Bahrain well-positioned to thwart cyberattacks

By Nayla Barakat MANAMA, Nov. 6 (BNA): Bahrain has the capability and capacity to deal with any cyberattack, thanks to the stringent security measures and the best technology put in place to keep the entire system safe from any security breach. Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, Chief Executive, Information and eGovernment Authority, on the sidelines of the Arab International Cybersecurity Exhibition (AICEC), told Bahrain News Agency (BNA) that on the directives of the Government, Bahrain has fully transformed services. The subject of cybersecurity has become even more relevant in the post-COVID era as people are working in a hybrid work environment, he added. “As the technology evolves, every nation faces more challenges as the security issues are becoming more and more sophisticated to deal with,” he said. “Simply, we have more devices than ever coupled with the innovation in technology and obviously the end users are using different platforms both in public and private sectors, the level of risks is also going up.” Talking about some cyberattacks during the recent elections, Al Qaed said Bahrain had faced several coordinated attacks during the polls, but there was no damage to the Kingdom’s system. “We have the capability to handle any cybersecurity breaches and during elections few websites were reporting slowness for a few minutes and no major interruptions were reported,” he said. Earlier, the National Security Advisor and Royal Guard Commander, Major General HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa officially opened the three-day Cybersecurity Summit on behalf of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister at the Exhibition World Bahrain in Sakhir. Al Qaed said that the event has attracted global cybersecurity experts and companies taking part in both conference and exhibition. “Visit any exhibitor, each company is offering unique cybersecurity and multiple solutions which shows the importance of the subject. The recent cyberattacks on global leaders like Tesla shows the enormity of the cybersecurity breaches that is an eye opener for everyone to get ready to deal with the possible security issues,” he said.