March 02, 2010

The Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HA-AD), the regulatory body of the healthcare sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA), to improve standards and practices of information security and safeguard the IT infrastructure at the Authority against cyber crime.

The MOU was signed by H.E. Engineer Zaid Al Siksek, CEO of HAAD and H.E. Mohammed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General of Telecommunications Regularity Authority and duly authorized signatory for and on behalf of the Computer Emergency and Response Team (aeCERT), during the International Security National Resilience (ISNR) Exhibition and Conference held from 1 – 3 March at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).

Under the memorandum, the Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT) is to provide HAAD with guidance, education, and awareness on the risks and breaches of the Internet; provide advice on communications systems; information security and control; respond to emergencies and crises; in addition to providing research and analysis on information security.

H.E. Engineer Zaid Al Siksek, CEO of HAAD said: “Better control over elements of information security and protection of our database is among the most important priorities in HAAD, with the help of aeCERT we will guarantee our business continuity and information security. This MOU fulfills our commitment to Abu Dhabi’s government information security initiative.”

“Security, privacy and confidentiality of data and information serves the interest of all our customers, partners and investors, and is a step to accountable, credible and efficient business dealings for the healthcare sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi", H.E. added.

HE Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General of TRA emphasized the importance of working on creating a safe and well secured national digital infrastructure that is protected against all kinds of cyber attacks and possible threats be it targeted at its ICT infrastructure or at the security of electronically saved data and information. In doing so, TRA employs latest technologies and best practices in the field. He added that “this MoU will allow the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi to benefit from the services offered by the aeCERT in the fields of guidance, education, and awareness, surveillance assistant in addition to research and analysis of current situation and future threats related to cyber security”.

The MOU does not specify a time frame of this cooperation and does not impose any contractual obligations on the parties, but it opens the door for further cooperation in the future.