Nearly 280 million cyber attacks blocked last year

​Muscat: Almost 280 million cyber attacks against government networks were prevented by Oman’s technology agency in 2016.
The Information Technology Authority has revealed in its annual report that 279,151,002 cyber attacks were prevented by the ITA against government networks in 2016. The ITA had also prevented over 1.7 million cyber attacks against government websites, though 6,416 spyware and 7,824 viruses and malware were discovered.
The agency also said that more than 150 government networks’ security level were boosted, and 18 government sites were secured with their work.
Similarly, 16,118 real & serious cyber attacks were discovered and handled by Oman CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team), and 96.5 per cent of all security incidents were handled within five days.
In 2015, the ITA’s Information Security Division had prevented more than 4.8 million attacks against government networks and more than 398,000 attacks against government portals in Oman
Last year, the CEO of ITA, Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, said that Omanis have become dependent on Information Communication Technology (ICT), as has the government in its dealings with citizens; therefore, cyber security has become a top priority.
In 2016, the ITA also saved 682,000 OMR for government entities in consultancy services, and 1.2 million OMR in government man hours for their work.
In addition, the agency launched the Sas Centre for Mobile Apps Development, and 11 new companies were incubated for Entrepreneurship.
“With the best international standards in mind, the Centre offers an environment that fosters growth and focuses on entrepreneurship in the ICT sector. Seven new companies already graduated from the Sas Center for Entrepreneurship,” the report said.
The Sas Centre for Virtual Reality also implemented six new projects, with 108 trainees.
Through ITA, the Invest Easy Portal has conducted 76 electronic transactions, and linked and integrated 14 entities’ data.
“The online portal enables investors, business owners and entrepreneurs to get business procedures done easily in a short time to transform to eServices. This will ensure that these transactions are done accurately, flawlessly and in a cost-efficient manner,” the report said.