UAE central bank governor said a minimum set of standards for cybersecurity controls will be established in coordination with the National Electronic Security Authority
The central bank of the United Arab Emirates has taken a set of decisions to mitigate cyber-risks that are likely to increase with the digitalisation of financial services, its governor said today.
A minimum set of required standards of cybersecurity controls for financial institutions will be set up under the central bank’s jurisdiction, in coordination with the UAE National Electronic Security Authority, Mubarak Rashed Khamis Al Mansoori, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE said.
“A dedicated department for these matters will be set up at the central bank to make sure that these standards are indeed implemented,” he said at a banking event held in Abu Dhabi.
The central bank has also initiated a joint working group with the UAE Banks Federation to follow up on developments and offer recommendations to banks.
A third decision announced by the central bank is to coordinate with stakeholders to raise awareness on cyber threats and the mechanisms to lower these risks.
“The recent high profile of cyber-attacks on financial institutions across the globe has presented a wake-up call for the financial community to work together and lay the foundations for the effective control and sound risk management frameworks in order to enhance the pillars of sound cybersecurity controls,” Al Mansoori said.
In September, the UAE Banks Federation partnered with a United States-based company to create a centre for information sharing and analysis, aggregating cyber security data from 13 banks to analyse the level of threat, Reuters reported.
In 2016, the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) reportedly foiled 1,054 cyber attacks, according to the Emirates News Agency, WAM. An additional 561 attacks against government, semi-government and private entities were foiled in the first half of 2017.
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