The United States has signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to tackle increasing cyber and ransomware attacks through enhanced cyber collaboration.
The deal was announced during a meeting between Todd Conklin, the Department of the Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection, and Mohamad Al Kuwaiti, chief of cybersecurity for the UAE government, at the Gitex Global Conference in Dubai.
The agreement complements the bilateral partnership forged by Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo with the UAE when he visited the country in November 2021. During that visit, the two countries agreed to strengthen their cyber cooperation to safeguard the financial sector’s critical infrastructure and protect the international financial system’s integrity.
In a statement on Monday, Adeyemo said working closely with international partners will enable countries around the world to be better in addressing the increasingly complex cyber and ransomware attacks.
The Treasury said the U.S-UAE bilateral agreement covers information exchange on cyber incidents and threats concerning the financial sector.
Under the deal, the two sides will conduct personnel training and study visits to promote deeper cyber collaborations. The countries will also hold capacity-building activities such as cross-border cybersecurity exercises.
The new partnership is part of the U.S. government’s strategy to bolster the financial system’s cybersecurity outcomes through public-private and international partnerships, the agency said.