The UAE National Cyber Security Council (NCSC) has recently launched the first phase of the ‘National Bug Bounty Programme.’
The initiative seeks to enhance the nation’s cybersecurity systems, reinforce the country’s leading stature in global competitiveness indexes, as well as engage community members and public and private sector entities in the protection of infrastructure.
According to the NCSC, the programme will initially be piloted by the telecommunications industry, jointly with UAE telcos Etisalat and Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du) in coordination with the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA).
The National Bug Bounty Programme endeavours to promote the culture of cybersecurity and protect the country’s digital transformation. It will allow the UAE to enlist the services of qualified global security researchers in an incentive-based programme for cybersecurity penetration testing and vulnerability identification, to better prevent against cyber-attacks. Contributors to the programme may be compensate financially identifying and reporting bugs, exploits, or vulnerabilities in relevant applications, websites, or systems.
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“This is a great opportunity for the UAE to embrace innovative ways to enhance our cybersecurity across our critical infrastructure,” said Dr. Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, NCSC Director.
“We look forward to expanding this programmCe to get our local talent engaged and participating in future bounties. Once the pilot is completed and results examined, the programme may enter its full deployment phase. It will ensure security researchers are properly vetted, have clear asset guidelines, and follow the necessary rules of engagement to analyse and deter cyber-attacks,” he added.
