The number of "highly professional" cyber-criminal gangs has surged to about 900 from about a dozen five years ago, with most engaged in state-sponsored espionage, the chief executive of cyber-security company Kaspersky has said.
The spike in this specific activity and in wider cyber crime highlighted the increasing need for organisations to secure their digital infrastructure by making them "unhackable", Eugene Kaspersky told The National at Gitex Technology Week in Dubai.
"In 2017, there were only very few highly professional cyber-criminal gangs that existed," he said.
"Now we are monitoring about 900 professional projects, tools that have branched or forked from the same source code ... and we don't know who's behind them."
Mr Kaspersky added that about 80 per cent of these activities are state sponsored, while the rest are involved mostly in ransomware and financial crime.
State-sponsored cyber attacks are those carried out by criminals directly linked to or sponsored by a nation state. Their main aims are gathering intelligence, exploiting vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and extortion.
Among the segments at risk are public services and utilities, companies with active government contracts, high-value companies and businesses that handle sensitive information.
There have been several "significant" state-sponsored cyber attacks or attempts in the past couple of years, with targets including telecommunications companies, European Commission members and South-East Asian governments, according to data from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
While there is no talent shortage in cyber-security companies to fight bad actors, there is still a lack of action within those organisations using their solutions to enhance their system protection, Mr Kaspersky said.
"To develop the scaleable technology like developing new architecture security products or bringing in new ideas, I don’t see a problem," he said.
"But for companies, they can’t find enough cyber-security engineers to implement new systems and ideas — and that’s the problem."
Mr Kaspersky suggested two strategies for organisations to protect their systems: a short-term plan involves applying threat intelligence, several layers of protection and making decisions on machine learning.
The longer-term method involves redesigning the architecture of cyber security systems and building it on principles of cyber immunity or implementing techniques to protect systems from all fronts.
"It's much, much more than a sandbox. This is the only way to make the system unhackable," he said, referring to the development method of having all tools in an isolated environment without affecting the actual system.
"The main thing to do right now is to protect critical infrastructure, then immunise it."
He also said that countries in the Middle East have been taking strides to advance their cyber-security infrastructure and recognised the importance of leveraging local talent to add another layer to safeguarding systems.
"It’s changing so fast. There’s much more investment in cyber security, and there are more talented people," he said, adding that the UAE and Saudi Arabia were markets that stood out.
"Localising talent must be done to protect and keep critical infrastructure under control. The localisation of data is also important, so states understand the importance of their data and its cyber security," he said.
"If it's critical infrastructure, it has to be local people ... national security doesn’t like foreigners who will have access to that."
If it's critical infrastructure, it has to be local people ... national security doesn’t like foreigners who will have access to that
Eugene Kaspersky,
chief executive of Kaspersky Lab
Mr Kaspersky also said that the company was willing to open a new data transparency centre, having opened nine of them since 2018. But this would depend on the requirements of the local market, and he hinted that the Middle East is a candidate.
"If there is a request from a local government, yes, we will. It will depend on the requirements. If it’s needed and they ask us to, we can do it."
On cryptocurrencies, Mr Kaspersky said it is a "great innovation, but the world is not ready for that right now" because of its smaller scale compared to the current financial sector.
"It’s an alternative financial system, but it’s not comparable with the existing banking system because it's much smaller," he said.
"I believe that in the future, most crypto-based financial systems will be one among the global systems."
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
World Sevens Series standing after Dubai
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8. Scotland
9. France
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11. Argentina
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14. Uganda
15. United States
16. Russia
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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Brief scoreline:
Tottenham 1
Son 78'
Manchester City 0
The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
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Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to vote in the UAE
1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/
2) Take it to the US Embassy
3) Deadline is October 15
4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll
