No new ransomware attacks in Oman

MUSCAT: The Information Technology Authority (ITA), in cooperation with the other government entities, continue to fight ransomware attacks and “WannaCry” virus, which is spreading around the world. ITA confirms that it did not yet receive any new reports on the infection of government entities with these attacks except the report it announced earlier regarding the attacks that affected a small number of computers in one of the government entities. ITA further stresses that the temporarily suspension of some e- services in some government and private entities as a precautionary measure only.

Speaking about the preventive measures taken by government and private entities at the Sultanate, Dr Badr bin Salim al Manthri, Director-General of the ITA Information Security Division, said, “We, at ITA and in cooperation with various stakeholders inside and outside the Sultanate, are currently working to monitor and combat these cyber attacks. We also seek to make sure that all government and private entities are following and adopting the information security policies, standards and guidelines which were circulated by ITA earlier particularly the Government Network Security Architecture Framework and the Government Application and e-Services Security Architecture Framework”.

“There is no truth to the fact that the speed of the Internet has to do with the rapid spread of electronic viruses, since the viruses used in cyber attacks are small in size and do not require high Internet speed,” al Manthri said. — ONA