The Dubai Financial Services Authority has warned institutions against increasing the risk of cyber attacks, noting that its information platform related to cyber threats has attracted more than 130 licensed companies and companies registered in the Dubai International Financial Center since its launch in January.
The authority stated in a statement today, that the platform provided members with technical information and indicators on many cyber threats, with an average of 160 new threats per week.
She added that the platform is working to collect information about the threats that target the Middle East and North Africa, and in particular the UAE. The authority indicated that the most prominent threats affecting the financial sector fall into three main categories, namely direct targeting of bank customers to obtain data on credit cards and bank statements, malicious ransom attacks, and targeting the financial sector by cyber crime groups.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority indicated that it has noticed an increase in the number of attacks using known and new malware, in addition to a sharp rise since March in the numbers of newly registered suspicious websites that hide behind information about the "Covid-19" pandemic.
“Cybersecurity is the responsibility of everyone, and partnerships between the public and private sectors are the best way to achieve this, and this is why we urge all companies to cooperate and exchange information about cyber threats, and we also believe that our cooperation with companies Other regulatory and professional bodies are extremely necessary to increase awareness of cybersecurity among all stakeholders. ”
Al-Awadi pointed out that in the field of cybersecurity, individuals are usually the weak point of any institution, and therefore, cybercrime perpetrators design attack campaigns using many social media techniques.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority launched the information platform on cyber threats on January 21, 2020, becoming the first platform of its kind to be led by a financial services regulator in the region. This platform is the fruit of the close cooperation with the Dubai Cyber Security Center, the National Computer Emergency Response Team at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and the Computer Incident Response Center in Luxembourg (CIRCL).