At the inauguration of 3rd Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) conference organised in partnership with UK’s Institute of Risk Management (IRM), the MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), HE Saeed Mohammed al Tayer revealed that TRA’s aeCERT foiled 561 cyberattacks in UAE during the first half of 2017 including 284 attacks on government and semi-government websites, and 277 attacks on private-sector websites.
Attacks during this period accounted for 53% of the total attacks in 2016, reflecting the high frequency of hacking attempts on public and private websites. That’s why this conference is an important platform to learn about the latest developments, technologies, and best practices in cyber security from prominent experts and specialists.
The ERM conference was held last week in Dubai, that was attended by HE Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, CEO of Dubai Electronic Security Centre; HE Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), and over 500 experts and specialists in cyber security and risk management from the public and private sectors.
Speakers at the conference included Jamie Woodruff, one of the world’s leading authorities on cyber security and a prominent ‘ethical’ hacker in Europe; Christopher Gardner, one of the world’s leading speakers of leadership and motivation in risk management; and Dr. Tommy Weir, a bestselling author and inspiring speaker about strategic leadership for the future. The conference discussed mechanisms and ways to achieve organisational strategic objectives by adopting an effective proactive approach to identify, assess, and prioritise risks and define priorities.
“This year’s conference’s theme is ‘Risk and Cyber Security 2017,’ which is especially important considering the increasing challenges and threats resulting from rapid technological advances, and the accelerated developments in smart transformation. Cyber security has become a key requirement for smart cities. And organising this conference in Dubai emphasises the UAE’s leadership in consolidating cyber security, to keep up with the widespread use of smart technologies and their accompanying risks,” said Al Tayer.
Elaborating on the cyber security hazards Al Tayer said “In May, thousands of organisations worldwide were infected with ransom malware, which encrypted data and demanded a ransom to unlock it. Hypothetical cloud-service attack scenarios by Lloyd’s, a global insurance market leader, and Cyence, a cyber-risk analytics platform, estimate that the average losses caused by such a disruption could range from USD4.6 billion to USD53 billion, but actual losses could be as high as USD121 billion.”