AMMAN — Cyber security experts from the UK and the Czech Republic will help enhance the skills of Jordanian police in combating cyber threats such as identity theft, fraud and child pornography under an EU-funded twinning project launched Monday.
The 15-month “Strengthening the Capacity of the Public Administration to Combat Cyber Crimes in Jordan” project entails the exchange of expertise and helping the Kingdom improve performance in combating threats.
“Jordan’s ICT sector is booming, the banks are developing e-banking services and e-commerce in the country is on the rise. Therefore, this project will help Jordan in combating cyber threats,” British Ambassador to Jordan Peter Millett said at the launch ceremony.
“It is important to protect users, but it is also important to protect public entities, the government and the police from cyber threats,” Millett added.
He said the project will help make Jordan a regional centre for excellence in combating cyber crimes.
Public Security Department (PSD) Director Gen. Tawfiq Tawalbeh said the EU-funded twinning project will significantly help Jordan in dealing with cyber threats, adding that it will enhance the performance of PSD personnel in charge of combating these crimes.
Tawalbeh also said that to address the massive spread of cyber crime worldwide, Jordan has sanctioned the Anti-Cyber Crime Law in 2010 and the PSD has set up a specialised unit tasked with following up on computer-related crimes.
Czech Deputy Ambassador to Jordan Bohumil Jirkal explained that combating cyber crimes also requires an improvement of relevant laws, pledging his country’s full cooperation with Jordan in the field.
Giving a speech on behalf of EU Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, Pascal Odul, programme manager at the union’s delegation to Jordan, said cyber crime is a relatively new manifestation of existing global and trans-regional threats such as terrorism, illicit trafficking and other forms of organised crime.
It is estimated that more than 1.5 million people fall victim to consumer cyber crimes every day, with an estimated damage of some $110 billion per year, Odul said.
“The purpose of this 3 million euro project is to enable criminal justice authorities to engage in international cooperation on cyber crime and electronic evidence on the basis of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime,” he added.
The EU officials urged Jordan to sign the the Budapest Convention, which entered into force in 2004.
It is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with copyright infringements, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security.
It also contains a series of procedures such as the search of computer networks and interception to combat threats, according to the website of the Council of Europe, which drew up the convention.
Its main objective, set out in the preamble, is to pursue a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cyber crime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international cooperation.
