E-Government initiative of Maldives has undoubtedly invited new forms of crimes against the government agencies. The legal system which does not cover electronic crimes is a major bottleneck in circumventing these crimes. This paper would discuss current and future potential e-crimes on the e-government of Maldives, and highlight on technical and legislative countermeasures.
1- Introduction
Maldives, as any other Nation, has been working hard to close gaps in emerging technology and to engage Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in providing fast, reliable, and resilient government services. The rapid growth of ICT was boosted by the government’s commitment to achieve the targets of United National Millennium Declaration (United Nations Resident Coordinator, 2006).
In the UN Global E-Government Survey 2003, Maldives scored highest in the South-central Asian countries, with an E-Government readiness index of 0.410, taking 79th place worldwide (United Nations, 2003). In the following years, this development has taken fast pace and some E-Government services have been further improved.
Although, advancement of ICT in the country is moving forward, this change is not seen in the legal system yet. There are no legislations for computer crime or electronic data protection. The current level of e-crime in the country is significantly low. However, it could be a bottleneck in the legal system, if such crimes are to emerge heavily and increase unexpectedly.
The following sections in this paper would highlight on the E-Government initiative in Maldives, including its structure, current and future potential e-crime threats, and would recommend technical and legislative measures to reduce and circumvent the discussed problems.
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ReplyDeleteInteresting... Like you've said, without proper regulations regarding the use and access of computing services it wouldn't be too far off for some major muck up to occur. And I doubt it would necessarily be from the outside. The recent news of some employees at Labour Ministry altering data highlights the case. Exciting times this is :)
ReplyDeleteyo bulhaa.... hehe.. my blog still exists huh.. and glad to see u around here... :)
ReplyDeleteJaa - yea.. exactly... next few years gonna be very interesting.. i guess there's a cyber law coming up.. still in drafting stage.. might take few years.. its maldives anyway.. :)
ReplyDeleteAn important issue to highlight.
ReplyDeleteI remember once there was a case of someone being convicted because he had some pornographic content on his computer or he apparently was viewing such material. If there is no law stating that this is illegal, i wonder how he was prosecuted. And furthermore, how did the investigators go about obtaining the evidence to convict him.
With regard to patches :) this is a good one. You would need to have legitimate software to get updates from the software developers. In case of Maldives where the majority of government offices use Windows as their server and desktop platform, I "wonder" how many of them have legitimate copies with valid licenses. So I guess a proper copyright law (if any) is also important.
I hope there will be a more proactive approach in formulating such laws and regulations, and not wait until a highly publicized and high impact e-crime occurs, hence creating a need for it. Sadly this is how most of the things are among us...
dude.... i reckon... you can make a big difference...
ReplyDeletedeshant.
@i - Yeah. You've mentioned very good points. Regarding that pornographic case, keeping or viewing of pornographic content is not allowed in Maldives regardless of the medium (if I am correct). I'm quite sure that computer evidence will not be admissible in court yet. So there might have been some other evidence and/or a confession.
ReplyDeleteDeshant - Yo dude! Cheers!