Cyber threats decreasing in Qatar
Use of latest technology and rising awareness about data breaches in Qatar have helped control cyber threats, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology H E Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber said yesterday.
Speaking at the opening of the Information Security for the Financial Sector Conference, the Minister said that the cooperation, with both the public and private sector, was successful in limiting cyber threats.
The Ministry has developed a cyber-security strategy that specifies five goals: The first of which is protecting the country’s critical infrastructure. The second is applying international standards for limiting cyber security threats, while the third is encouraging the use of secure online services.
The fourth is raising the capabilities in Qatar in terms of determining cyber threats and dealing with them, whereas the final goal is putting a legal framework that guarantees a safe cyberspace.
The Minister said that ICT Qatar will continue to work with the Qatar Central Bank to ensure a more transparent cyber space, in accordance with Qatar National Vision 2030.
The Minister said that the Qatari financial sector has always been ahead of the trend and incorporated the latest technology in its bid to provide a special service for its customers.
One of the challenges faced, the Minister said, is that cyber threats are increasing and always complicated to deal with. This coupled with the fact that it can attack from anywhere across the globe.
The Minister said that cyber threats are so severe nowadays that people can now purchase a software for less than $2,000 and use it to steal banking information.
A report prepared by Verizon on that matter in 2013 showed that 40 percent of the data breaches targeted the financial sector. Some 80 percent of those breaches took place from a foreign country, the minister added. Also according to the report, cyber criminals are after financial gains three quarters of the time.
