you be able to sue a company for failing to protect you from online crime?
