New Online Era Comes After COVID-19 Pandemic Drives People Towards A More Digital Economy
With the COVID-19 pandemic enforcing changes in the UAE such as e-learning and accelerating people to move towards a more online dominated society, Europe’s leading international news channel, Euronews spoke to the UAE government to discover how it is safeguarding and protecting its population at this time of heightened online activity.
The increase in online users and increased use of digital banking services during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the introduction of tech advancements in the Middle East such as Big Data, AI and blockchain, has led to the UAE government launching its first national fraud awareness campaign.
Established to protect the UAE’s IT infrastructure and online users from risks and violations, as well as improving cyber safety for residents, the National Computer Emergency Response Team as part of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) responded to around 34,000 cyber-attacks on federal entities in its launch month of April this year.
When asked about the types of cybercrimes and online fraud that has spiked in the UAE since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mohammad Al Zarooni, Executive Director of Policies and Programs at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said: “We’ve noticed an increased amount of fake website and fraud websites who are trying to trick people in to getting their sensitive credentials, such as their bank accounts, in order to compromise these accounts. It is very important for us to ensure that the nation is equipped with what they need as an awareness campaign awareness program, to be able to be to identify the difference between the fake, versus the real websites.”
Also commenting on children’s online security in the UAE and how families can protect their children online Mohammad Al Zarooni said: “I think the Child Digital Safety Program is a great initiative for all of us. It’s actually aiming to ensure a safer online experience, educating children as well as their parents on how to be safe when browsing the internet and avoiding any kind of threats to their children, such as cyber bullying. The government came up with a dedicated support line which we call, Digital Wellbeing Support Lines, which is targeting and ensuring that any urgent matters placed by the parents are actually addressed by the relevant government agencies.”