1st cyber security training center launched in UAE

United Arab Emirates (UAE) IT firms Smartworld and The Kernel on Monday launched the Gulf state's first-of-its-kind "Cyber Security Center," which will train Emiratis in online security and provide round-the-clock advanced security monitoring for companies and institutions.

Abdulqader Ali, CEO of Smartworld, and Mounes Kayyali, CEO of The Kernel, signed a strategic partnership for setting up the headquarters' center in the Dubai South free zone.

The new center employs 360 people at four different locations in the UAE and "will cater for the rapidly-rising demand for cyber security and local talent in this area," Saeed Al Dhaheri, chairman of Smartworld, said.

The Kernel is a partner of several security companies in Russia and worldwide.

Smartworld is 50 percent owned by Abu Dhabi-based UAE telecom giant Etisalat and the Dubai South free zone.

The total investment of the joint venture was not disclosed.

According to the Russian anti-virus software developer Kaspersky, the UAE, with 10.5 million inhabitants, of which 80 percent are foreigners, is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world in relation to cyber attacks.

Targeted attacks in 2014 alone increased 400 percent year-on-year in the Gulf Arab state which has the second most diversified economy in the Middle East after Iran, according to the global banks association IIF, Washington.

Dubai daily Gulf News reported in November 2015 that a cyber criminal hacked into a UAE bank and demanded a ransom of 3 million U.S. dollars, threatening to publish confidential client data.

"Such ransom attacks are on the rise in the UAE," said Mounes Kayyali, CEO of The Kernel. Endit