The University of Sciences and Arts in Lebanon (USAL) announced a study carried out by the university's researchers on “cyber security in Lebanon”, which concluded that there are 1,645 software vulnerabilities within a sample of systems (24,382 information systems); 10 programmes used by these systems were selected, distributed across the various sectors - banks, service, teaching and productive institutions and others in Lebanon.
In this context the head of the university's computer science department Dr. Yasser Fadlallah explained that “the study showed the possibility for any novice intruder to carry out a breach and take complete control of these systems. It also revealed a shortfall in applying two of the most important practical practices in the field of cyber security, namely: managing the updating and development of information systems (patch management) and handling cyber incidents (incident handling)”.
Fadlallah held that “this research study by USAL is the first of its kind in Lebanon, and is the first fruit of the founding of the Cybersecurity Empowering Research Team, “Lebanon CERT””.
He added: “This centre aims to work on raising the level of cyber security and spreading awareness of the risks arising in cyberspace among institutions and individuals in Lebanese society, in addition to securing continuous monitoring of the vulnerabilities that appear at any moment and informing those responsible for the threatened and exposed information systems of the steps that must be followed to prevent any breach, while ensuring commitment to complete confidentiality in all the steps followed.”
It should be noted that this study was published as a research paper at the eighth international conference:8th International .Symposium on Digital Forensics and Security 2020 (ISDFS)
