GCC adopts UAE anti-cyber crime methods

The Gulf Cooperation Council's 11th GCC CERTS Committee has adopted the UAE experience in combatting cyber blackmailing at a meeting attended by the General Authority for Regulating  Telecommunication Sector (TRA), represented by its subsidiary, the UAE Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT), held last week in Riyadh.

The meeting was chaired by Sulaiman Abdelrahman Al Samhan, Digital Forensics Supervisor, Communications and Information Technology Commission, CITC, of Saudi Arabia.

The UAE was represented by Adel Al Muhairi, TRA’s aeCERT Director, and Ghaith Al Mazaina, TRA’s aeCERT Business Affairs Manager. The UAE delegation highlighted its experiences in combatting cyber blackmailing and shed light on the campaign that was launched by TRA in cooperation with Al Ameen Service by Dubai Police with the aim of raising awareness of cyber security threats. The committee decided to adopt UAE’s experience so all member states benefit from it.

Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, UAE TRA Director-General, said, "We are delighted to have our experience adopted by the committee as this reflects the UAE’s success in combatting cyber blackmailing and it highlights its effective contribution to protecting the infrastructure of this vital sector at a local and regional level. Cyber security has become an integral part of our societies’ safety, and especially in light of the rapid developments in the ICT sector. Accordingly, the TRA is always keen to cooperate with all concerned parties to develop innovative solutions and mechanisms that safeguard the sector optimally."

"We believe that knowledge and awareness are the shield that protect our users from being exploited by cyber-criminals. Driven by this belief, we collaborated with Al Ameen service to spread awareness about cyber security threats. We are committed to making the internet safer for UAE users, therefore, our tireless efforts include supporting and enabling all initiatives that are launched with the aim of providing a safe electronic environment," he added

Adel Al Muhairi said, "The meeting entailed discussing various significant topics that served one purpose, which is, enhancing information security standards and practices and providing a safe environment for internet users across the region."

Ghaith Al Mazaina said, "The Cyber Blackmailing campaign is one of the successful campaigns that was welcomed by Emirati society as it contained numerous awareness messages. It has been widely publicised by different radio and TV channels, in addition to social media channels. We value our strong ties with our brothers in the GCC, and that is why we were keen to share with them our experience to raise awareness and ensure that the region benefits from this experience."

The meeting’s agenda entailed discussing the GCC CERTS Committee working mechanism and tasks, activating the GCC Information Security Strategy, setting the cooperation framework between GCC CERTS and the regional and international centers, in addition to activating the emergency response training simulation, benefitting from the fiber-optic infrastructure in the e-linking project, and collaborating with the United States in the field of cyber security.

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