UAE says no reports of cyber attacks following global IT outage

The UAE Cybersecurity Council has reassured the public that there have been no cyber attacks or breaches reported after the global technical outage involving CrowdStrike software.

In a statement, the Council cautioned against potential exploitation of the glitch by cyber criminals.

It added that efforts are underway to resolve the global technical issue with international partners.

The Council has urged everyone to rely on official sources for information and avoid spreading rumours.

يؤكد مجلس الأمن السيبراني على أن لا وجود لأي مؤشرات لاختراقات أو هجمات سيبرانية حالياً في الدولة أثر الخلل التقني العالمي في تحديث برمجيات CrowdStrike والذي أثر على الأنظمة الإلكترونية لعدد من القطاعات الاستراتيجية حول العالم.

مجلس الأمن السيبراني يوصي بأخذ الحيطة و الحذر… pic.twitter.com/pZIBrCFAk7

— Cyber Security Council (@cscgovae) July 19, 2024

Meanwhile, the Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) said that it acted quickly to avoid any impact on Dubai government services.

DESC contacted the service providers and facilitated the deployment of a workaround that can restore affected systems.

It also added that there are no indications that cyber attacks caused the latest glitch.

Following the worldwide IT disruption, the #Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) acted quickly to avoid any impact on Dubai government services. DESC contacted the service providers and facilitated the deployment of a workaround that can restore affected systems.

There are… pic.twitter.com/BWjx2vAkmA

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 19, 2024

A massive IT outage was disrupting operations at companies across multiple industries on Friday, with major airlines halting flights, some broadcasters off-air and sectors ranging from banking to healthcare hit by system problems.

An update to a product offered by global cyberscurity firm CrowdStrike appeared to be the trigger, affecting customers using Microsoft's Windows Operating System. Microsoft said later on Friday the issue had been fixed.