Financial and Social Costs Perspective Impacts of Cybercrime in the UAE: Policy-Guidance Addressing the Problem in Piecemeal Approach

Abstract

Today’s technology-driven human-society(s) country-wise are counted more than ever before where UAE-society is no exception. Tech-users here compete for comparative time-saving-options for marginalizing operating-cost. It has resulted huge data-usages, high-number of users & devices, which has attracted criminals for taking advantages, which is known as cybercrime. Addressing cybercrime, the UAE, like other countries, is not out of controlled by laws. However, laws like cybercrime for its society are not always for absolutely eliminating the crime. Thus, besides cybercrime-law in place, UAE needs piecemeal approach in practice where one department may vary from approaches of other-department. With awareness about risky online-behaviors & options, tech-users as defenders need to invest own-efforts. This study has laid out foundation of the proposal, Akim’s Model-2021, using Theory of Consumer Choice & Behaviors and Welfare Analysis. Tech-user’s actual utility-received is the sum of utility-received from awareness & own-effort and utility-received from cybercrime-law. Any changes to services-received from joint-efforts may risk tech-user to be a victim. Welfare analysis shows tech-user’s actions - awareness & own-effort, besides cybercrime-law can create Net Social-gain, which depends on tech-user’s own-actions. Tech-user’s economic-surplus is greater than government-expenses for implementation of cybercrime-law in UAE. Net-loss to the UAE is the sum of deadweight-loss and net-loss to tech-producers for underutilized resources.