Monday, Aug 22, 2016

Dubai

The UAE’s days of cyber security may be behind it. The country is now the second most targeted country after the US, according to statistics shown at the UAE’s new Cyber Security Centre, which was opened on Monday.

Dr Mounes Kayyali, CEO of security solutions provider The Kernel, told Gulf News that Anonymous, an international group of hacktivists (hacker + activist), and other hacker groups have been conducting cyber espionage attacks against state-owned energy companies.

It’s inevitable that nation-state attacks will grow and become the new norm for hackers, he said.

After signing a deal with Dubai-based information and communication technology (ICT) services provider Smartworld to set up the UAE’s first-of-its-kind ‘Cyber Security Centre’, he said that mobile threats will continue to flourish this year. The days where PC-like exploit kits for smart phones are easily available is not far away.

Smartworld, a joint venture between etisalat and Dubai World Central, is behind the implementation of IT systems at Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central (DWC), Terminal One and Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport.

According to statistics shown at the Cyber Security Centre on Monday, the US, China and Ukraine are the top three origins of attack and the US, UAE and Spain are the top three targeted countries.

“The threat landscape will be more complicated day by day. It needs more knowledge, experience and more complex solutions to handle the current type of attacks. Cyber security is not a solution and the measures developed a year ago will not be enough to protect organisations in today’s threat landscape. Threats do change overnight and so do the security solutions,” Kayyali said.

He said the “cat and mouse game” between the hackers and security solutions providers will continue indefinitely and become more complicated as each day passes by.

Dr Saeed Al Daheri, Chairman of Smartworld, said that the centre will train UAE nationals in cyber security and provide round-the-clock advanced security monitoring along with cyber threat management to companies across the government and private sector in the UAE.

Saif Al Ketbi, senior vice-president of technology at Abu Dhabi Airports Company and advisory to Smartworld, said that the UAE and Dubai are making tremendous progress in adopting the world’s latest smart technologies.

“These advancements bring with them the responsibility to ensure safety from external threats. Particularly as we witness the launch of several mega projects and hosting the Expo 2020, the progress in the area of smart technology is set to be massive,” he said.

According to a Kaspersky survey, costly attacks are now almost routine with 90 per cent of the 5,500 companies surveyed reporting at least one security incident and nearly half, 46 per cent of businesses, lost sensitive data due to an internal or external security threat.

Al Ketbi said that most organisations pay greater attention to developing and implementing projects. However, they need to include security right at the planning stage of a project. A security breach could jeopardise all their efforts.

By Naushad K. Cherrayil Staff Reporter

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