Doha steps up fight against cyber crime

Published: Sunday, 6 July, 2008, 02:04 AM Doha Time

By Sadeq Mohamed

Maj Gen Khulaifi ... pledge
QATAR is determined to fight cyber crime and keep the online services offered by the government as well as other institutions safe, the chief of the country’s public security has said.
“Though Qatar is under the focus of cyber crooks, the Interior Ministry has foiled many of their plots during the last two years and brought the perpetrators to justice,” Major General Saad Jassem al-Khulaifi said.
In an interview to the Arrayah Arabic daily, he said the Interior Ministry had been stepping up its efforts for combating cyber crime, which he called as the most serious security challenge facing his department.
“We know that Qatar’s booming economy and open door policy have made it a target for cyber crooks,” he said. “Because of this, it is our responsibility to keep abreast of the new methods they resort to in their malicious activities and arm ourselves with the related technologies to fight them.
“We have already foiled many of their schemes during the last two years and brought the perpetrators to book. Investigations have showed that these criminals belonged to organised groups.”
Asked about the challenges posed by the sudden rise in the country’s population, Major General al-Khulaifi admitted that the influx of expatriates had an impact on the types and rates of crimes in Qatar.
“Undoubtedly, the large number of foreigners entering the country on a daily basis has affected the crime rate and led to the emergence of new types of crimes,” he said.
“Some 5,000 newcomers enter Qatar through the Doha airport every day while a good number of foreigners also enter the country through the Abu Samra border post,” he said.
“The Interior Ministry is very keen on upgrading all its security departments, especially the Criminal Investigation Department. These efforts enjoy the full support of HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Thani, the Minister of State for Interior Affairs.
“We have also set up a new section for combating economic crime and a state-of-the-art lab equipped with the most modern technologies to cope with the recent spurt in some crimes.”
Asked about the delay in the launch of the national strategy for preventing road accidents, the official revealed that ‘an integrated plan’ for addressing the problem was expected soon.
“It is a big effort which required the co-operation of some 17 government departments. We are just putting the final touches before we launch it,” he added.
To a question about money laundering, he said: “We have not detected any money laundering activities in Qatar. There had been a few attempts but they did not succeed.”
Responding to complaints that the Interior Ministry had stopped implementing the conditional release of prisoners who met specific conditions, he dismissed the claim as untrue.