On fighting cyber crimes, the bill, which introduces changes in Federal Law No 5 of 2012, seeks to crack down on individuals using a computer network protocol address that is deceptive with criminal intention.

Under the present law, IP address forgery is a slight offence punishable with a jail term of three years and between 24 hours, along with a fine of up to Dh500,000.

IP address forgery, also called a host file hijack, or IP address spoofing, is a hijacking technique in which a cracker masquerades as a trustworthy host spoof a site to hide his identity, hijack browsers, or increase access to a network.

The hijacker gets the IP address of a valid host and changes packet headers so the valid host is apparently the source.

“The planned change demonstrates that the UAE authorities are eager to crack down on so called IP spoofing by imposing harsher punishments for wrongdoers,” said Dino Wilkinson, legal expert in Abu Dhabi.

Wilkinson added the related post states that it’s an offence to employ a deceptive computer network protocol address with third party address or a bogus address with the aim of perpetrating a crime or preventing its discovery.

Therefore it is vital that you notice that there has to be an offense hidden or perpetrated, along with the IP address spoofing action, for an individual to be liable under this particular provision of the law.