Oman warded off more than 880mn cyberattacks on government networks in 2017, three times more than 2016 when the country recorded 279mn such attacks.
While 1.41mn attacks specifically targeting government websites were successfully prevented in 2017, which came down from 1.75mn in 2016, according to Information Technology Authority’s (ITA) Annual Report 2017.
According to the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2017, Oman is among the top five most cybersecure countries in the world and first in the Arab world.
ITA’s two main divisions focus on cybersecurity: Information Security Division (ISD), which is responsible for the security of government entities, and the Oman Computer Emergency Readiness Team (OCERT), which is responsible for the security of cyberspace in Oman and public awareness in the field.
ISD, which provides networks and portals protection, secure Internet access, end-point security, information security operations, security assessment and IT security consultancies, rendered 880,843,349 cyberattacks useless against government networks while it thwarted 1,411,043 cyberattacks against government websites.
ITA further discovered 1,859 spyware (6,416 in 2016) and 11,370 (7,824 in 2016) viruses and malware, with 2,459 real cybersecurity incidents reported by government and public successfully handled.
It further said 100 per cent of familiar security incidents were detected within 30 seconds and that 96.5 per cent security incidents were detected and handled within five working days.
OCERT, which addresses the issues of cyberthreats and risks and the provision of a secured cyber environment in using eServices and protection of critical national information infrastructure, discovered and handled 44,340 (16,118 in 2016) attacks targeting Oman’s cyberspace.
OCERT also handled 172 (39 in 2016) digital forensic cases with 877 evidence devices including computers, mobile phones, external hard disks and USBs on cybercrime cases.
“The Sultanate of Oman is top ranked among Arab states with the highest scores in the legal and capacity building pillars. Oman has a robust organisational structure, including a high-level cybersecurity strategy and masterplan and comprehensive roadmap,” the Global Cybersecurity Index stated.
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