A total of 34 cyberattacks against government and private sector entities in the UAE were foiled by the Telecommunications Regulations Authority (TRA) during January 2018, against 136 in the same month last year.

The attacks stymied by the TRA's Computer Emergency Readiness Team during the monitored month were carried out from outside the country, 16 of which were classified as fraudulent offensives, eight as data breaches, three aimed at defacing and blocking websites, while the rest was carried out for other purposes, reported Emirates news agency Wam.

TRA has been launching awareness campaigns, including lectures, seminars and workshops to promote cyber safety and best practices in this field, calling upon all departments to have backup data bases independent of the internet.

Ransomware-type viruses such as Zyklon were among the most rampant during January.

Cyber attacks seek to deface and block government websites, including denial of service, hacking, deception, fraud, and identity and document theft.