The growing use of the internet and the rapid spread of social media, in addition to the advantages they offer, also involve many serious risks for users who are often not visible at first glance.
Child pornography, cyberbullying (known as cyberbullying), hacker attacks, are just some of the crimes committed through the internet and which are faced daily by members of the Office for the Fight against Cybercrime (G.K.I.E. ) of the Police Headquarters in Cyprus.
In an interview with KYPE, the Head of the G.K.I.E. in Cyprus today and what is the most common form of cybercrime.
Mr. Anastasiadis also calls on parents to pay special attention to their children's online activity and warns once again about the dangers of posting photos of children on the internet. He also states that his office has prevented suicides after a relevant post of users on the internet.
He also talks about recent successes of G.K.I.E. but also for the legislative regulations that are promoted for even more effective treatment of cybercrime in Cyprus.
GKIE: Staffed with experienced staff and state-of-the-art equipment
Asked about the responsibilities of both the G.K.I.E. and the PPC, Mr. Anastasiadis explained that the Cybercrime Office has the responsibility of preventing and investigating cybercrime cases, while the Forensic Laboratory Electronic Data has the responsibility of judicial examination of digital evidence.
He noted that the G.K.I.E is staffed with experienced staff and equipped with the latest technology equipment (software, hardware). As far as the PPC is concerned, it is staffed by specialized personnel (computer graduates with a master's degree in computer forensics) and has state-of-the-art equipment.
According to him, "in the last two years, with the raising of European funds provided by the office in cooperation with the finance department of the Police Headquarters, it became possible to purchase the latest technology equipment equal and better than other European laboratories."
Internet security, at a rate of 80%, is related to the actions of the user
Asked how safe the internet is in Cyprus, Mr. Anastasiadis said that “security in the use of the internet, with a percentage of over 80%, has to do with the actions of the user of computer systems. What I mean is that the actions of each user are what enable or prevent cyber attacks. "
As he said, "users should not allow malware to be installed on their computer by opening an email from an unknown sender, while they should install antivirus on their computers, which should be updated daily."
Regarding electronic transactions via the Internet, Mr. Anastasiadis said that "I can say that we are at a fairly good level compared to other European countries."
He noted that “through the precautionary policy of our office every year we give lectures to organized groups and companies for internet security, we have agreements with other bodies on this issue and we are a member of the cyber security strategy of the Republic of Cyprus which is under responsibility of GERIET (Office of the Commissioner for Regulation of Electronic Communications) ”.
Asked if there is real anonymity on the internet, Mr. Anastasiadis said that “this question cannot be answered with a yes or a no. We need to know that everything can be detected but in any case there are difficulties and time consuming procedures. "There are indeed various websites where there is anonymity, but at the same time there are several successes of the competent bodies where the action of all these people was discovered and they were prosecuted".
Child pornography: The most common form of cybercrime
According to Mr. Anastasiadis, in the last two years the most widespread form of cybercrime in Cyprus is the crimes related to child pornography and to a lesser extent the attacks on computer systems of companies or individual users. Other forms of cybercrime that we have encountered lately are the various phenomena that aim to deceive internet users and demand money through threats, such as "sextortion", "email scams" and the attack of an intermediate person. in the middle attack ”.
Asked to comment on the fact that almost every day we hear about new cases of child pornography, Mr. Anastasiadis said that "what should be passed on to the public is that anyone who possesses or disseminates such material or even invites a child to child pornography a child who has been abused in any country for any reason ”.
He noted that "the problem in Cyprus is quite serious and there is an increasing trend in recent years. However, this does not mean that the number of cases has suddenly increased. Cases have always existed and will continue to exist. In recent years, the Police has developed collaborations with various organizations and bodies both at European and international level, as a result of which it receives more and more complete information on new incidents ".
"Statistically, I should mention that in 2013 we had 32 cases to be investigated, in 2014, 106 cases and in 2015 so far 110 cases. "We are concerned about the extent of the problem as the police have made great efforts to combat this crime, we have prosecuted many people and we have had many successes but the crime continues to grow," he said.
Asked where he attributes the increase in incidents of child pornography, Mr. Anastasiadis attributed this fact to the abuse and reckless use of the internet. As he characteristically mentioned, a person who visits regular pornographic websites from time to time, at some point may feel full and look for other types of pornographic material.
He also said that teenagers, experimenting with their bodies and sexuality, could exchange such photos "which is very dangerous and that is why we often advise parents to monitor their children while they are online".
Another reason, he added, is the growing use of the internet and added that according to an earlier study by the University of Piraeus, Cyprus was the 3rd country in terms of population in the use of facebook worldwide.
Despite the dangers, many parents continue to upload photos of their children online
Answering another question, he said that it is a fact that despite the occasional warnings of the Police about the dangers of the internet, many parents continue to upload their own photos of their minor children on the internet, noting that “we have issued many announcements and made a big campaign, calling on parents not to upload photos of their children on the internet and especially on facebook ”.
"Unfortunately, this is a phenomenon that continues. For example, we recently saw many parents upload photos of their children on the first day of school on Facebook. It may seem innocent to many, but from our experience I can say that many times we found photos with children among child pornography material of pedophiles. However, it is up to everyone to decide whether or not to continue uploading photos of their children on the internet ".
Asked about the penalties imposed for the crime of child pornography, he said that the penalties imposed for such offenses are very satisfactory and in some cases even provided for life.
Police are taking action to combat cyberbulling
Mr. Anastasiadis also said that the Police also receives complaints regarding cyberbulling, "but we are at a fairly good level, compared to what is happening abroad, but this phenomenon continues to exist and we are particularly concerned and we are taking measures".
He stated that “we are working proactively on the issue and in fact last year in collaboration with the Press Office of the Police we prepared a relevant video. There is constant cooperation with the Press Office and we regularly inform the public about the dangers but also about the new forms of crime. We also cooperate with other bodies (Government or not) to combat such phenomena ".
He also said that his office is in contact with large companies that offer internet services, such as Google, Facebook, Instagram and others, and with a relevant request they submit to delete comments that refer to cyberbullying or even the removal of an account.
He also said that for this issue they are cooperating with the Non-Governmental Organization Hope For Children and CyberEthics, the Cyprus Center for Safe Internet to deal more effectively with this phenomenon.
"We prevented unwanted situations"
Asked if the Office has prevented cases in which internet users expressed their intention to commit suicide or commit a criminal act, Mr. Anastasiadis answered in the affirmative.
"Yes, we had incidents but for obvious reasons they are not made public. "From time to time we receive information on such issues and I can say that many times we prevented unwanted situations," he said.
A large percentage of companies do not invest in the electronic security of their computer systems
Asked if companies in Cyprus invest in security systems for their technology systems, he said that "a large percentage of companies do not invest in the electronic security of their computer systems".
"For this issue, there is the State Cyber Security Strategy that provides for the creation of a CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) that will operate under the supervision of the Commissioner for Regulation of Electronic Communications (GERHET) where the Police will deal with the investigation of cases," he said.
The recent successes of G.K.I.E.
Referring to the successes of the Cybercrime Office, Mr. Anastasiadis said that "we have to show several successes as an Cybercrime Office both in cases involving attacks on computer systems and in cases of child pornography."
"Recently Europol congratulated us on the very good work we have done in a child pornography company called Pacifier. "We are one of the first countries to respond to this operation and it resulted in the arrest of two people," he said.
He also continued, "Recently, our office was involved in an operation called Darkode to create a website where various hackers participated and offered services to other people for illegal activities via the Internet. One of these individuals was from Cyprus and we participated in this operation through Europol under the supervision of the FBI. "And in this operation we received the congratulations of the FBI".
Several pieces of legislation are being promoted to tackle cybercrime
Asked if anything should be changed in terms of legislation, he said that "in general I can say that we have a good legal framework in the field of cybercrime.
He noted that "with the contribution of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and after consultation with the Police, several legislative regulations are being promoted that need improvement".
"A change in the time of Telecommunication Data Retention is being promoted from six months to one year, as the current time frame is limited and if we consider that this crime is international, we are of the opinion that it needs to be improved. The new Legislation for the attacks on computer systems will be passed very soon, which is done following the instructions of the E / E and greatly improves the existing Law of 2004. It also promotes a change in various other issues that are discussed in Parliament or are under processing which it is too early to mention anything specific ”.
Users must be very careful - The input of all competent bodies is needed
Mr. Anastasiadis called on internet users to be very careful in their internet activity. "Everyone should keep in mind that he has no personal contact with a person but only the data that appears on a screen. It is up to the user to make a purchase of a good if the value of that good is much lower than the real value. He must be sure about the payment of a person and it is better to make payments by bank transfer ".
As for businesses, he said, "they need to have a secure network, watch their transactions, exchange emails and have the support of technicians. They definitely need to have a good anti-virus software (antivirus) but also a backup (backup) ".
He noted that "the leadership of the Police has made internet security a priority, among other things", assuring that the Police make a special effort to tackle cybercrime in general and the phenomenon of child pornography, but also the contribution of all those responsible is needed. so that the public is more informed and more aware of the internet and the risks ”.
Finally, he called on the public to contact the Police about their concerns, noting at the same time the fact that there is a platform for submitting complaints through the Police website www.police.gov.cy in the context of Cybercrime, where the Police deals with various complaints and information.
Source: KYPE