Users are warned against the "shortcut trap" of cybercriminals

"Communications Regulation": 674,000 cyber attacks within 9 months

The Communications Regulatory Authority has successfully dealt with 232 electronic incidents.

Photography: Patrick Castillo

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) thwarted 674 thousand and 136 cyber attacks in the country during the first nine months of this year, after attempts to fraud and electronic piracy and phishing increased after the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic globally, and the high demand for online purchases, as well as the use of Online services and platforms for banks and retail stores.

In a report released yesterday, entitled "Electronic Security in the Emirates last September," the authority stated that, through its national computer emergency response team, 118,815 cyber attacks were thwarted and prevented during September 2020.

She added that the attacks varied between "malicious software" by 62%, which are programs that are created with the purpose of destroying systems and programs, affecting them, or gaining powers in them illegally, and these programs include: viruses, ransomware, and spyware, And others.

The attacks also included searches for “security flaws” at a rate of 26%, which are software errors in systems that can be exploited by criminals to tamper with and influence systems, while “phishing” attacks accounted for 12%, which is a process in which the criminal assumes his character. Corporations or trusted entities, to deceive the user into handing over his private data, such as password and bank card, through fake messages or websites.

The Communications Regulatory Authority confirmed that it had succeeded in dealing with 232 electronic incidents during the past month, five of which had a severe impact, 101 medium-impact incidents, and the rest were low-impact attacks, noting that the most common incidents were: “unauthorized entry” and “activity Not authorized, ”and“ fraudulent and fake e-mail. ”

The authority asked users to beware of shortened links, which are usually a "trap" of hackers and cyber criminals, pointing out that it works, in cooperation with telecommunications service providers in the country, to block links to fraudulent websites, as soon as a report is received, to protect users from them, and from Various damages.

The Communications Regulatory Authority called on users not to interact with these links, to inform the security authorities about them through the “eCrime” platform and the “Al-Amin” service, and to always make sure of the content of any messages by communicating with the official source directly.

She pointed out that it, represented by its computer emergency team, publishes awareness-raising tips and guidance to the community about these links and campaigns, and organizes training courses to protect government and private agencies from these attacks.

"HTS" thwarted 118,815 attacks during September 2020.

The attacks varied between: malware, security vulnerabilities, and phishing.

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