Differing Views on Cyber Crime

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the executive board of the DISEC
An interview conducted by Al Jazeera with the delegate of India revealed that despite the fact that India as a country is clear on what cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism is, the delegate seems to take the matter with a surprisingly light nature. India has the largest group or community of ‘white hat hackers’. Many of these white hat hackers have been integrated into the government and major companies under the claim that they are present for defensive purposes only.
Looking at the above-stated facts one might think that India takes cyber-crimes seriously but this hypothesis is debunked later in the interview. The delegate of India preposterously claimed that majority of cyber-attacks can be waved off by a nominal penalty fee two lack rupees coupled with a jail sentence of about two years. Even in the most severe cases of cyber-crime such as large-scale theft and selling sensitive government information to opposing countries, the penalty fee will not increase by a sufficient amount.

As a case study, take the Bangladesh bank heist. Here, eighty-one million USD was stolen from an official bank in Bangladesh by an unauthorised and unaffiliated group of hackers. Now, applying the delegate of India’s ideas on cyber-crime punishment, this group of hackers(let’s say they were caught and found guilty) will receive a jail sentence of say three to five years at max along with a penalty of say five lacks which translate to about seven thousand and seventy dollars. This means that the unauthorised hacking group pays lesser than nine per cent of the total amount stolen. If the delegate’s ideas are truly put into practice, crime would be a very viable option despite the five year sentence. To put this in perspective, a cyber-criminal would live a more lavish life in comparison to a doctor (not counting the five years).

An interview with the delegate of Qatar showed that Qatar takes cyber-crime much more seriously. Though Qatar too is relatively new to this modern problem of cyber-crime and cyber terrorism, the government of Qatar has given the safety and integrity of its citizens the utmost priority. While for menial crimes - such as terrorist propaganda, or defacement of public domains – are awarded with a sentence of around 3 years and a fine that can reach to 500,000 QR (around 137,000 USD), a more serious cyber crime – such as fraud and forgery against the government – can land the perpetrator a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of 1,000,000 QR (around 270,000 USD). Law number 11 of 2004, the penal code may be applicable for certain extreme cyber crimes. Such crimes are severely looked down upon by the Qatari government and are also applicable for the fine of a million Qatari Rials. Finally, the penalties will be doubled, if the crime is committed or facilitated by a public official who misused his/her position and power. The Qatari government has shown more dedication, sincerity, determination, and duty towards the people of Qatar by promising to crackdown with severity on these “cyber criminals”.

Different countries are reacting in different ways to the new menace of this modern age. Never before have faced such a problem in our society. And so far no country has successfully managed to come up with a sure shot method of stopping and tracking these criminals down. As technology evolves, the intelligence of these criminals will increase. Countries need to ramp up their countermeasures in the cyber space if they are to create a safe and secure internet for their citizens. Only time will tell whether the cyber space threat will be resolved or will reduce our societies to chaos.

debate in the DISEC over cyber terrorism
Al Jazeera
DISEC
(Analysis)

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