Half of internet users were hacked in Gaza and West bank

More than half of Internet users in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were hacked in one way or another in 2011, a report by the Palestinian central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Wednesday. It said that as the number of Internet users increases, crimes related to information technology also increases. The percentage of Internet users in Palestine reached nearly to one-third of the population in 2011 compared with only 9.2% in 2004. Internet users in the West Bank reached 30.6% of its population compared to 30% in the Gaza Strip. Statistics also showed that 55% of Palestinians between the age of 15 and 29 years use the Internet compared with only five percent in 2004. According to the PCBS, data of household survey of information communication and technology in 2011 showed that more than half of the Internet users aged 10 years and above were subject to various threats, with almost half of them in the West Bank and more than 60% in the Gaza Strip. It said 47% reported receiving a virus through the Internet, 13% said they received indecent and inappropriate content, 9.3% reported disrupting and sabotaging of data, 7.3% reported theft of personal data and 1.1% theft of credit card information.