The UAE Cyber Security Council, formed in November 2020, is responsible for developing and overseeing a cyber security strategy that promotes  a secure  and resilient  cyber infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates.

The establishment of the Cyber Security Council was followed by legislations that developed to ensure effective cyber solutions were implemented. This article provides a brief overview of the essential articles of the Federal Decree Law No.34 of 2021 on Combatting Rumors and Cybercrimes which hold significant importance. , We will also discuss the role of the UAE Cyber Security Council in fostering collaboration  between the public and  private sectors  to enhance  cybersecurity  across the UAE.

The penalties will include A minimum of AED 20,000 or a fine up to AED 500,000.  Alternatively, the penalty may be a fine of AED 50,000 or one of the penalties. The following activities are punishable under this article:

The enactment of this law was necessary to safeguard individuals and organizations from the rising cyber threats which have become a challenge in today’s world.  Criminals have an advantage in the borderless system of networks, allowing them to capitalize on anonymity and access.

Public-private partnerships involve cooperation between a government agency and a private-sector entity for the common good of the entire nation such as to finance, construction, and managing projects that aid in the country’s development in various domains.

To develop a cybersecurity strategy, the UAE Cybersecurity Council has formed multiple collaboration agreements with external service providers from the private sector over the last eight months.  One such agreement has been made with Deloitte, one of the big four leading auditing and tax consulting firms and offers and extensive range of management and assurance services.   Given the fact Deloitte audits around 20% of all US Public Companies, this partnership aims to introduce international best practices within the Cyber Security Council and provide cyber training.

Another collaboration was established with Huawei, one of the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturers in the world, to focus on research and thought leadership in cybersecurity.  since telecommunication infrastructure is pivotal for protection, it is mandatory to invest in communications systems as a means of enabling security agencies to counter threats and safeguard society from harm.

Additionally, the UAE Cybersecurity Council signed an agreement with Amazon Web Services, a widely adopted cloud platform that offers several on-demand operations such as computing power, database storage, and content delivery to help companies scale and grow.  The aim of this partnership is to assist (semi-)government entities in  accelerating their migration to the cloud.

Giving the growing need for cybersecurity system globally,  it is evident that the UAE has adopted a proactive approach in developing legislations tailored to  the nation’s needs and  establishing collaborations to  protect organizations and  citizens from cyber threats. However, since cybercrime poses one of the greatest risks to prosperity and combat and exponential growth in recent times, we recommend expanding the protection layer worldwide by collaborating with Interpol through  their Global Cybercrime Program, which will facilitate international action to combat  and reduce cybercrime.