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DESC provides a framework for managing cyber risks and supporting government entities.

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  5. Critical Information Infrastructure (CII)

Critical Information Infrastructure (CII)

Guideline for the Identification of Critical Services

The Cyber Security Strategy for Dubai was developed by Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) and was launched in May 2017 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Part of the successful implementation of this cyber security strategy is the protection of organizations and business processes/services, whose compromise can negatively impact Dubai, the Critical Information Infrastructure (CII).

DESC has started the initiative to protect CII organizations and their critical services by identifying organizations that are part of the CII in their particular business sector; your organization was identified in this process. DESC now needs your support in identifying those business processes/services in your organization that are critical for the cyber security of Dubai.

Critical Sectors are those sectors supporting the sustainability and continuity of the most important functions and services in Dubai. The incapacity or destruction of those services would have a drastic impact on the UAE’s society, economy and safety.

Examples of Critical Sectors:
CII_Diagram_2

Critical Sector Overview

Emergency Services
The emergency services sector is a community of highly-skilled, trained personnel, along with the physical and cyber resources, that provide a wide range of prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery services during both day-to-day operations and incident response.
Health
The health sector protects the health of Dubai citizens, and on a larger scale, the city of Dubai from infectious disease outbreaks and natural disasters. A considerable part of the sector’s assets are privately owned and operated, collaboration and information sharing between the public and private sectors is essential to increasing resilience of Dubai’s health infrastructure.
Electricity & Water
The Dubai electricity and water infrastructure is one of the backbones of Dubai’s economy, well-being and success. This CII protection framework identifies the electricity and water sector as uniquely critical because all other CII sectors are dependent on it.
Government
Many government facilities are open to the public for business activities, commercial transactions, or recreational activities while others that are not open to the public contain highly sensitive information, materials, processes, and equipment. In addition, the government in Dubai is responsible to ensure that all main functions of the city function reliably.
Transportation
The transport sector ensures easy, safe and efficient transport within Dubai, the UAE and across the world, using aviation, roads, taxis, metro, and more.
Oil & Gas
The oil and gas sector serves the growing energy needs of Dubai and contributes to the achievement of Dubai Plan 2021. It includes exploration as well as supply.
Information & Communication Technology
The ICT sector is central to Dubai’s security, economy, and public health and safety as businesses, governments, academia, and private citizens are increasingly dependent upon ICT functions. These virtual and distributed functions produce and provide hardware, software, telecommunication, Internet, cloud services and more.
Finance & Banking
The financial services sector represents a vital component of Dubai’s critical infrastructure. Large-scale power outages, natural disasters, and an increase in the number and sophistication of cyberattacks demonstrate the wide range of potential risks facing the sector.
Trade
The trade sector is important to the economic prosperity and continuity of Dubai. A direct attack on or disruption of certain elements of the trade industry could have drastic effects.
Tourism & Real Estate

The tourism and real estate sector include a diverse range of sites that draw large crowds of people for shopping, business, entertainment, or lodging. Facilities within the sector operate on the principle of open public access, meaning that the general public can move freely without the deterrent of highly visible security barriers.

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