The alarming spike in the number of cybercrimes taking place globally underscores the threat posed by state and non-state actors to a country's security and stability. Cybercrimes are also one of the ways terrorists use to hack into the systems of vital corporations such as banks. Al-Riyadh daily reports on the efforts of the Kingdom's highly-qualified technical teams to counter cybercrimes and the need for the private sector to use software to keep its sensitive data private. The number of cybercrimes has sharply risen in the past few years. Trend Micro, a global leader in Internet content security and software, noted that over the past nine months around 700,000 system collapse cases have been registered in the Kingdom. Fahd Mahya, a security information consultant, supported the proposal to establish a security information agency to raise public awareness about the dangers of cybercrimes and hackers. Such an agency will unite the efforts of all concerned authorities and the public and help prevent threats posed by cyber criminals. "Our efforts to fight cybercrime should be more organized than they are now. We should learn from advanced countries that employ advanced security systems to protect themselves against such crimes. The Ministry of Education's technology curriculum is not enough and it needs to be improved. Unfortunately, most of the students have better technical knowledge than the one found in the curriculum," he noted. Lawyer Athra Al-Refaee said cybercrimes are a major threat to the security of any country but in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates face the most threats. Cybercrimes include those used to commit human trafficking, money laundering and many other illegal practices. "Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are countries facing the most cybercrime threats in the Gulf region. We should have specialized courts for these crimes and train judges to deal with such cases. The first step to fighting these crimes is to prosecute the criminals legally. Governments should set up cybercrime agencies," she explained. Cybercrimes are often committed in the Gulf region for political reasons. Some aspire to destabilize the Gulf states, or target citizens of these countries for financial gains through blackmailing. Young men make up the majority of blackmailers. They often hack into a person's computer and steal photos which they then use to blackmail the victim. Blackmailers are often difficult to track due to the unavailability of advanced systems with state agencies. Dr. Abdullah Al-Mussa, president of the Saudi Electronic University, said there are over 20 million Internet users in the Kingdom, according to data provided by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC). The number of daily victims of cybercrimes has reached 1.5 million, costing the Saudi economy SR2.8 billion. "We need to double down on our efforts against cybercrimes as they are increasing at an alarming pace and it isn't just institutions that are being targeted but ordinary citizens too," he warned.
