The Internet has connected peoples and countries around the world. At the same time the Internet has created new global threats that ignore geographical and state borders. However, cyber attacks in the last few years have shown that regional cyber threats still exists.
During the past few years there have been multiple reports about cyber attacks against Western companies operating in the Middle East (MENA) area. Attacks have particularly targeted companies working in the energy sector but other industries have not been left untouched. Reported cyber attacks have disrupted or even stopped the business of the target companies. The roots of the events are linked to the political disagreements in the region. Cyber attacks have been used as one of the means of influence in this context.
National Cyber Security Centre Finland (NCSC-FI) recommends that Finnish companies operating in the MENA area should take the elevated cyber threat into account in the risk assessment. NCSC-FI also recommends to consider how to separate the information systems used in the MENA area from the core systems used in Finland, to prevent damage in the event of a cyber attack. Companies should also review and refine guidelines how to store and carry smart phones and laptops for example in hotel rooms.
NCSC-FI publishes information security articles, alerts and vulnerability reports in their public website For questions or observations you can directly contact the NCSC-FI by email at cert@traficom.fi.
