How Prepared Is Iraq For An Expected "Cyber Strike"?, 11 OCT

How Prepared Is Iraq For An Expected "Cyber Strike"?

Baghdad Today – Baghdad  Cybersecurity expert Ali Al-Zubaidi commented on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) on Iraq’s readiness for any expected “cyber” strike during the next phase.

Al-Zubaidi told Baghdad Today, "Iraq has done its best to provide an electronic firewall against cyber attacks, but what it has is not enough due to the weakness of both the electronic and human infrastructure."

He added, "These structures are still weak and incomplete and can be easily penetrated. If Iraq is exposed to a cyber attack, its security and military institutions, sovereign ministries, banking information, civil and passport departments, airports, and all institutions that have been subjected to the automation system will be penetrated."

He warned that "this in itself will create confusion and chaos in the work of these institutions, and the limits of the resulting damage cannot be imagined, as it is determined by the limits of what the attacker can do or achieve, and what he aims to achieve through his attack, but in all cases the damage will be great."

Cybersecurity is the fifth domain of contemporary warfare, and the loophole through which one can access the positions of all countries and societies, if they are not constantly maintained, in accordance with digital developments.

However, in Iraq, the International Telecommunication Union’s Global Cybersecurity Index still ranks it 107th globally and 13th in the Arab world, despite the availability of many of the country’s main infrastructures, including technologies and skills, among the country’s competent authorities, according to experts.

Successful cybersecurity takes a specific approach that typically consists of multiple layers of protection deployed across the computers, networks, software, or data that one intends to keep safe. In any organization, users, processes, and technology must complement each other and work together to create an effective defense against cyber attacks.

On September 13, the National Security Service announced the launch of the first cybersecurity platform in Iraq.

The agency said in a statement received by "Baghdad Today", "Security and military operations alone are not sufficient to confront the phenomena that threaten community security, and there must be awareness and education campaigns targeting society in order to fortify itself against these phenomena."  LINK