Attacks on IT

Oman’s IT security experts handled more than 70 million attacks targeting government networks last year (5,000 per cent increase), said Dr Salim al Ruzaiki, CEO, Information Technology Authority (ITA).

They also dealt with over six million cyberattacks on government websites, a 300 per cent rise.

In view of the serious threat to government installations and networks, the Sixth Regional Cyber Security Summit held at Sheraton Oman themed its discussions on ‘Towards Efficient Cyber Resilience’.

Besides cyber security threats, experts discussed Internet of Things, data security, artificial intelligence and use of technology in health sector.

The summit was hosted by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and organised by ITU, Arab Region, and represented by Oman CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team).

One of the outcomes of the summit is expected to be the formation of the Arab Cyber Security Cooperation Team that will address the issue on a regional level.

Many more regional initiatives and agreements with international organisations are expected to materialise at the two-day meet.

Oman is ranked first among Arab countries and fourth globally on the ITU’s global cyber security index in 2017.

“We hope to achieve from this conference, awareness in the public and private sectors and in the critical infrastructure companies so they can prepare themselves and be ready. The conference will highlight on having the right policies in place,” he said.