Police stress savvy in IT

DUBAI // The head of the Dubai Police Academy says new recruits need to be computer savvy to tackle the rise in hi-tech crimes such as internet fraud and identity theft. "Dubai is an international city. We are a commercial centre and a financial centre, and this puts a lot of responsibility on us to make sure we are able to keep people safe from any type of crime," Brig Dr Mohammed Ahmad bin Fahad said ahead of next week's Intersec Trade Fair and Conference. In September, computer hackers broke into a server used by banks and stole thousands of credit and ATM card details. They then made fraudulent purchases and withdrawals totalling hundreds of millions of dirhams. Computer users in the region have also become targets for hackers who infect computers with spyware or recruit PCs for use in "botnets" that can be used, for example, to distribute spam. In response, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority set up a cyber-security department last year. The four-day Intersec trade show, starting on Sunday and expected to attract more than 20,000 visitors from 100 countries, will look at cybercrime, with a hacking demonstration from a former criminal who is now a security consultant. A conference on globalisation and organised crime, coinciding with Intersec, will have presentations from 65 international experts. [e-mail]