The United Arab Emirates' Cyber Security Council issued a warning to all government agencies this morning, urging them to be on the lookout for potential cyber assaults on the country's infrastructure and national digital assets.
According to reports from earlier today by the Emirates News Agency, the UAE government's Cyber Security Council has issued a call for all institutions in the country to initiate the cyber emergency system.
He also urged the United Arab Emirates Cyber Security Council to protect the country's most critical infrastructure from cyber threats and educate government officials about how to spot and stop malicious cyber activity.
UAE issues cyberattack warning
The prevalence of cybercrime in recent years has increased security concerns for everyone from consumers to corporations to governments.
Cybercriminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to hack into systems and steal potentially sensitive information.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made progress in its fight against cybercrime.
This week, the government's chief of cybersecurity, Mohammed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, claimed that the kingdom thwarts more than 50,000 attempts daily.
Most at risk, he said, are the banking, financial, healthcare, and oil and gas industries.
Mr. Al Kuwaiti reported in March that the number of ransomware assaults in the UAE has dropped by more than 70 percent at the beginning of 2023 compared to the same time last year.
He added that this was the same rate of drop as at the beginning of 2021, and that it was the result of increased cooperation between the government and foreign agencies, most notably Interpol, in an effort to safeguard the country's internet.
Ransomware, a form of malicious software that hijacks a computer and holds it hostage until a ransom is paid, is becoming increasingly common.
According to a recent assessment by the software firm Group-IB, the number of people involved in operating ransomware has expanded from small hacker groups to big organisations.
