In a bid to boost Abu Dhabi’s cyber security capabilities, the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) has held the Cyber Defense Challenge, in partnership with the leading cyber security solutions company Trend Micro, aimed at strengthening the protection of Abu Dhabi organizations’ servers and hybrid cloud data centers. The unique initiative comes in line with ADDA’s key strategy to collaborate with the private sector and further enhance the cybersecurity infrastructure, which is one of the main pillars of Abu Dhabi’s digital transformation agenda.
The launch of this initiative is a successful follow-up to the partnership between ADDA and Trend Micro, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to adopt the latest cybersecurity solutions and conduct a series of awareness workshops for IT government employees, providing them benefits from unique educational and professional paths in the functions of the cyber security.
ADDA implements a common security transformation framework for all Abu Dhabi government entities, which include continuing standard and detailed security audit and assessment, review and action plans. It also works to equip entities with proven and resilient security architecture, vet and test technologies, review all software developed during the digital transformation phase and continuously monitor and manage security operations.
The Cyber Defense Challenge seeks to support the technical infrastructure and cyber ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The one-day hands-on workshop led IT professionals to experience simulated cyberattacks and adopt a ‘think like a hacker’ approach to improve their capabilities on how to protect IT assets. Teams worked together to devise strategies aimed to block the attacks and competed to win the Challenge.
Mohamed Geyath, Executive Director- Information Security Operation Sector, ADDA, said: “In line Abu Dhabi’s vision to build a secure, globally competitive and sustainable knowledge-based economy, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority continues to engage in initiatives that increase the IT protection of the Emirate and the country’s digital infrastructure, systems and data. The Cyber Defense Challenge is one of the strategies that ADDA supports and promotes to help strengthen our security capabilities following innovative solutions and training, and thereby enhancing the skills of our human capital.” The workshop saw a strong turnout during the event with major participation from the public sector, including chief information security officers, IT staff to security operations, security architects, infrastructure engineers, and DevOps.
Fabio Picoli, Managing Director-GCC, Trend Micro, noted: “As the UAE’s digital footprint continues to expand, many organizations face increased risk of cyberattacks. Our partnership with ADDA on the Cyber Defense Challenge has been a success and has contributed to our efforts to increase the specialists’ awareness about hackers’ techniques and tools, and which technology solutions organizations can put in place to protect their environments.” “By exchanging best practices from global technology companies such as Trend Micro, the UAE is ideally-positioned to have the most advanced security systems and processes to enable the digital economy,” added Picoli.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE), in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA), has announced recently the launch of instant licensing services through the Abu Dhabi Government Services System,Tamm. The mutual venture aims to facilitate fast and effective innovative technologies to better serve small-size energy businesses in Abu Dhabi.
The eligible businesses in Abu Dhabi will benefit from free-of-charge two-year licenses that facilitate the minimum requirements and operational steps. With the licenses issued by Tamm within one working day, the new service aims to support the DoE’s effort to enhance customer experience, as well as support Abu Dhabi’s digital transformation journey.
Engineer Saif Salem Bamedhef, Director of Information Technology and Government Smart Services Department at DoE, highlighted the importance of innovating new ways to provide smart services that support the integration between government entities to achieve prosperity and happiness for the Abu Dhabi community. “We are proud of this partnership with ADDA,” said Bamedhef. Eng. Mohamed Abdulhameed Al Askar, Director of Government and Partnership Affairs at ADDA, reiterated the authority’s commitment towards supporting the emirate’s efforts to enhance its investment and business environment in line with Abu Dhabi Development Accelerator Program ‘Ghadan 21,’ which provides advanced digital solutions, with licensing and other services delivered competitively with respect to time and cost.
