Morocco ranked as one of the most cybersecure countries in the world
Morocco's recent achievements are placing the Kingdom in the world's top rankings. According to the newspaper Aujourd'hui Le Maroc, the Alawi kingdom has entered the list created by the International Telecommunications Union of the UN (United Nations) of the countries with the best cybersecurity. Specifically and as of today, the nation is at number 50 in this ranking, which also represents an improvement since in 2018 it was in 93rd position. In two years it has moved 43 places forward and this is due to the government's strategy, which has set its sights on the fight against cyber threats.
In recent years, due to the rise of online transactions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the various confinements, threats and problems on the web have become increasingly prevalent and are a major drawback worldwide. Morocco, throughout the year 2021, has been attacked 400 times, according to the General Directorate of Information Systems Security (DGSSI) governed by the Royal Armed Forces. These attacks have been defended mainly to minimise risks and defend the vital and sensitive infrastructure of the Maghreb country's network system.
For their part, and due to this increase in threats, Moroccan forces have been devising different methods to prevent online attacks. One of them has been the tactic of scanning, which allows users to see the various flaws and problems that may pose a risk and can be used against them by hackers and dangerous organisations. Another of these new systems is penetration testing to begin to assess the defence of the device from which you connect and which, in turn, allows you to respond to and recognise cyber-attacks. In addition, this latest defence model allows you to reliably know the defences previously in place and see how effective they are.
Although this problem exists on the internet, the use of the internet to carry out transactions is bringing about very positive results for Morocco. The Moroccan Monetary Centre (CMI) announced that records have been broken for card and mobile payments in the Kingdom, with more than 100 million electronic payments recorded for the first time in its history. According to the CMI, the majority of these payments were made through business websites. In turn, this activity has experienced a huge growth in the last two years, and more than 275 billion dirhams have been collected thanks to this type of transaction. Also, the fact that shops and businesses have had to get involved in the matter and adapt to this new situation has led to a growth in the country's economy.
Likewise, the DGSSI, aware of these new habits and the problems they aggravate, has developed several encryption programmes this year, 100% of Moroccan origin, which are of benefit to the country's government departments and ministries in repelling attacks and improving the telecommunications system at the national level. Threats in cyberspace "have become a daily reality," says the DGSSI.
The Directorate General of Information Systems Security is a structure created 10 years ago and is monitored by the National Defence Administration. Its main mission and objective in the Kingdom is to ensure the security of the cybernetic systems circulating in the nation and to anticipate attacks in order to anticipate them and develop various security systems that could breach them. To this end, the DGSSI is actively working on the development of equipment to prevent these attacks, especially to defend public administrations and organisations, which are more vulnerable. To this end, this organisation is dedicated to risk analysis, asset classification and network security policies.
