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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Gulf cyber attacks on rise

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RIYADH: Gulf countries must tighten coordination to fight an increasing number of cyber attacks, experts said on Monday. The comments came at an international conference in the Saudi Arabian capital after the Shamoon 2 virus in January reportedly disrupted labour ministry computers. All Gulf Cooperation Council countries are at risk, Saleh Almotairi, director-general of the Saudi National Cyber Security Centre, told the conference. “There is an increase in targeting GCC countries,” he said, noting that both financial and government bodies have been targeted. “If we cooperate we will be able to protect all sectors,” he added, reporting that his centre responded to 124 “breaches” last year.





GCC members Bahrain and Kuwait were also the targets of increasing attacks over the past year, according to cyber security experts. Hackers tried to penetrate the computer systems at Bahrain’s interior ministry, said Lieutenant Colonel Bassam Al Maraj, a ministry director. Quasai Alshatti, director-general of Kuwait’s Central Agency for Information Technology, said financial institutions in his country have also been targeted. The Shamoon virus was first deployed against the Saudi energy sector in 2012. “There is no way you can prevent the attack,” Almotairi said of the virus. Qatar began its cyber security strategy in 2014, Khalid al Hashmi, the emirate’s Under-Secretary of Cyber Security, told the conference, which continues on Tuesday. — AFP


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