Governments must come together with the private sector to ensure the digital world is properly regulated, a conference in Dubai has heard.
Dubai Abulhoul, chief executive of the Fiker Institute, a think tank based in Dubai, told the Future Forum how cybercrime would become more advanced as societies continued to embrace digital change.
She said this meant more sophisticated regulation across digital platforms was required.
“Digital sovereignty, cybercrimes, cyber wars, social media crime and disinformation wars are all going to be harder for governments of the future to ignore,” said Ms Abulhoul.
“These could very well be the real threats in the future. In the absence of a governing body they are going to be very hard to regulate – that’s why we need the buy-in of the tech industries and governments.
“Regulation does not have to be a negative thing. We just need to establish the new norms that will govern relationships in a new digital sphere.”
Governing the cyber world
She explained how opportunities for cybercriminals were likely to increase as the world continued to embrace digital technology.
In the first two months of 2022 alone, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reported a massive 62 per cent yearly increase in such crimes compared to the same period the previous year.
Manny Rivelo, chief executive of Forcepoint, the world's biggest private cyber security company, told The National how the cybercrime of the future could be much more deadly than wars, with critical infrastructure and connected devices being targeted.
Connected vehicles could also be targeted by nefarious elements hoping to exploit the technology available.
“The threats are very, very real right now, we are not talking about them being in 2050,” Ms Abulhoul said.
“We are talking about them being right here, right now. You’ve already seen it in some countries with electoral interference.
“We all have to sit together and figure out what is the best and most inclusive way of governing the cyber world.”
The advent of the Metaverse was also a hot topic for discussion at the forum, with panellists outlining how it would change the way many of us live our lives.
Barbados last year announced it was establishing a digital embassy in the Metaverse, a move Ms Abulhoul said had raised questions.
“Is this going to just be a digital version of what a physical embassy is?” she asked.
“Is this going to change what diplomacy means? There are so many questions.”
Dr Amy Hochadel, director of global business with Connected Places Catapult, a UK company looking at cities and transport, told the forum that issues needed to be ironed out to ensure the most vulnerable sections of society were not left behind, before future technology could be embraced by all.
“There are a lot of cities around the world right now where people are struggling,” Dr Hochadel said.
“Many cities are just focusing on funding and necessity. They would love to plan for a borderless vision of the future but their focus is on getting their elderly to the clinic or feeding the people who lost jobs in the pandemic.”
Dubai Future Forum at the Museum of the Future - in pictures
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
'Project Power'
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback
Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The Greatest Royal Rumble card
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
RESULTS
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qais Aboud
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Almahroosa, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Sumoud, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Adventurous, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
U19 World Cup in South Africa
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon
