Creating the position of cybersecurity director responds to the demands and developments of life in the UAE. The role has political, economic, technological and even legislative dimensions. It is essential. Arab countries should take similar steps because their digital infrastructure remains unsatisfactory, does not match the ambitions of Arab youth and future generations, and fails to keep pace with technological progress in the East and West.
Geopolitical and Economic Dimensions
The UAE in general, and Dubai in particular, has an economic system whose companies and institutions depend on electronic systems. Damage to those systems can harm the national economy. Cybersecurity experts know that, according to Kaspersky Lab, the UAE ranks 36th globally among countries most exposed to cyberattacks, while Saudi Arabia ranks 25th.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid also announced the launch of a company working on a unified digital currency, a forward-looking and sound initiative. Preparations must be made for the difficulties this system may face, particularly because government bodies will be connected to the currency and payments and financial transactions will need protection.
Technological Dimensions
Dubai is fertile ground for technology projects. It supported ventures later acquired for substantial sums, including Careem by Uber and Souq by Amazon. Entire districts are dedicated to technology companies: Dubai Silicon Oasis, TECOM, where Huawei is based, and Dubai Internet City, home to Microsoft. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid called for a smart government long ago, increasing digital use. More recently, he directed Dubai Government to make transactions 100% smart and paper use 0% by 2021. This means all our data will be stored electronically, so even a small breach can threaten our privacy and pose a major risk to technological infrastructure.
The pandemic also brought distance learning and remote work into operation. After the UAE's successful experience, these will undoubtedly continue at least partly in the future. That means enormous daily use of technology: a major change in life that requires cybersecurity to play its part as an integral component of safety.
Legislative Dimensions
A recent decision concerning insults through WhatsApp ruled that they should not be treated as a cybercrime requiring deportation. In my view, that decision was very, very long overdue. Cybercrime law generally lags far behind across Arab countries. Even those trying to develop it often copy legislation without properly adapting it to the considerable differences between our societies and Western civilisation. Those responsible are lawyers rather than cybersecurity specialists and are not experienced in developing digital policies. We therefore need to restructure general cybercrime law and the internal rules of institutions and platforms operating in the country.
Political Dimensions
The role would establish a central reference point for information security policymaking and an index measuring the security of government bodies and agencies. We already have performance measures, for example. I believe there will be an information security measure too; if none exists, I propose one here.