In a bid to boost Abu Dhabis cyber security capabilities, the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) has held the Cyber Defense Challenge, in association with the leading cyber security solutions company Trend Micro, planned for strengthening the protection of Abu Dhabi organizations servers and hybrid cloud data centers. The unique initiative comes in accordance with ADDAs key methodology to team up with the private sector and further upgrade the cyber security infrastructure, which is one of the primary mainstays of Abu Dhabis digital transformation agenda.

The launch of this initiative is a fruitful follow-up to the association between ADDA and Trend Micro, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to adopt the most recent cyber security solutions and conduct a series of awareness workshops for IT government employees, giving them benefits from unique educational and professional ways in the functions of the cyber security.

ADDA executes a typical security transformation system for all Abu Dhabi government entities, which incorporate continuing standard and detailed security audit and assessment, review and action plans. It also works to furnish entities with proven and resilient security architecture, vet and test technologies, audit all software developed during the digital transformation phase and continuously monitor and manage security operations.

The Cyber Defense Challenge seeks to help the technical infrastructure and cyber ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The one-day hands-on workshop led IT professionals to experience simulated cyber attacks and adopt a think like a hacker approach to improve their capabilities on how to protect IT assets. Teams worked together to devise strategies aimed to block the attacks and competed to win the Challenge.

Mohamed Geyath, Executive Director- Information Security Operation Sector, ADDA, said: In line Abu Dhabis vision to build a secure, globally competitive and sustainable knowledge-based economy, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority continues to engage in initiatives that increase the IT protection of the Emirate and the countrys digital infrastructure, systems and data. The Cyber Defense Challenge is one of the strategies that ADDA supports and promotes to help strengthen our security capabilities following innovative solutions and training, and thereby enhancing the skills of our human capital.

The workshop saw a strong turnout during the event with major participation from the public sector, including chief information security officers, IT staff to security operations, security architects, infrastructure engineers, and DevOps.

Fabio Picoli, Managing Director-GCC, Trend Micro, noted: As the UAEs digital impression keeps on growing, many organizations face increased risk of cyber attacks. Our association with ADDA on the Cyber Defense Challenge has been a triumph and has contributed to our endeavors to increase the specialists awareness about hackers techniques and tools, and which technology solutions organizations can put in place to protect their environments.

By exchanging best practices from global technology companies such as Trend Micro, the UAE is ideally-positioned to have the most advanced security systems and processes to enable the digital economy, included Picoli.