Business & Money | Tuesday 26 June, 2018 3:53 pm |

With the objective of providing deeper insights on its cyber threat intelligence sharing platform, the UAE Banks Federation (UBF) today, June 26, 2018, hosted a workshop on ‘TASHARUK’ for its member banks in Abu Dhabi.

Organized by UBF’s Information Security Committee for the heads of information and cyber security within the banks in the UAE, the workshop highlighted key features and functionalities of the TASHARUK platform. 

“Cyber threat landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace in response to advancements in technology and cybercriminals are organized more than ever. Consequently, businesses of all types, particularly banks, have come under significant pressure to safeguard all aspects of their operations against well-planned cyber intrusions. Only by adopting a collaborative and systematic approach towards information sharing of cyber threat intelligence, banks can establish effective defense to sustain a safe and secure banking ecosystem,” said HE Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UAE Banks Federation

“With the launch of Tasharuk, we have been able to streamline anti-cybercrime efforts of participating banks and inform them about potential malicious threats in order to enhance their defense system. However, UBF believes all banks in the UAE have a key role to play in the fight against cyber-attacks and that their participation in the cyber threat intelligence sharing platform will benefit the entire banking community in the country,” added Al-Ghurair.

UBF launched the Tasharuk platform in September 2017 with the aim of equipping banks with the necessary tools and intelligence to better identify, detect, and respond to cyber-attacks. The platform, powered by Anomali - provider of market-leading threat intelligence platforms, allows sharing of cyber threat intelligence using standard protocols such as STIX/TAXII. It also allows submission of artifacts such as Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), Threat Actor Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) and information on emerging threats. 

Using the platform, banks can optionally share details of internal investigations or even summaries of incidents observed, including relevant data that can be used by other banks for early detection and protection against similar threats. Data shared on Tasharuk include techniques and tactics used by cybercriminals, IP addresses and domain names used in cyber-attacks, hashes of files found in malware infections, attempts to deliver malware through phishing emails, as well as details of cyber incident investigations. Additionally, it enables member banks to share data anonymously. However, no customer data or personally identifiable information (PII) is shared using the platform.

Following the successful rollout limited to the Information Security Committee’s 13 members, UBF has called on all member banks to join Tasharuk. Currently, there are more than 20 banks and over 100 users registered on the cyber threat intelligence sharing platform.