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Oman hosts cybersecurity drill

28 Sep 2021 By OUR CORRESPONDENT

Muscat – The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT), represented by Oman National Computer Emergency Readiness Team (OCERT), organised the ninth cybersecurity drill for the Arab countries and member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on Tuesday.

The drill, themed ‘Enhancing Cybersecurity Readiness’, saw participation of over 20 countries. The annual drill keeps pace with the latest developments in the field of cybersecurity, cyberattacks and malware.

The drill this year focused on simulating various cybersecurity incidents, and ways to address such risks.
The drill aimed to unify cooperation in the field of cybersecurity in the Arab region and strengthen the role of the International Telecommunication Union in building confidence and security in the use of information and communication technology in the Arab and regional countries. It also aimed to raise awareness of the mechanisms and procedures used to deal with various electronic risks and threats.

The drill each year targets the national cybersecurity centres in Arab countries and the member states of the OIC.

OCERT was chosen for the fourth time in a row to host the exercise as it chairs the Board of Directors of OIC-CERT.

Oman foiled a staggering 14bn cyberattacks over the course of 2019, MTCIT revealed in its 2019 Annual Report.

In addition to uncovering and tackling 332 cybersecurity incidents in 2019, Oman thwarted 1,371,110,344 malicious attempts against government networks.

In 2019, Oman CERT discovered and handled 483,794 attempted service attacks, 152,480 web attacks, 152 malware attacks, 89,505 mobile attacks and 2,099,498 phishing attacks. The ministry said it always supports the security of government entities by providing network protection, information systems security, responding to cyberattacks, and threats related to government information security and providing security to the cyberspace in Oman.

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