The State of Kuwait had established an operation room and hotline to monitor and counter cyberattacks or threats caused by a malfunction in the CrowdStrike update system, which in turn resulted in global IT outage, said a minister on Friday.
Speaking to KUNA, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of State for Communication Affairs Omar Al-Omar revealed that the step to establish the emergency team came on the directives from His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah.
The team, compromising of several state entities including the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), is tasked to monitor the situation connected with the CrowdStrike issue and would take necessary measures to prevent attacks and safeguard digital infrastructure.
He indicated that according to the official narrative by the US-based cybersecurity company, the major glitch was caused by an update system malfunction and not a cyberattack.
The emergency team, said Al-Omar, had listed
the companies and entities using the CrowdStrike and Microsoft services in addition to establishing direct communication with the two latter companies.
He stressed that the situation in Kuwait was under control, noting that government-related applications and services were up and running.
The minister called on the public to follow official channels to be updated on the latest news regarding the situation avoiding rumors and disinformation.
Source: Kuwait News Agency