The Criminalisation of Identity Theft under the Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law 2007

This article examines the extent to which legal measures enacted in Saudi Arabia are able to tackle the problem of widespread cybercrime, namely identity theft. It examines to what extent the Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law 2007 is capable of encompassing possible methods for obtaining the financial information of others, including phishing, pharming, using malware and hacking, which appear to be the most common methods of obtaining the personal information of others online. It also questions whether the Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law should take action and criminalise identity theft that involves non-financial motivations in a way similar to the criminalisation of identity theft that does involve financial motivations, an activity which has already been criminalised under the Anti-Cybercrime Law. Furthermore, the paper highlights how it is important to criminalise the transferring and possession of materials (data and programs) for the purpose of identity theft in order to strengthen the legal response to this type of cybercrime in Saudi Arabia.