UN’s Neil Walsh discusses cybercrime in CMU-Q Dean’s Lecture Series

Capacity-building, consensus, key to cybercrime prevention

DOHA, QATAR: Neil Walsh, the head of the Cybercrime, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism Department at the United Nations (UN), spoke at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) about the challenges of fighting cybercrime.

Walsh was speaking at CMU-Q’s Dean’s Lecture Series, in collaboration with the National Committee for Information Security Qatar.

Walsh noted that instances of cybercrime have risen dramatically in the last five years, and the crimes themselves have become more complex and wider in scope. He argued that the most effective way to tackle cybercrime will be through consensus and capacity-building: “The problem may be technical, but the solution may well be human,” he suggested.

Walsh discussed the importance of strengthening the capabilities of agencies and individuals and improving cooperation and dialogue between government and private entities on both the national and international level.

“If we simply think that the solution is more computers and more technology, we’re missing the point,” Walsh added. “It is about people like you and me having a dialogue with each other. We need to talk about the threat and then we can work our way forward from that point of consensus.”

Commenting on the lecture, Michael Trick, dean of CMU-Q, said: “Protection from cybercrime starts with understanding how this threat works, and it requires the collective efforts ofindividuals and organizations. It has been valuable having Neil Walsh here because the issues he addresses span across borders, and are pertinent to Qatar and to the world.”

The CMU-Q Dean’s Lecture Series is a forum where experts discuss relevant and pressing issues with the community.