Intelligent CIO Kuwait Issue 3 | Page 29

CIO opinion CIO OPINION “ THESE SORTS OF ATTACKS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING IN KUWAIT BUT THE RESULTS HAVE NOT COME OUT. ///////////////// Mohamad Amin Hasbini, Head of Global Research and Global Analysis team for META, Kaspersky Lab Cybercriminals targeting Kuwaiti FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS and CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE As part of the Middle East, Kuwait is not immune to the threat of cybercriminals. However, Intelligent CIO wanted to discover more about the country’s cybersecurity scene. We spoke to Mohamad Amin Hasbini, Head of Global Research and Global Analysis team for META, Kaspersky Lab, at the company’s Cyber Security Weekend to find out more. www.intelligentcio.com H How much of a threat do cybercriminals represent to Kuwait? There is a good amount of interest in Kuwait. From one side the country has a good amount of money stored in banks and it also has a lot of industrial systems which is also interesting for attackers. These are some of the most interesting factors for attackers and the main motivation of why they target users – because they want the money from the bank accounts. Other than the banking sector what other industries would be under threat? Critical infrastructure is one of the most interesting sectors for attackers. Attackers can also use blackmail when controlling these systems. A lot of damage could be done using critical infrastructure attacks so they are also very dangerous because these are systems that are running, for instance, the likes of water treatment facilities. In the case that it ever happens this could poison a lot of users of a treatment facility. In INTELLIGENTCIO 29 29