With more information moved to the internet every day, the importance of sound cybersecurity defense on a national level is apparent, but it doesn’t stop there.

By Xische Editorial, April 12, 2022

In an technologically advanced and rapidly transforming country like the UAE, cybersecurity is integral to all future successes. The ongoing crisis in Ukraine is evidence of the importance of sound cybersecurity defense on a national level, but it doesn’t stop there. As the fighting has consumed towns, hackers on both sides of the conflict have been targeting critical infrastructure with crippling cyber attacks. It’s a vision of the future of warfare that every country needs to prepare for.  

This is particularly concerning for the Middle East. According to PwC, the continuing success of digitization initiatives among the countries of the Middle East brings with it an added and growing exposure to the risk of cyber attacks. These attacks — by other states and by increasingly sophisticated criminal rings from around the world — have the potential to derail the progress of digitization, and threaten the benefits delivered through it.

But it’s not just cyber attacks on the national scale. Individuals are being targeted as well. Ransomware attacks, which have increased in recent years, show that individuals can also be subject to cyber-attacks. The key to overcoming this challenge is a savvy investment strategy in myriad technologies to boost cybersecurity defenses, from cloud infrastructure to autonomous systems, quantum computing, and even space technologies. The UAE is doing just that. 

Speaking with The National, Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, executive director of the UAE's National Electronic Security Authority, outlined the UAE’s approach to the unprecedented cybersecurity challenges facing the world. “Everybody wants to go towards the digital transformations, but going there without a clear plan, without standardization and regulated aspects will impact them and will impact national security efforts,” he said. “With these technologies and because they are all connected, and we are connected, all of our data is in the cloud, all of our entities' data are in the cloud, we need to build the culture of cybersecurity.”

Building on that culture of cybersecurity can also lead to private sector opportunities. The UAE Cyber Security Council signed a flurry of agreements with leading technology companies to strengthen cybersecurity infrastructure at home and abroad. The partnerships were signed with companies including Huawei, UAE-based Cyber Protection X Holding and Amazon Web Service at the Global Information Security Expo and Conference. Amazon Web Services and Huawei are two of the world’s leading infrastructure and equipment providers.

These partnerships build on the various cyber insurance outfits already in the marketplace. The steady flood of deals between Emirati companies and international businesses (such as this one signed recently with an Israeli firm) this year demonstrate how serious the UAE is in becoming one of the world’s most protected digital countries. PwC echoes this concern. “The gap between the cyber-security capabilities of public- and private-sector entities in the Middle East and the capabilities of their adversaries in cyberspace already represents a tangible risk  and it is growing daily,” the consultants note. “To close this gap, we believe that the governments of the Middle East need to take a strategic approach to rethink and revamp their national cyber-security efforts.

With more information moved to the internet every day, cybersecurity is one of the most important (and growing) technology sectors. While the growth of investments into private companies working in this sector is encouraging for the continued development of the local knowledge economy, the most important initiatives must focus on educating average people about the dangers of cyber security. 

Through community awareness campaigns and public outreach, the UAE can educate its population to be internet and cyber savvy. From this foundation, the country can become a beacon for the region and the rest of the world. Developing knowledge economies such as the UAE are on the bleeding edge of developments that will define the subsequent decades of technological innovation. It’s time to get protected.