180m malicious emails targeted govt entities in past 18 months

Bahrain has successfully blocked more than 180 million emails that contained malware and targeted government entities in the past 18 months, a senior official confirmed.

Information and eGovernment Authority (IGA) Acting Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa said the malware was sent during the period between January 2017 and June this year. Shaikh Salman announced that the authority trained 2,162 employees in 24 government bodies last year and launched several information security initiatives to protect government entities.

The official explained that government bodies are coordinating better to exchange the information related to electronic piracy and threats. Shaikh Salman said that such steps contribute to reducing risks, exchanging expertise while improving local skills and talents. On the other side, Internet security experts have recently revealed that hackers have spread malware targeting government bodies in 45 countries including Bahrain.

Citizen Lab researchers issued a study, which Tribune obtained a copy of, proving that the hackers are involved in spying operations in different countries. This includes a malware known as “Pegasus” developed by a company named NSO Group. The malware was circulated and infiltrated millions of systems for three years before it was discovered in summer 2016.

Citizen Lab researches indicated that Pegasus was also used to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and attorneys. The study mentioned that “the malware exists in 45 countries, including Bahrain, the United States, France, Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, countries are known to have strong democratic systems”.