DUBAI // Officials have called for more cyber security cooperation in the GCC, warning of the havoc that could be caused in the region by threats such as the Wannacry ransomware cyber attack.
Speaking at the first day of the Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference in Dubai, experts said cyber attacks could target critical infrastructure such as airports, oil installations, banks and tourism networks.
“The government has a major role to play in the field of regulation. Our focus is on national security and enabling businesses,” said Ibrahim Alshamrani, executive director of operations of Saudi Arabia’s National Cyber Security Centre.
While GCC nations share vital information through their general secretariats, more coordination is required.
“Once we start investigations, we realise it’s cross border and that we cannot work alone. The challenge is on us,” he said.
“We have a close relationship between the GCC countries and cyber security, and cyber crime falls under national security. But it isn’t enough. We should be doing more.”
Links among networks also make countries in the region vulnerable. Brigadier Khalid Al Razooqi, Dubai Police director general of smart services, said a special team works closely to check daily attempts to breach the police network.
“We receive a lot of attacks on a daily basis through different channels with people trying to break into our system, but we have an excellent team that protects us,” he said.
Recognition of the need for security systems across sectors was required, he said, particularly in a smart city that would be interconnected.
“There must be more awareness for security. For the future we need to think aggressively and introduce systems only after we have a secure environment,” Brig Al Razooqi said.
“A majority of companies do not want to spend on information security budget. When we talk to them to increase the level of security systems, they say it’s not a major concern, it’s the last thing to think about.”
Experts said it was imperative to guard against exposure to cyber attacks such as the Wannacry ransomware that has affected more than 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries since it began infecting users’ files on May 12.
Over the past few years, Dubai has introduced cyber security decrees and laws. But while there were some initiatives to raise the resilience of networks linking the GCC, a consistent cyber security approach is vital.
Among critical interconnection points are internet exchanges that GCC countries share.
“This is where the attacks, viruses, the malware are distributed from. Then you have the banking systems, where transactions go past the central banks of each country,” said Rabih Dabboussi, senior vice president of UAE cyber security company, DarkMatter.
“We need to make sure we raise the resilience of the banking transactional systems, and you also have connected transport, oil and gas and tourism that are key pillars of the economy. There is not enough being done to provide a unified front to protect us.
“We need to start by making sure that the level of regulatory framework and policies are consistent and then look at inter-connection points. There have to be policies, rules and guidelines that govern the use of technology, especially when technology is in critical national infrastructure.”
Natalya Kaspersky, president of InfoWatch, a global cybersecurity solutions firm, said regulation must be an essential prerequisite before new technology is introduced.
“Imagine if an attack like Wannacry happens in the airport where everything is electronic, even passport control,” she said.
“Regulation should be consistent and organised across governments. Before, every country assessed their own technology, but now the world is global and we need governments to exchange information.
“There should be an international committee that prescribes regulation at an international and local level.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
UAE%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3E%0DJemma%20Eley%2C%20Maria%20Michailidou%2C%20Molly%20Fuller%2C%20Chloe%20Andrews%20(of%20Dubai%20College)%2C%20Eliza%20Petricola%2C%20Holly%20Guerin%2C%20Yasmin%20Craig%2C%20Caitlin%20Gowdy%20(Dubai%20English%20Speaking%20College)%2C%20Claire%20Janssen%2C%20Cristiana%20Morall%20(Jumeirah%20English%20Speaking%20School)%2C%20Tessa%20Mies%20(Jebel%20Ali%20School)%2C%20Mila%20Morgan%20(Cranleigh%20Abu%20Dhabi).%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
