Dubai unveils new cyber resilience plans to thwart cyberattacks

Dubai’s official government body for cybersecurity, Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) has carried out a cyber resilience strategy to safeguard the vital infrastructure of the Emirate and improve the government’s preparedness against cyberattacks.

DESC said that the program named as the Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) aims to safeguard many of the most important functions of the city across several sectors.

Yousef Al Shaibani, Director General of DESC said, “Safeguarding future solutions and ensuring the sustainability of government and private critical services are an important priority of the center. The CII initiative sets to fortify the continuity of services and contribute towards achieving excellence in cyberspace.”

According to DESC, Emergency services, health services, electricity and water, government, transport, oil and gas, information and communication technology, finance, banking, trade, tourism, and real estate are the vital sectors in Dubai.

Ayesha Al Marzooqi, a senior permits official at DESC said, “The CII initiative will help provide a higher level of cybersecurity for critical services and their supporting systems … protect them from cyber risks and ensure their continuity under all circumstances.”

“In addition to defining the interconnectedness of these services and systems across all sectors, this project will provide a high level of electronic security for critical services,” she added.

DESC said that the plan was generated to comply with the Cyber Security Strategy of Dubai, which was introduced in May 2017, and protecting organizations and business processes is a part of the effective implementation of this policy.

In November, the telecoms regulator of the UAE reported a 12.2 percent monthly increase in cyber-attack attempts against the federal government agencies of the country. According to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), over 77,680 attempts were stopped in November, a rise of over 8,474 attempts on October’s estimates.

The Critical Infrastructure Initiative was unveiled at the Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference which is the part of Dubai’s Gitex Technology Week 2020.