Category: Technology

Speaking on the Government Stage, Ghaith Alsuwaidi, Deputy Director, Security Systems for the DESC, unveiled the new platform, designed entirely by a team of UAE nationals…reports Asian Lite News

The Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) has launched a new cybersecurity platform, known as “TIRS”, which translates to “Shield” in English, at GISEC 2021, the 9th edition of the Middle East and Africa’s most influential and connected cybersecurity event, where is open until tomorrow at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

Speaking on the Government Stage, Ghaith Alsuwaidi, Deputy Director, Security Systems for the DESC, unveiled the new platform, designed entirely by a team of UAE nationals, which scans Dubai government websites to detect vulnerabilities within departments, delivers top-line data and issues a safety score out of five.

The platform also creates a threat report to inform participating entities on critical weaknesses, enabling them to take appropriate action to resolve any security gaps. Once the threat is identified and dealt with, the DESC will confirm the action taken within the TIRS system.

“TIRS is one of the key pillars monitoring Dubai’s cyberspace, through the Dubai Cyber Index Platform. We continuously scan government websites and based on the security of the government entities we give them a score out of five. It ensures the security of government websites and introduces competitiveness in terms of website security, all the time making Dubai’s cyberspace safer,” said Alsuwaidi, adding that the TIRS scoring will be a parameter on the Dubai Cyber Index by the end of this year.

Dr. Marwan Al-Zarouni, Director, Information Security Services, Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC), stated, “In Dubai, we are not isolated from the world when it comes to regulation, and we participate in global programmes and contribute to policy-making. We are one of the first cities to mandate that all cloud providers to any government bodies need to be compliant to our security standards.”

UAE-based cybersecurity advisor, Digital14, launched its Cyber Resilience Report: The UAE Threat Landscape 2021, during GISEC.

Cyber defence experts evaluated and analysed multiple digital assets in the UAE to give an in-depth understanding of the country’s threat landscape.

Digital14’s research revealed an exponential surge in phishing and ransomware with 1.1 million phishing attacks in 2020.

Joshua Knight, EVP Cyber Defence, Digital14, said, “Traditional cybersecurity approaches are no longer enough. Traditional perimeter-based network defence, for example, is obsolete. Not only does the perimeter no longer exist in our newly connected environments, but organisations must also recognise that their networks have most likely already been breached.”

Key findings of the report include: In 2020, 249,955 vulnerabilities were found in 800,315 unique instances Significant numbers of old vulnerabilities, some dating back to 2000, have yet to be remediated within UAE organisations’ networks. These can easily provide an entry point for devastating cyberattacks Ransomware increased with a 33 percent rise in the number of new ransomware families compared with 2019

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The researchers germinated the seeds, conducted whole genome sequencing of the germinated samples and used this genome data to examine the genetics of these Judean date palms….reports Asian LIte News

Researchers from New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi’s Centre for Genomics and Systems Biology have successfully sequenced the genome of previously extinct date palm varieties that lived more than 2,000 years ago.

They did so using date palm seeds that were recovered from archaeological sites in the southern Levant region and radiocarbon-dated from the 4th century BCE to the 2nd century CE.

The researchers germinated the seeds, conducted whole genome sequencing of the germinated samples and used this genome data to examine the genetics of these Judean date palms.

This study marks the first time researchers have sequenced the genomes of plants from ancient germinated seeds.

By examining the genome of the (Phoenix dactylifera L.) species that thrived centuries ago, Professor of Biology Michael D. Purugganan and his NYUAD colleagues, along with research partners in Israel and France, were able to see how these plants evolved over a period of time.

In this case, they observed that between the 4th century BCE and 2nd century CE, date palms in the eastern Mediterranean started to show increasing levels of genes from another species, Phoenix theophrasti, which today grows in Crete and some other Greek islands, as well as southwestern Turkey, as a result of hybridisation between species. They conclude that the increasing level of genes from P. theophrasti over this period shows the increasing influence of the Roman Empire in the eastern Mediterranean.

Their findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA.

“We are fortunate that date palm seeds can live a long time – in this case, more than 2,000 years – and germinate with minimal DNA damage, in the dry environment of the region,” Purugganan said. “This ‘resurrection genomics’ approach is a remarkably effective way to study the genetics and evolution of past and possibly extinct species like Judean date palms.”

He added, “By reviving biological material such as germinating ancient seeds from archaeological, paleontological sites, or historical collections, we can not only study the genomes of lost populations but also, in some instances, rediscover genes that may have gone extinct in modern varieties.”

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