Muscat -  Oman’s IT specialists handled more than 70mn cyberattacks on government networks as well as dealt with more than 6mn such attacks on government websites last year, according to Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi, CEO of Information Technology Authority (ITA). Dr Ruzaiqi was addressing a gathering at the sixth Annual Regional Cybersecurity Summit which began at Sheraton Oman on Monday.

The two-day summit has brought together 350 delegates from regional cybersecurity centres, officials and specialists from government and private entities and those from regional and global firms. Those from critical national infrastructure sectors including energy and utilities, defence and aviation, financial institutions, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and government institutions are also taking part in the summit.

The summit is being organised by the International Telecommunication Union-Arab Regional Cybersecurity Centre in cooperation with ITA, represented by Oman Computer Emergency Readiness Team under the auspices of Nasser bin Hilal al Maawali, chairman of the State Audit Institution.

The summit is addressing challenges and issues, facilitating the exchange of information, ideas, solutions, and emerging practices as well as identifying priority areas in cybersecurity at the local, regional and international levels. In addition, the summit seeks to enhance cross-border collaboration with government, industry and critical infrastructure stakeholders.

Dr Ruzaiqi said that there is a pressing need for further collaboration among countries to address the exponential increase of cyberthreats and their impact on countries’ economies and security. “As cyberthreats can’t be either stopped or ignored, we can at least mitigate the risks through cooperation between countries by enhancing national capabilities as well as exchanging knowledge and experiences.”

He added, “We are proud that Oman is ranked first among Arab countries and fourth globally at the ITU’s global cybersecurity index in 2017. Locally, our IT security specialists were able to handle more than 70mn attacks targeted on government networks last year (an increase of 5,000 per cent) as well as dealt with more than 6mn cyberattacks on government websites (an increase of 300 per cent).

“In addition, the team discovered a number of networks used to carry out electronic crimes (an increase of more than 400 per cent). Further, more than 1,800 cybersecurity incidents targeting organisations and individuals have been dealt with.”

Eng Ibrahim al Hadad, regional director, Arab Regional Office, ITU, said, “We thank ITA for hosting this important event. The annual regional cybersecurity summit is a significant platform to promote dialog and partnerships at regional and international levels. As innovations in technology are rapidly increasing, the cyberthreats resulting from such advancement grow as well. Hence, it is a must for government and all critical sector organisations especially in developing countries, to maintain a resilient IT security system to counteract cyberattacks and enhance people’s trust in using ICT and eServices.”

The first day of the summit covered a range of topics, highlighting the current trends and future threats.

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