‘Cybercrimes most serious phenomenon in modern era, we need to double effort’
Cooperation vital to make people secure: US envoy
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 11, (KUNA): Considered one of the most serious crimes of the modern era, cybercrimes require a double effort to be addressed, Deputy Director of Kuwait Institute for Judicial and Legal Studies Dr Fahad Abu Sulaib said.
This came in a speech delivered by Abu Sulaib Sunday at the opening of the institute’s four-day workshop entitled: “Investigations and Trials of Internet Crimes”, in cooperation with the Public Prosecution and the US Embassy in the country.
This workshop is important specially from the international point of view, which is witnessing a profound transformation in various regions of the world, mainly in international concern about increasing cyber security and the changes imposed on daily life of citizens and their repercussions, he said.
For his part, US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman said in his speech, “enhancing cyber security cooperation is not only a priority of your government, but of the US Embassy. We see cooperation in cyber security to be a real growth area for our bilateral collaboration to make our peoples more secure.”
The cyber world is one that consistently creates investigative challenges, both by virtue of its rapid development and because it is expansive field, upon which malign influences can operate, he added.
“Social media platforms provide unprecedented opportunities for the free exchange of ideas,” he said, but many users do not understand that the platforms allow malicious actors to deceive them by launching vast influence operations, and this no doubt, creates many crimes and victims looking user as prosecutors for justice.
“Your role is critical because malicious use of technology cannot be deterred without having a credible capacity to impose punishment for committing fraud, hacking into information systems, stealing data, and disabling computer systems,” Silverman confirmed.
It is impossible to employ criminal enforcement tools without first identifying the perpetrators, whether they are ordinary criminals, transnational organized criminal organizations, or those acting on behalf and at the direction of hostile governments who choose to engage in criminal activity, he said.
This phenomenon is not anecdotal. Recently the US Department of Justice prosecuted an individual who had been radicalized online and used social media to recruit and train others to plan and carry out attacks against the United States in the name of ISIS.
This workshop provides an opportunity to share experiences with these challenges and provide some insight into overcoming the impediments of complex cyber investigations, he added.
“To defeat malicious actors we must collaborate, we must share information and we must educate ourselves to be better equipped to address the national security threats posed to each of our countries by these criminal elements,” he said.
KUWAIT CITY, Feb 11: US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman warned of the dangers of using social media to support terrorism, stressing that cooperation in the field of electronic security is a priority for Kuwait and the United States of America, reports Al-Rai daily.
He highlighted this in a speech he delivered at the launch of the Best Practices in Cybercrime Workshop, which was organized by the US Department of Justice, Kuwait’s Public Prosecution and Kuwait Institute for Judicial Studies.
Ambassador Silverman said, “We cannot discuss the challenges of investigating cybercrimes without acknowledging that social media is used as a fundraising vehicle for terrorist activities, like the DAESH group in Syria. It is now possible to collect donations through social media rather than face-to-face. Sympathetic donors can avoid the danger of personal meeting with the use of a simple and distant hashtag”
On the sidelines of the workshop, he reiterated his country’s appreciation for Kuwait’s ongoing efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis. The ambassador said, “We do not see a breakthrough yet in this crisis”, stressing the need for the GCC unity to be strong.