Abu Dhabi: In opposition to the backdrop of a spike in cyber assaults globally, the UAE Cyber Safety Council has warned customers that criminals are utilizing quicker and extra focused strategies to hack customers’ gadgets.
Talking to Gulf Information, Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, the Council’s chairman, stated that the Council had just lately alerted customers of a number of vulnerabilities within the working programs of the gadgets of main worldwide corporations, permitting the attacker to regulate the gadgets.
The Council’s warning centered on defending belongings and delicate info, stating the steps that have to be adopted to supply safety for all corporations and authorities establishments.
In Could, after the discharge of Fortinet’s newest International Menace Panorama Report (which lined the second half of 2023), the Council advisable putting in the newest model of software program of a significant firm so as to keep away from any hacks or leaks of non-public info and knowledge.
Picture Credit score: Provided
Prime targets
The Report discovered that cyber attackers elevated the pace at which they exploit vulnerabilities by 43 per cent, indicating a rising risk.
“Ransomware assaults will proceed to make headlines, with the UAE and the broader Center East being prime targets”, Dr Al Kuwaiti stated. “Moreover, we’re witnessing an increase in Distributed Denial of Service [DDoS] assault in opposition to UAE organisations, notably in opposition to our crucial infrastructure, amid a difficult geopolitical local weather that amplifies cyber threats.”
He added: “It’s in opposition to this backdrop that the UAE Cyber Safety Council is proud to introduce the State of the UAE Cybersecurity Report, which affords a complete and correct evaluation of our nation’s cyber risk surroundings, offering actionable insights and proposals. With cyber assaults on the rise, it’s crucial all the ecosystem to interact proactively in lowering the nation’s vulnerability to those threats.”
Final month, the Council had additionally referred to as for the necessity to defend belongings and improve “bodily digital safety” to forestall hacks and monetary losses, stating that weak bodily safety can result in the leaking of corporations’ confidential knowledge, and authorized obligations and monetary repercussions for corporations.
The Council defined that bodily digital safety is the safety of knowledge and gadgets from bodily actions which will trigger loss or harm to digital belongings.
Safety measures
The Council recognized 5 measures to boost bodily safety:
• Watch out to not share delicate info
• Make sure that unauthorised people can’t entry non-public knowledge
• Defend printed paperwork that include delicate info
• Observe gadgets and erase knowledge remotely whether it is misplaced or stolen
• Use locked safes or secured storage options
Commenting on the International Menace Panorama Report, Dr Al Kuwaiti stated: “The worldwide panorama of cyber threats signifies a worrying image of the growing pace during which cyber attackers exploit safety vulnerabilities…”
He added: “The Report attributes this acceleration to a number of elements, together with, firstly, synthetic intelligence, as attackers make use of synthetic intelligence [AI] strategies to automate the processes of trying to find and testing vulnerabilities, which allows them to use them a lot quicker than human capabilities.
Income from piracy
Dr Al Kuwait stated one other issue us is “worthwhile commerce”, as digital piracy operations generate large income for attackers, which motivates them to always develop their strategies and seek for new vulnerabilities.
To deal with this fast growth in hacking applied sciences, Dr Al Kuwaiti referred to as for automation and lowering burdens, as AI can automate many repetitive and arduous duties within the discipline of cybersecurity, which reduces the burden on human analysts and permits them to concentrate on extra complicated duties and steady safety, as programs based mostly on AI can work across the clock.
UAE takes motion
“We wish to emphasise that the Cyber Safety Council performs a pivotal position in combating these hacks,” Dr Al Kuwaiti stated, itemizing measures reminiscent of coaching nationwide cadres to take care of digital assaults, enhancing the coordination between numerous cyber operations centres, elevating consciousness amongst neighborhood members in regards to the significance of cyber safety, and the right way to defend themselves from digital assaults.
