The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) is launching the National Security Awareness Campaign in the Middle East IT Security Conference (MEITSEC 2007), which will take place on November 12 – 15, 2007, at the American University of Sharjah. The conference is planned in association with Sharjah Police, and will bring under the spotlight law enforcement role in fighting cyber terrorism.
The National Security Awareness Campaign aims at building a UAE safe cyber culture by informing the public of the latest cyber threats that they may face in their day-to-day life.
The Campaign is one of the UAE Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT) first deliverables to the UAE community, planning to increase the awareness in the field of electronic security. The Campaign is focused on integrating electronic security in every aspect of the individuals’ life and practices.
H.E. Mohamed Al Ghanim, TRA Board Member & Director General, stated that: “The TRA declared its strong conviction that the key element in preventing cyber threats is to formulate a National Strategy Plan for cyber security incidents. Therefore, we took this step forward by establishing the aeCERT, a group of young UAE National engineers dedicated to fulfill the goals set by the TRA to serve the UAE Telecom and ICT Sectors.”
In this respect, Mr. Mohammed Gheyath, Director of Technical Affairs at the TRA commented: “With this young fresh blood effort, the aeCERT is successfully setting up its performance, including setting up the teams and process of each function. The functions, however, include the establishment of the proper procedures and processes in how to conduct proper contacts and contracts with the parties of different sectors that will benefit from the aeCERT services, such as banking, financial, telecom, educational, and governmental entities; including actual recruitment and training, building the expertise, and the hands-on system.”
In her turn, Eng. Fatma Bazargan, Network and Security Engineer at the TRA, stated: “The TRA is launching the National Security Awareness Campaign at MEITSEC 2007, for a period of 12 months divided into four stages, where each stage will hold a theme. The theme of the first quarter is entitled ‘Protecting your Online Identity and Security Essentials’. Under this theme, the campaign will address three modules: Information Protection, Password Security and Social Engineering”.
“The aeCERT will be releasing e-learning modules every month focused on its theme and the distinct target audiences, such as business and general users, students and children. These security awareness e-learning modules will be available directly from the aeCERT web-portal, where each module will be supplemented with national seminars and supporting material”, Eng. Bazargan concluded.
In the final analysis, this initiative represents one of the main objectives of the TRA with respect to a safer and an established UAE cyber space, serving the national economy and the Telecom and ICT Sectors.
