The advent of mobile phones has revolutionised our lifestyle and the gadget has fast become an unavoidable necessity. In the past two decades, the world has witnessed an explosion of information as the Internet became accessible on mobile devices and not only people have become dependent on Internet, but a few got even addicted to it.
With the introduction and widespread use of a myriad of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp etc one can pass information and get in touch with other with a single swipe.
For the last few years mobile applications or the so-called apps have become a part of our life giving us access to hundreds of official and private services. In the recent past, we have become more aware about data privacy or the way we give our personal details to unknown people while installing an app or using a service on the Internet.
The coronavirus pandemic made people more and more dependent on the Internet. With all these some fraudsters are having a field day with tricking innocent people into giving their valuable data such as bank password, health details, photographs etc. The world was quick to recognise these crimes lurking on the cyberspace and several countries passed particular laws to protect personal data and privacy and Qatar was no exception.
Recently the Economic and Cyber Crime Combating Department at the Ministry of Interior shed light on the huge dependence on the Internet and increase of cyber blackmailing. Lieutenant Eng. Abdulaziz Mohammad Al Kaabi of the department said while addressing a seminar that a jail term of not more than three years and a fine of not more than QR100,000 or either of these shall be imposed on anybody who uses information technology to threaten or blackmail a person.
Mere legislations may not always act as a deterrent to such criminals, but with the help of laws people can bring such criminals to the law-enforcement agencies. When we use the Internet and go online for different services and shopping, we should be careful about the data that we disclose to a particular person or company.
Some details such as passwords or OTPs should never be disclosed to anybody over the phone or as a message. Being cautious about photographs being passed online will save us from blackmailing as photographs can become a double-edged sword in the hands of cyber criminals.
Hence, if people are more aware about exactly what they are doing on the cyberworld and be prudent, that will make our life more peaceful and ease the burden on law enforcement agencies.
