We are committed to continuing international collaboration and offering practical experience that supports international partnerships in combating crime
Amer S. Mustafa/Bahrain Cyber Crime Directorate
The misuse of technology may be risky and damaging to institutions and individuals alike. And due to the transfer of all information into electronic information, cyber crime has become the most important crime to emerge in modern times and the most dangerous type of organized crime to pose a major threat to the global economy. While highlighting the danger of this threat and due to the significant increase in cyber crime, the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa and based on a sharp security vision of His Excellency Lt. Gen. Sheikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Minister of Interior, decided to establish a Cyber Crime Directorate in accordance with Royal Decree No. 109 of 2011, thus becoming one of the first countries to combat this kind of crime.
The directorate assumed its tasks, seeking to develop its staff to become capable of and well-informed in the most recent methods of combating cyber crime. In this context, the directorate held conferences and seminars for all sectors to spread awareness among the public — to individuals as well as companies — to deal with this kind of crime. This approach allows the Ministry of Interior to strengthen community partnerships and increase the mechanisms of communication with all sectors of the society. Believing in the importance of international cooperation to confront the dangers arising from these crimes, the directorate also endeavored to join the international conventions relevant to combating cyber crime and to coordinate with concerned international institutions to tackle cyber crime.
In the context of its belief in the need to establish overall security and address all attempts to disturb it, and in a qualitative shift in the area of combating crimes of information technology, His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa issued Decree No. 60 of year 2014, with regard to information technology crimes law. The decree included many legal articles that punish perpetrators of cyber crime and control the work assigned to legal authorities. Penalties for sexual exploitation of children have also been tightened, and it has been one of the most important points emphasized by Bahraini law for a long time.
Also, it has become necessary to employ a national strategy for cyber security, because of the increase of electronic threats in the world, which have been reported by the Cyber Crime Directorate in previous years. Such a strategy has become one of the main concerns for Bahrain because all modern communications depend on information technology and the Internet. The aim of the strategy is to achieve the ultimate goal of providing a safe environment in cyberspace and to maintain the gains of the country and its information technology infrastructure. In addition to drawing a road map for developing the official entities concerned with cyber security in the field of legislation and law enforcement, Bahrain is working proactively by promoting awareness in the community through a well-studied continuous chain of workshops and seminars.
The Kingdom of Bahrain recognized the nature of cyber crime as being a part of transnational crime, which makes investigations daunting. Thus, it encouraged more international cooperation through sharing of digital data and evidence, and through judicial cooperation on cyber crime- related issues. Bahrain has always been among the first nations to cooperate with countries that needed support or help in investigating cyber crime. Bahrain has helped many countries and took into consideration the legal justifications through which it lent a hand in the investigation of several issues that included terrorism, sexual exploitation of children and financial crimes.
An example of such cooperation on the international level occurred in 2013 when the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security received information from the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) in the United Kingdom stating that an anonymous person in Bahrain was exploiting children sexually through Internet chat programs and had threatened to publish their pictures, violating public morality, and share them with their relatives and friends if the children rejected his demands. Accordingly, an investigation of the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security uncovered the identities of the accused persons who engaged in blackmailing children through the Internet to satisfy their sexual desires
After obtaining permission from the Public Prosecution, a team of specialists and digital examiners was formed, the accused were arrested and their homes were searched in execution of search warrants issued by the Public Prosecution. Computers and mobile phones used in the commissioning of the crime were found in their possession. The suspects admitted to the crimes, and after obtaining forensic warrants from Public Prosecution, digital examiners analyzed the electronic belongings and a number of sexual images and video clips of children from Bahrain and outside Bahrain were seized. Children under 14 had been targeted and lured into using websites that showed pictures of girls who expressed interest in meeting them. Then the perpetrators would take indecent pictures of the victims. They also forced the victims to perform those acts by threatening to publish the pictures and expose them to their families. The court sentenced the first and second defendants to 10 years in prison, and the third and fourth defendants to three years in prison. International cooperation led to the administration of justice and punishment of cyber crime perpetrators, using special technical methods to track them.
The journey toward developing and enhancing performance rates progresses in line with the development and modernization strategy adopted by the Minister of the Interior. And in light of the rapid development of electronic devices and software, high- speed computers and smartphones, the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security took a step forward and is working toward establishing a new digital laboratory to examine digital evidence similar to its counterparts in developed countries. The directorate visited countries that are advanced in this field to benefit from their experience and learn about the latest devices, equipment and programs used to examine digital evidence.
It is worth mentioning that the primary role of this laboratory is to combat and prevent crime by following strategic planning that includes committing to legal requirements within defined criteria and by relying on highly qualified staff trained regularly at the highest levels, and by educating them with policies to be followed daily in the laboratory. It will also have sophisticated equipment and software to examine electronic devices and retrieve information erased from computers, smartphones, magnetic discs and all electronic devices that exist in global markets, ensuring that electronic evidence is presented to the courts in accordance with an approved legal framework. The laboratory will also include a unit to retrieve evidence from damaged devices, and accurate training for this process is taking place within this phase.
Cyber crimes that pose a threat to the world need international cooperation, collaboration and coordination at the highest level to be confronted efficiently and effectively for global security. Therefore, the Anti-Electronic Crimes in the Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Bahrain renews its commitment to continue with local and international cooperation for the effective role it represents in combating crime, which is considered to be the ultimate objective of police work.