QATAR NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY STRATEGY The cyber threat landscape has evolved from one of individual hackers to highly organized groups and advanced cyber criminal syndicates. Cyber attacks are more targeted and sophisticated than ever before. Powerful new malware is capable of stealing confidential data and disabling network infrastructure. Attacks on critical infrastructure, including industrial control systems (ICS), can disable physical machinery, cause catastrophic equipment failure, and even result in loss of life. Qatar, like many other nations, must be prepared to address the following types of threats: §§Hacktivists. These are individuals or groups who seek to disrupt systems and networks for a variety of motives, including notoriety, financial gain, or political agendas. They connect across borders to overwhelm targeted websites and access sensitive information. They may seek to harm their enemies by either shaming them or disabling their services. Hacktivists typically launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, deface websites, access sensitive government data, and publish the personal information of high-ranking persons and business leaders. §§Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). These occur when malicious actors use complex and unique malware to quietly gain access to proprietary or personal information and sensitive government information. They may also use customized solutions to take advantage of insiders, social engineering, network hardware, and third-party software to cause various malfunctions, destroy data, and disable networks. CYBER THREATS TO QATAR §§Trojans, worms, and viruses were among the mos t common threats to Qatar from April to June 2013.7 §§The Middle East and North Africa received the third highest volume of SMS spam (1.7 billion spam texts per month) from November 2013 to March 2014.8 §§Qatar was one of the countries most affected by targeted attacks in 2013.9 §§Cyber Crime Syndicates. These organizations seek account information to make fraudulent transactions or to siphon money. Information theft is also common, as cyber criminals will sell sensitive corporate information to unauthorized individuals or groups. Cyber criminals leverage various methods to achieve their objectives, such as distributing massive amounts of e-mails while posing as banks or other authorities to obtain customer identification and financial information. They may also use large-scale DDoS attacks to overwhelm Internetdependent enterprises. Qatar anticipates that cyber crime syndicates may use 419 (advance fee) fraud scams to target unsuspecting individuals for financial gain prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.10 §§Malicious Insiders. These are trusted individuals who are motivated to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an organization’s information and information systems. Their motives may include financial gain, revenge, or ideology. Insiders do not need to infiltrate perimeter network defenses because they have trusted access to information and information systems and can use various methods to damage or destroy government and business systems.11 Cyber attacks are on the rise in Qatar and around the world; therefore, continued vigilance and attention is required. Qatar is committed to ensuring the security of information assets and systems essential to government, businesses, institutions, and individuals. 4