Doha: Qatar has established a solid legislative basis for the prevention of cybercrime and has established specialised bodies to achieve and ensure the prosecution of offenders. Cybercrime has become one of the crimes that threaten not only individuals but also various state institutions, said an official during an event, recently.
The Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) in association with the Economic and Cyber Crimes Prevention Department organised a webinar entitled ‘Cyber Crimes and Methods of Prevention’.
First Lieutenant Jassim, Economic and Cyber Crimes Prevention Department of MoI, shed light on raising awareness among community members about the protection from cybercrimes. He said, “To protect yourself from cyber extortion – use strong passwords, keep continuous backups, update your systems and applications, and turn on multi-factor authentication.”
“We advise you to not deal with phishing messages through which fraudsters try to blackmail victims into cybercrimes. The awareness and attention to the emerging forms of crime enhance your security and safety,” he added.
Speaking about how to protect email from theft and piracy First Lieutenant noted that always perform a two-step verification process to secure email access. Additional security measures should be set up in the e-mail such as a phone number and a back e-mail. Do not open links from untrusted sources; use updated security tools on computers, such as anti-virus programs and firewalls; do not open suspicious or anonymous attachments in e-mail; personal information should not be disclosed by e-mail such as name and credit card number, date of birth and address.
He added “We recommend securing your email by changing its password periodically and making sure it is a combination of upper and lower case letters, digits and symbols so that it can withstand hackers’ cracking techniques. The cooperation of all civil society institutions is necessary in order to confront cybercrime. There is a great duty on all public and private institutions to play their role towards society in the areas of awareness and education.”
The official explained about protecting credit cards from theft and privacy. “Personal information should not be disclosed by e-mail such as name and credit card number; non-disclosure of the credit card PIN number to anyone, regardless of his level of importance; you should always try to memorise the card’s PIN number and avoid writing it and if the payment is made in a restaurant or anywhere you must ask the staff there to bring the mobile payment device and not to give him the card and password.”
“Also, must make sure to use safe and trusted sites when using the card and not to purchase from fake or unknown sites. The bank must be directly informed in case of discovering any fraud and theft and then a complaint should be filed at the Economic and Electronic Crime Prevention Department, he added.
First Lieutenant also elaborated on how parents can block inappropriate websites for children “phone or computers should not be left with children unattended. All the latest phones come with ‘Kids Mode’, where most harmful content is automatically blocked for children. Parental Control applications can be applied in children’s phones to filter harmful content.”
“Being close to children and getting involved in choosing the appropriate video games for them helps avoid the risks of online gaming as children’s safety is a shared responsibility,” he said.
The official also warned about penalties for cybercrimes in Qatar. The penalties in Law No. 14 of 2014, the Cyber Crime Prevention Law in the country vary according to the offense including imprisonment and fines.
