January 30, 2024 at 10:26AM
The UAE public sector handles 50,000 daily cyberattack attempts, including port scanning, phishing emails, DDoS, and ransomware. Ministries collaborate with the private sector to bolster resilience. Private sector faces double or triple the threats, with the financial sector most vulnerable. Annual cyber incidents in UAE businesses have risen, prompting the formation of threat intelligence-sharing partnerships.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes on cybersecurity in the United Arab Emirates:
1. The public sector in the UAE faces about 50,000 cyberattack attempts daily, with threats ranging from port scanning and phishing emails to DDoS attacks and ransomware.
2. Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, the head of cybersecurity for the UAE government, highlighted a collaboration between government ministries and the private sector to enhance resilience against cyber threats.
3. The private sector faces potentially double or triple the number of cyber threats compared to the public sector, with the financial sector being particularly vulnerable.
4. There has been an annual increase in cyber offensives against businesses in the UAE, with one report indicating that 87% of companies have experienced cyber incidents in the past two years.
5. The UAE has established threat intelligence-sharing partnerships with the US Treasury Department and several other nations to address cybersecurity challenges.
These takeaways illustrate the growing cybersecurity threats faced by both the public and private sectors in the UAE and the collaborative efforts being undertaken to address these challenges.