UAE Hospitals Can Now Avail Free IR Services To Fight Cyber Attacks

As COVID-19 themed cyber-attacks are increasing in the healthcare sector, Dimension Data, a global systems integrator and managed services provider, is offering free Incident Response Remediation assistance to UAE hospitals combatting the pandemic.

Designed to effectively contain and mitigate threats, Dimension Data’s service will enable affected UAE hospitals to rapidly restore operations after a successful cyber-attack and thus continue to deliver critical services to patients. Public and private hospitals as well as acute care hospitals, urgent care clinics, community health centres, and other emergency care settings are all eligible to 40-hours of incident response support, at no cost, on the condition that they are directly providing care to COVID-19 patients.

In a recent statement, INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization, highlighted that it has detected a significant increase in cyber-attacks against hospitals around the world that are engaged in the COVID-19 response, and warned that these attacks that could ‘directly lead to deaths’.

“The incredible rate at which the virus has spread has overwhelmed the healthcare sector. Dealing with the impact of the virus is challenging enough without the added complication of critical operations being derailed by cyber-attacks,” said Redouane Gaouar, Director Go-to-Market Practices and Strategic Partner Alliances at Dimension Data Middle East.

“By offering our Incident Response service at no cost, our intension is to get front line doctors and nurses as well as all supporting functions trying to work in a compromised hospital, back to saving lives as quickly as possible.”

Given the National Disinfection Programme being implemented across the UAE, and concerns around social distancing, an especially attractive and relevant feature of Dimension Data’s Incident Response service is that it can be delivered on a 100% remote basis. Even under normal circumstances, the company performs 90% of its Incident Response engagements remotely and is therefore uniquely positioned to support hospitals in their recovery from cyber-attacks at this time.

“This global pandemic requires everyone to come together and help in any way possible. Dimension Data and its parent company, NTT Ltd., have the right skillsets, resources, and global scale to stand by our hospitals in this time of urgent need. We believe all hospitals should be secure and this program in deeply aligned with our global ‘Tech for Good’ values,” said Peter Pappas, Security Operations Executive at Dimension Data.