Algeria launches offensive against cybercrime

2008-05-16

Cybercrime is on the rise in Algeria. An inter-ministerial committee is now working on a bill to keep terrorists and others from using information technology for illegal activities.

By Boualam Senhadji for Magharebia in Algiers – 15/05/08

[File] Although found throughout the world, cybercrime has struck a number of public and private websites in Algeria in recent years. The government is now taking action.

When news broke last week that Algerian hackers had reportedly attacked the Bank of Israel web site, law enforcement officials in Algeria recognised the incident as the latest in a long series of "cybercrimes". Hackers both inside and outside Algeria have repeatedly broken into servers, sending out viruses to destroy data. The president's official site was blocked for several days, and newspaper websites such as that of La Dépêche de Kabylie have either been hijacked or, like the site of daily El Fadjr, "infected" for several months.

The Algerian government is now taking aggressive action.

Law officers are working to shut down websites used by terrorists to incite others to violence, fundamentalism and hatred. They are also cracking down on swindles, pirating, fraud, money laundering, and illegal access to IT systems and networks.

Cybercriminals use their expertise to spy, defraud, steal and destroy data, or worse, entire IT systems. Few statistics on cybercrime are available, but there is no doubt about its extent. Perpetrators are not just attention-seeking youths; they are also highly-organised "cyber-delinquents", responsible for sophisticated crimes often carried out at an international level.

Cybercrime takes three different approaches, experts report. The first relates to content, which can be defined as the intentional distribution of illegal images or text over the internet. More specifically, this means content of a racist or xenophobic character—or child pornography.

There are also attacks on intellectual property, such as posting free music downloads, offences linked to information and communication technologies, deliberate attacks on networks and databases, spreading viruses and forwarding passwords or access codes.

Finally, there is financial cybercrime, such as bank card fraud and the illegal collection of bank details.

"Cybercrime affects not just Algeria but all countries across the world" IT expert Salah Rabhi tells Magharebia, adding that "authorities need to introduce measures to guarantee the safety of individuals, companies and the government".

To protect websites from cybercrime, new software from Exendia and EEPAD is currently being introduced into businesses, and users are being educated, says Exendia chairman Bachir Halimi. EEPAD, one of the top Internet access providers in Algeria and the top alternative operator of ADSL services, has fallen victim to approximately 3,000 attacks. 80% of them originated from abroad.

[Getty Images] Algerian communications minister Boudjemaâ Haïchour said on World Press Freedom Day that with the explosion of digital technologies, "we are seeing illegal, immoral and unauthorised activities being carried out remotely".

Speaking on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, Post and ICT Minister Boudjemaâ Haïchour addressed the evolving crisis. With the explosion of digital technologies, he said, "we are seeing illegal, immoral and unauthorised activities being carried out remotely".

Algerian officials recognise that no nation is immune to the problem. "As the crime is international in character, international co-operation is needed," says Mohamed Amara, director general of legal and judicial affairs at the Ministry for Post, Information Technologies and Communication.

Specialists have visited Algeria to offer guidance. Some Algerian magistrates have even undergone training in the United States to learn how to detect and prevent international cybercrime.

"We want [Algeria] to be helped by the experiences of other countries concerning the fight against economic crime in particular," Amara adds.

On an even larger scale, the Algerian government has organised an inter-ministerial committee to work on the issue, says Djamel Abdenasser Belabed, information director at communications ministry.

A group of experts from ministries of communications, Interior, and Justice as well as the general directorate of national security, the financial information processing cell (CTRF) and the judicial police has been established up to prepare for this new "Net War". The experts have been tasked with identifying and creating penalties for offences linked with cybercrime, a phenomenon considered by the specialists to be "a wholly new form of criminal activity".

The cybercrime bill currently being prepared by the work group will be submitted to parliament by the end of this year, Belabed announced on April 10th at an Algiers seminar.

He also pointed out the need to establish a "monitoring observatory" tasked with maintaining regional and international cyber-security. France, the United States, South Korea and the United Kingdom already have organisations of this kind, which are proving "very effective" in keeping cybercrime in check, he said.

At present, however, cybercrime is not specifically mentioned in any Algerian law. Reference is made to it in the Penal and Civil codes, which outlaw computer crimes and breaches of copyright, but lawyer Fatima Ben Brahem tells Magharebia the law is insufficient, "if not meaningless".

"Cybercriminals exploit the legal vacuum which exists in this area and operate with complete peace of mind," she stresses.

"Algeria needs a specific law covering all aspects of computer crimes, [but] adopting such a law will be fruitless unless the campaign is waged at regional level," she said. "In the era of globalisation, the fight against cybercrime requires regional co-ordination. No country, whatever laws it has, is capable of addressing this international crime single-handedly."

She proposes that a Maghreb-wide or pan-Arab agreement be signed, such as the one concluded by Europe in 1990.

Even without a regional policy, many Algerians see the bill on cybercrime as a welcome step. Mourad, the owner of an Internet café in Bordj El Bahri, confirmed a worrying rise in the popularity of jihadist websites among young people, particularly teenagers.

"Teenagers visit these sites out of curiosity. We can't do anything to stop them. Some even download messages onto CDs and then view them together with their friends." He thinks that the cybercrime law would help stem a problem he sees daily.

[Getty Images] The working group on the new law hopes to tackle cybercriminals, including terrorists who use websites to attract youths.

Merouane Azzi, who heads up the group responsible for implementing laws on the enforcement of national reconciliation, agrees that there is a legal vacuum in Algeria on the issue of cybercrime. In his view, it is the emergence of terrorism that has driven the Algerian authorities to turn their attention to cybercrime.

"The danger is extreme. After simply clicking on a few sites you can find animated images showing you how to make an improvised bomb. These sites are visited by young teenagers, often without their parents knowing. But this curiosity can increase, and that's where the danger lies," he tells Magharebia.

The threat does not come solely from videos. "We must not forget the [online] statements claiming responsibility for attacks and inciting the public to take up arms to dispense what they call 'justice', but which is in reality a call to murder and insurrection," he tells us.

Internet crime is reaching worrying proportions, says Younes Guerrar, owner of Gecos – one of Algeria’s largest IT companies, and terrorists are not the only ones using cyberspace for criminal enterprise.

"Investigations by the security services have shown that groups involved in drug dealing, money-laundering, counterfeiting and paedophilia are also active on the internet," he says. "This is why we insist that a legal framework should be in place."