November 16th, 2016: Dr. Marc Dacier, Principal Scientist for the Cybersecurity Group of the Qatar Computing Research Institute has told a gathering of international security experts and engineers that cyber security issues should be handled at the board-level, in view of the growing threats posed by professional hackers.
Speaking during the 41st IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks, which was hosted in partnership with Canadian University Dubai (CUD), Dr. Dacier said, “The security of companies can no longer be dismissed as a mere technical issue. A Chief Information Security Officer is not in a position to take decisive action, as he or she could be overruled or side-lined by higher authorities, such as the Vice President. Cyber security now needs board-level supervision and decision making.”
According to Dr. Dacier, countries like the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia that enjoy a developed environment a from technology point of view, are ripe targets for mischief-makers of this kind. As e-government becomes more prevalent, the threats are getting bigger. Furthermore, there is a global trend of getting critical infrastructure (gas, oil, etc.) to be more and more interconnected via the Internet. With new technologies, works like liquefaction of gas and desalination have become more sophisticated; to be efficient they need to be well tuned, and to be well tuned they need to collect data, and do fine tuning. That is why cyber security is more important than ever.
Speaking about the threats to companies and communities, he said wider awareness is required, especially with the Build Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon. For example, if you connect your computer at home, your kid’s laptop might be compromising your laptop. Suddenly your machine gets infected and you bring it to the office, and despite firewall and other safeguards, you bring the threat inside. So this poses dangers to your bank account, and other sensitive data. This calls for coordination with other governments, law enforcement and forensic agencies as the attacks would come from international players.
Discussing the steps being taken in the region, he referred to Qatar’s decision to include cyber security as one of three national grand challenges. He said, “Qatar National Research Lab was set up with huge investments. We have around 20 people now, and we are growing, with 5/6 positions to be filled. We do research that is impactful by collaborating with local stakeholders, something that is not too common in Europe and the US, where industry is industry and research is research. These developments will go a long way to boosting cyber security in the region.”
Dr. Dacier warned that worse things still lie ahead of us, as there are a real body of professionals behind hacking and other cyber security issues. “Companies are being hacked, accounts are being stolen. The underground economy is thriving”, he said.
“It is clear that these guys are after money. But, I believe it is not ‘just’ about money. If it was just about money, that would be kind of okay. The truth is that some of these hackers have more nefarious and dangerous designs and motives. That is what we need to guard against and take preventive steps.”
Gallery
