The Qatar Crisis started with a targeted Poli-Cyber hack of an unprecedented nature. Its shockwaves and repercussions continue to alter political and business fortunes, directions and paradigms not only in the Gulf region but globally.

Almost everyone around the world is now aware of the this crisis that started early June. By mid July a Washington Post report cited US intelligence officials that the UAE orchestrated hacking of Qatari government sites, sparking regional upheaval that started it all.

The one thing that is 100% certain is that the Qatari government sites and its news agency were hacked. I will address attribution in a future post.

Q: What lessons must be learnt by top business and government decision makers worldwide who don’t want something similar happening to them you might ask?

A: NO one is immune, especially when you are

by political, ideological, religious or destruction motivated Poli-Cyber terrorist hackers.

Fact: The Qataris had brought in the best brains and bought the best and most expensive cyber security solutions money can buy to defend themselves against cyber attacks. Well, these brains and solutions failed to defend Qatar from a targeted and politically motivated cyber attack.

Also, the Qataris adopted and relied, like many governments and organizations all over the world, on cyber strategies and solutions that were “tried and tested”. And the more expensive they were the better they were perceived to be.

Little did they know that these same cyber strategies and solutions they bought have been failing routinely in the last couple of years and on a global and unprecedented scales. A costly lesson that Qatar and the Gulf States will one day measure in the trillions not billions of dollars.

You can read a longer version of this post here.