The Palestinian Civil Police (PCP) launched a campaign, aimed at promoting awareness on cyber blackmail in collaboration with EUPOL COPPS. 

The goal of the campaign is to  educate users in Palestine on the risks and consequences caused by careless internet use and also raising awareness among people to be more cautious while sharing data on the web and social media due to the rem growth and development of the online space locally and internationally. This advancement is an opportunity for unscrupulous users who take advantage of this growth to harm other people,  violate their privacy and use their personal data and pictures to obtain financial gain illegally.

Alessandro Buono, EUPOL COPPS’ Cyber Crime Expert has been advising the PCP in the past two years to come up with new ideas to combat the phenomenon of blackmail by means of general prevention.

The project, developed in strict cooperation with the PCP Cyber Crime Department and the contractor Extra Production, intends to reach the widest possible range of Palestinian population throughout all existing media, including TV radio and traditional broadcastings, and obviously Internet and social media.

It would focus on students in secondary schools, public and private universities and their parents so they stay alert and protected from being victims to these kinds of threats.

Cybercrime is any criminal activity that involves a computer, networked device or a network. They are often carried out in order to generate profit for the cybercriminals or to target computers or devices directly to damage or disable them.

“Cybercriminals may also target an individual's private information, as well as corporate data for theft and resale,” Buono said at the launching of the event in Ramallah.