UAE Cyber Experts Warn Against Unprecedented Criminal Threat
Category: Technology
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Businesses, banks, governments and the public are facing a rising threat from increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals.

A series of experts told The National that many are leaving themselves open to the threat of costly online attacks, with rising expertise among scammers driven by lucrative underground markets for personal information and the remote chances of detection and punishment.

Hacking gangs in countries with burgeoning cybercrime industries such as Russia, China and Iran, where criminals are rarely extradited even if identified by overseas authorities, have been blamed in part for the growing threat.

Human error remains the biggest vulnerability when it comes to fighting cybercrime. This is especially true in a society as diverse as the UAE that comprises a mix of nationalities, income and education levels

Suvo Sarkar, Emirates NBD

Individuals, often targeted through scams over messaging apps or social media accounts, also face having their digital lives – details of bank transactions, passwords, profiles and emails – sold online without their knowledge.

Meanwhile, state-sponsored hackers are increasingly using their skills not to steal money, but to sow discord and division within rival countries, while also gaining access to intellectual property and other secret information.

Breaches in the Middle East are “are both widespread, frequently undetected, and increasingly appear to be state-sponsored,” Dark Matter, a cyber-security company in the UAE with government contracts, warned earlier this summer.

It called for improved vigilance, describing the situation as “critical” with cyber criminals posing a “potentially devastating” risk to national security and citizens.

“Cybersecurity breaches in the region pose a genuine risk to critical sectors as cybercriminals harness new technologies to launch sophisticated and targeted attacks,” said Karim Sabbagh, chief executive of Abu Dhabi's DarkMatter Group.

“The intent of the attacks we’re observing is to undermine the progressive social, economic, and digital agendas in the Middle East. Organisations in the region have a short window of time to transform their cyber security posture and demonstrate stronger resilience in the face of escalating and increasingly sophisticated cyber security threats.”

In has been estimated that organised cyber crimes accounted for more then $1 trillion (Dh3.67tn) in stolen assets in 2018, almost 20 per cent of which was taken in the Middle East. Other research suggests the region is particularly vulnerable to data breaches. Another estimate predicts that $5 trillion (Dh18.4tn) is at risk over the next five years globally.

Businesses in the region were becoming increasingly aware of the importance of security, experts said, following a series of high-profile breaches. Careem, the ride-hailing app, fell victim to a huge leak last year when data of up to 14 million customers were stolen, while Sony and Marriott Hotels are among countless other companies to seen their reputations damaged after failing to protect information.

However, some are still neglecting to set appropriate budgets or send staff on training programmes, security experts said. It was also warned that security systems were often failing to keep pace with advances in malware, leaving some defences obsolete.

The roll-out of 5G and advances in artificial intelligence, which will lead to technology playing an ever greater role in everyday lives, will also present new dangers.

A culture shift which would mean increased intelligence-sharing within the private sector was needed to help turn the tide against criminals, industry figures said.

Suvo Sarkar, head of retail banking at Emirates NBD, the country's largest lender, said the bank was investing significant sums in keeping people safe, including through public awareness campaigns and improved infrastructure.

However, he said that human error, with scammers increasingly producing convincing fake websites or malicious social media apps, remained a major cause of successful attacks.

“Cybersecurity is of growing importance worldwide to organisations across a wide variety of sectors, as fraudsters mount increasingly sophisticated attacks against unsuspecting users,” he said.

“One of the most common types of cybercrime facing banking customers globally is social engineering based cyber-attacks. These scams aim to manipulate human weaknesses to reveal confidential information. With fraudsters developing increasingly sophisticated means of accessing data, human error remains the biggest vulnerability when it comes to fighting cybercrime.

“This is especially true in a society as diverse as the UAE that comprises a mix of nationalities, income and education levels, and fraudsters target anyone and everyone.”

04 Sep, 2019 0 689
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