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Riyadh: Cyber crime is costing Saudi Arabia millions of dollars annually, said an official at the Saudi interior ministry.
Dr Abdul Rahman Al Shunaifi, the adviser in information technology (IT) security at the ministry's unit to tackle cyber crime, said that a large number of Saudis were involved in hacking.
"The last hacking case was when Saudi hackers managed to deface a page on Microsoft's UK web site, a matter that caused embarrassment to the company," the official said in press statements published yesterday.
Among the approximately six million expatriate workers in the kingdom, Al Shunaifi said that those from the Philippines, India and Bangladesh are the most commonly involved in cyber crime.
Speaking about the types of cyber crime in the kingdom, the official said that they include fraud with the use of technology and financial crimes.
Al Shunaifi underlined that importance of transparency in dealing with cases related to networks and information security systems.
Transparency
"It is important to deal in transparency when addressing cyber crime since leaving such crimes without treating and solving them in the appropriate time or without disclosing them will not solve the problem but on the contrary, it will significantly increase it," Al Shunaifi added.
Al Shunaifi indicated that advanced technologies have been developed in Saudi Arabia but they need upgrading to attaining the required levels to protect network systems.
Action: New law enacted to tackle internet crime
In March, the Saudi cabinet endorsed a new law to combat cyber crime. According to the new law, people involved in crimes such as internet hacking will be jailed for not more than a year and fined not more than 500,000 Saudi riyals.
People caught setting up websites for terrorist organisations or promoting terrorism or spreading methods of making explosives will be jailed for up to 10 years or fined up to five million Saudi riyals or both.
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