RESEARCH PROPOSAL

TALAL AL ISMAIL
M80001181

CIT 530: CYBER FORENSICS

ZAYED UNIVERSITY

MARCH 2011

SWOT Analysis: Cyber Law of the U.A.E

 Abstract

The exponential growth in cybercrimes committed against computers and Internet

users is beginning to draw attention in several global capitals. Although, there are

countries that have laws against cybercrimes, however, those laws are likely to be

unenforceable against such crimes. The shortcoming in legal protection means that

businesses and governments must apply self-protection against those who would

steal, deny access to, or destroy valuable information.

 Introduction
The Statement of the Problem

In light of the changes that happen in the world of technology, Cyber Crime has

become a danger source of implementing unlawful acts; threatening nations in

all walks of life. Hence, the need for legislations to keep pace with these changes

is most vital. Since the United Arab Emirate is living its technological boom, is

not immune against these arising threats. In Jan 2006 (Aecert.ae, 2006), the

Cyber Law of the UAE has been issued and put in practice in order to have

control over these crimes to some extent. In this paper, a SWOT (strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the UAE Cyber Law will be

carried out.

Strengths

 The local government specifically the Telecommunications Regulatory

Authority (TRA) realizes the need for that law and how it is important to stay

up-to-date in the world of Cyber Crime.

 Develops a broad line of a law that deals with the protection of Internet users.

 Urges to respect the religious beliefs of the UAE citizens and to respect the

religious beliefs of the expatriates, as a total of 363 different nationalities exist

 in the labor market, according to the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Labor

(Datadubai.com, 2011).

Weaknesses

 No specific article clearly declares that this law applies to expatriates.

 Some of the conditions and legal terms mentioned are not illustrated or defined.

 The existing law doesn't cover recent concepts e.g., cyber-stalking and

harassment through e-mails, and digital piracy, as well as, technologies such as

cloud computing and social networking within its ambit.

 Lack of clear vision, as the existing law doesn’t keep pace with the technological

boom of the UAE.

Opportunities

 UAE to create cybercrime courts (Gulfnews.com, 2010).

 UAE to amend cyber law to cover cloud computing (Ameinfo.com, 2010).

 The creation of a Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT)

(Gulfnews.com, 2010) for the detection and prevention of cyber-crime in the

country will help improve the efficiency and the effectivity of the current law.

 The convening of international conferences specialized in the field of Cyber

Crime in the state will increase awareness among Internet users and the local

government (e.g., Guidance Digital Forensics Software Presentation).

Threats

 Internet usage in the UAE has grown 212 per cent exponentially from 2000, and

as a result 49.8 per cent of the country's citizens are prone to cyber-crime today,
 the ratio can be increased (Ameinfo.com, 2009), and the need for a strong and

well-designed law urges.

 Sluggish responsiveness in taking corrective actions to cover the existing gaps in

the current law would result in negative consequences.

 Widespread of hacking and malicious tools that would put any network system

under the line of danger as no technical expertise is needed to use these tools.
 References
Aecert.ae. (2006). The Federal Law No. (2) of 2006 on The Prevention of

Information Technology Crimes. Retrieved 27 March, from

http://www.aecert.ae/preventionoftechcrimes.php

Ameinfo.com. (2010). UAE to Amend Cyber Law to Cover Cloud Computing.

Retrieved 27 March, from http://www.ameinfo.com/230534.html

Ameinfo.com. (2009). UAE Under Constant Attack from Cyber Criminals. Retrieved

27 March, from http://www.ameinfo.com/199749.html

Datadubai.com. (2011). Number of Every Nationalities Living in UAE. Retrieved 27

March, from http://www.aecert.ae/preventionoftechcrimes.php

Gulfnews.com. (2010). UAE to Create Cybercrime Courts. Retrieved 27 March, from

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/uae-to-create-cybercrime-courts-

1.562337

Gulfnews.com. (2010). UAE Creates Team to Fight Cyber Crime. Retrieved 27

March, from

http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/UAE_creates_team_to_fight_cyber_crime/24690.

htm