The Number of Cyber Crimes Increases

Cyber expert Hekuran Dolly for Indexline has said that now 10 months from lighting this scandal, the effects for Kosovar internet users appear minimal.

There is no doubt that the Facebook incident, which in collaboration with Cambridge Analytica, has released in public the personal data of some 100 million users on this platform, is the most controversial media scandal for 2018. Now 10 months since the lighting of this scandal, the effects for Kosovar internet users appear minimal, because authorities in Kosovo have not reported any incident directly related to the incident in question. But the way this data is collected, and the kind of personal information that contains the collected database isn't that it gives us any access to the privacy of internet users in an individual way”, Sold for Indexline.

He mentioned the second scandal in the company. Facebook that also characterised him this year.

It has said that thanks to Facebook's financial impact on the media industry, the company has managed to quickly close this scandal without much echoing.

Despite the far more critical importance than the first scandal, thanks to the financial impact Facebook has on the media industry, the company has managed to close this scandal more quickly and without much echoing. In September of this year, the Facebook company had identified hackers as misusing the personal data of over 50 million users of this rig. Personal data that may have been misused during this incident includes not only personal information of users but also private messages on Facebook platforms, Instagram and Watsapp, etc.”, he said.

Security expert added that social networking platform safety is not at the level we believe it is, so it should be taken care of during their exploitation.
“Cases like these make us realize that despite the comfort and sense of security that the social network platforms offer, their security in reality is not at the level we believe it is. So social networks should be used at best, reminding themselves that the photos or videos we share and the private conversations we do, we really are not private and can fall into the hands of the perpetrators and be exploited to our harm. It is very important to be careful about whom we relate online, what we talk about, and what information we share with them. Also, there should be great caution in selecting online media from which we are informed”, which is highlighted among others.

Even Mentor Hoxhaj, former state overseer at the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and information safety expert for Indexline, has said the important part of the year in privacy is access to GDPR and now the amendment or transformation of this regulation to local legislation.

While, it says the cyberattack defence system has not yet been developed.

“Despite the fact that we have an interest in local institutions has failed to build the cyberattack defence system. The construction of CERT, which we recommend to have CERT Nacional and government CERT, is still lacking in the report Breach date. The lack of establishing these standards leaves Kosovo in the dark as far as the real state of attacks and damage caused as I mentioned and continues to stress Ransomaare has presented and poses serious problems, and in the future public and private institutions have been the target of the Ranzomara attack, but neither has admitted to having been a victim or reporting damage”, he said.

However, much of their website institutions are not safe at all.
The majority of public and private institutions have not applied information safety standards Iso 27001. They haven't accomplished the test pen and the very important part of the air insurance that should be done every year. Like the most efficient approach to fertilizing attaks and even ransoare. We as CSP have offered our help to make our modest contribution in this direction and are willing to help by starting with the Responsible Disclosure or responsible reporting and we all parts mentioned above committed to our mission. But it takes assistance and institutional co-operation to achieve the shared goal and that is a safe and friendly cyberspace”, Hoxhaj has added.

That there are violations of citizens' privacy and the director of the Department of Public Relations at the State Agency for Protection of Personal Data, Arifi lives.

He says there have been 41 complaints, but there are still more because there have been requirements for legal interpretations.

“During 2018, the agency has accepted a total of 41 complaints related to alleged citizens' privacy violations. It is noteworthy that during this period, the Agency has accepted more requests for legal intensifications (which were then used by complaining parties who have filed civil indictments against alleged privacy offenders), then there have been many different questions and requests. So the number 41 refers only to complaints, not including other categories I mentioned, the number of which is much greater than complaints”, has said in an answer to Arifi.
While adding that on the basis of indictments by the Agency, the Court has imposed two fines -- one against KED, worth a total of $9,000 -- and one against Mehmet Akif” with 12,000 euros for privacy violations.

For the one-year period we are leaving behind, according to indictments filed earlier by the Agency, the Constitutional Court in Pristina has pronounced two (2) fines.

One against the data controller KEDS) worth $9,000 for distribution of electricity bills without making their envelopes, respectively, without taking precautions to prevent any unauthorized access to its consumers' personal data. The other fine was pronounced by the same court, against college controller Mehmet Akif with $12,000 for privacy violations through camera surveillance”, Arifi said among other things.

He added that using technology in personal data processing presents a serious challenge in terms of individual privacy rights.

The greatest uncertainty, and not only, in terms of privacy, is publication and use of data on social networks, as one of the most used forms of communication. All of this, as a result of the lack of adequate knowledge about the privacy policies of these networks, which not everyone knows how to apply during the use of these platforms or apps, for which there is free access, while we pay them with our personal data”, he added.

Under cyber security projects, Kosovo has its strategy and functional mechanisms to protect itself from cyber attacks.

Such attacks occur around the world and suddenly and unexpectedly, despite security measures taken to keep the network secure. This phenomenon can be viewed as a permanent struggle between violators and law enforcementists.

The Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo and the Law on Prevention and Combating Cyber Crimes are unknown, cybercrime as a single criminal offense, but there are certain acts that enter cybercrime, such as misuse of children into pornography, misuse of bank or credit folders and access to computer systems.

In an official response to the Police for Indexline, it is known that cybercrime is marking growth year-on-year.

In 2017 there were 42 cases where 26 people were arrested. This number is higher compared to 2015, where 34 cases of 11 people have been arrested.