The Cyber ​​Security Council carries out a specialized cyber exercise in cooperation with “IMERSEV”

Today, the Cyber ​​Security Council carried out a specialized cyber exercise in cooperation with IMERSEV, a company specializing in the field of stabilizing the development of people-focused cyber resilience.

This comes within the framework of enhancing the cyber readiness of government agencies in the country in light of the current circumstances taking place in the region, which require the continuation and strengthening of readiness and preparedness in various cyber fields to protect the country’s cyber space from various risks by using the latest technologies and means to prevent any potential electronic or cyber penetrations or attacks.

During the exercise, the Council’s specialized teams, in cooperation with specialists from IMERSEV, conducted an advanced cyber simulation that focused on ways to confront, respond to, and stop a potential sabotage cyberattack targeting shared services between the government and critical infrastructure.

The exercise focused on raising the level of cyber preparedness among all participants by providing a realistic threat and simulation experience that includes expectations for making basic decisions in real pressure conditions, which helps build effective response capabilities before any real crisis occurs.

The specialized cyber exercise aimed to test best practices under extreme pressure, in the areas of incident response, threat intelligence, and business continuity management in light of crises, and to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the procedures currently in place, allowing for an assessment of the effectiveness of the plans drawn up in confronting the development of attacks from the stage of initial suspicion to complete operational disruption, which enhances institutional and governmental capabilities to maintain vital operations without interruption.

This exercise emphasizes the importance of effective communication, especially as it focused on communicating policies and procedures for dealing with incidents to all participants, especially with regard to communication mechanisms, contact points, and exchanging information quickly and confidentially between concerned parties, to ensure a smooth flow of information during crises and to avoid any gaps in coordination that may hinder rapid response, as the teams’ ability to share sensitive data in a safe and organized manner is tested under conditions of increasing pressure.

For his part, Dr. Mohammed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity for the UAE Government, confirmed that the Council is continuing its efforts to protect and secure the country’s cyberspace in all circumstances, stressing the Council’s ability, in cooperation with all concerned parties, to safeguard the country’s cyberspace and digital assets and enhance the stability of its institutions in all circumstances.

He explained that the individual is the first line of defense in the cyber system through digital awareness that contributes to confronting any electronic or cyber attacks, noting that this cyber exercise seeks to understand the current capabilities and readiness of the concerned parties by identifying gaps and areas for improvement based on the performance of the teams measured in a way supported by data during the simulation, where every step and interaction is monitored to extract learned lessons that contribute to developing strategies and enhancing coordination between technical, operational and leadership functions.

The cyber exercise scenarios with IMERSEV focused on the exposure of a shared services entity affiliated with the UAE government and critical infrastructure to a sophisticated cyberattack attributed to an international entity, which began as a suspicious activity that initially seemed manageable and then gradually developed into a large-scale crisis that threatens the continuity of basic operations, which represents a challenge to the organization’s ability to understand the nature of the threat, contain it effectively, measure the extent of the ability to maintain vital services, and coordinate a coherent strategic response under intense time pressure and incomplete information.

The specialists participating in this scenario constantly evaluated evolving information and made critical decisions at critical times, with close coordination between the technical, operational and leadership teams, while always ensuring the balance between immediate response to the incident and the continuity of critical services on which government agencies and citizens alike depend.

The exercise witnessed a group of main and supporting roles to ensure comprehensive coverage of all aspects, as the Security Operations Center analyst assumed the primary role in early detection and analysis, while the roles were precisely defined to enhance the comprehensive response to the incident, and the role of the Chief Information Security Officer was concentrated as a fundamental role in directing strategic policies and decisions, while the Business Continuity Team provided support for operational efforts, in addition to an additional role for the Chief Information Security Officer as a supporter of coordination between levels.

The exercise was based on a customized crisis simulation model that simulates a targeted attack on shared services, with a focus on complex networks and links between vital systems, which provided a realistic environment that helps test capabilities under conditions that are completely similar to reality, and ultimately leads to a detailed report that identifies gaps and proposes improvement plans to enhance national preparedness in the face of advanced cyber threats, which reflects the UAE’s commitment to building a strong cybersecurity system that protects its government services and infrastructure from any potential risks, especially in light of the current circumstances.