People are the first line of defence against cyber attacks, an Emirati official said on Tuesday, stressing the importance of educating the younger generation.
Dr Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of the UAE's Cybersecurity Council, spoke to The National on the sidelines of the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi.
"The first line of defence becomes the person himself. Before opening [an email], before clicking [a link], they need to think twice," said Dr Al Kuwaiti. "That's how security comes into their DNA. And we've seen this in so many curricula through the Ministry of Education."
He said AI and cybersecurity had been incorporated into the learning experience, noting that this is the foundation for a generation that understands and prioritises digital security.
This year, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced that artificial intelligence was to be introduced as a subject across all stages of government education in the UAE.
Starting from this academic year, AI is to be taught from reception to Grade 12 in the hope future generations can develop a “deep understanding of AI from a technical perspective”, Sheikh Mohammed said previously.
Dr Al Kuwaiti said the UAE had strengthened its resilience against cybersecurity threats and cyber warfare. "People say you cannot defend 100 per cent from attacks but you build resilience," he added. "Even if you get hit, you continue going, you don't stop, you don't [get] impacted."
The Middle East has long faced a blend of cyber and maritime infrastructure threats. Cyber attacks targeting critical systems such as government agencies, finance and industrial networks have been rising in number for several years.
At the same time, in the Red Sea, a vital route for global shipping and internet traffic, there has been repeated damage to underwater cables. At the weekend, internet services slowed to a crawl in parts of the Middle East, India and Pakistan after cables in the Red Sea were severed.
Even if accidental, identifying what or who severed the cables could prove difficult, with ships using false GPS positioning to avoid being attacked. Although there is no indication the damage was the result of an attack, it has long been feared that underwater cables could become targets.
Dr Al Kuwaiti said five pillars were central to the UAE’s National Cybersecurity Strategy: policies and legislation; capability building; awareness and “a first line of defence”; innovation; and partnership.
"We cannot do any of this by ourselves. You'll see so many partners here in the private and public sectors," said Dr Al Kuwaiti. "Having all of those pillars together, you'll build great resilience."
Cyber warfare
Dr Al Kuwaiti noted that, in many of the conflicts that have taken place across geopolitical and geoeconomic arenas, one common thread persists: cyber warfare plays a role in each of these confrontations.
"I'm not just referring to deepfake. That actually allowed ... a change in the way of dealing with information warfare," he told a panel discussing geotech disruption at the Hili Forum.
Security experts have raised concerns about the growing sophistication of deepfake technology and its potential impact across the Gulf. Deepfakes – highly convincing digital forgeries that use AI to manipulate audio, images and video – have evolved rapidly, creating new and complex challenges for organisations and individuals.
"I'm referring to espionage. I'm referring to advanced persistent threats. I'm even referring to cyber criminals who have been proxies for state or non-state actors using many of those techniques, tactics and procedures in order to penetrate networks," he added. "This is where we need national security."
