Hackers Thriving in Kuwait

Kuwait produces the world's highest percentage of Internet hacking, said the Chairman of Kuwait Information Technology Society-organized seminar on Internet Hackers. After Communications Minister Dr. Massouma Al-Mubarak vowed to eradicate hackers, in just two day, they attacked several government department websites, he added.

Ahmed Al-Ibrahim, an Information Technology activist categorizes hackers into three groups - one that behaves as thieves of personal information, another that cracks passwords and the third that hacks as a routine activity. In Kuwait the third category is most prevalent, Al-Ibrahim added.

At times these hackers deface websites with political messages aiming the public. That shows Kuwait does not have laws to regulate hackers, said Attorney Mohammed Al-Dalaal. Since a long time the private sector has raised its voice collectively to get some government laws to restrain such crimes, Al-Dalaal highlighted.

With the growth of online communication, identity theft is also growing. Cyber criminals snatch consumers' personal data to commit identity fraud.

At present, there is only one law and two ministerial decisions to combat electronic crimes in the country. These, however, don't directly relate to hacking, Al-Dalaal noted. He also pointed that the United States were insisting and pressing Kuwait to amend the country's Intellectual Property Rights, which is evasive in many sections.

Kuwait has attempted in several ways to solve this irksome problem, still identity theft continues in full force. So does the failure to prevent cyber crime.

According to Al-Dalaal, the Ministry of Communications has directed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to establish improved security and confidentiality of information. He said, the ministry has asked the nation's ISPs to shut down websites that host unethical content. Arabtimesonline published Al-Dalaal's statement in news on March 8, 2007.

He praised the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) for trying hard to get through the Electronic Transactions Law. He added that the concerned authorities should approve the law as quickly as possible.

With regard to break-into information of private organizations, Jassem Al-Mutawa, former member of the e-Government Committee said, private companies were suffering immense loss as a result of hackers' misconduct. Arabtimesonline published Al-Mutawa's views on March 8, 2007.

Related article: Hackers Redirect Windows Live Search to Malicious Sites

» SPAMfighter News - 3/21/2007