Every state faces security threats, and the United Arab Emirates is not an exception. The state is located in an unstable region where the possibility of terrorism is high. Cyber threats, which can also be used for terrorist purposes, are also extremely relevant in the modern world. Considering the pandemic COVID-19, most other security threats are sidelined. For these reasons, today, the greatest danger to the United Arab Emirates is represented by cyber threats and disease.
More governments are concerned about cybersecurity and are devoting resources to technology development for protection. They can be used against state security, provoke cyber wars, cyber terrorism, and cyber espionage. All these attacks must be detected and stopped, respecting ethical principles and international law. Modern technologies have significantly expanded cyberspace, and as a result, the ways people interact, business processes, and governments work have changed. Moreover, society’s dependence on these technologies, especially the Internet, makes this infrastructure strategically important. For this reason, it is crucial to develop cybersecurity to ensure the well-being and security of the population. Ignorance of what other states are doing poses additional challenges to determining this type of threat. Difficulties also arise because of the fact that when dealing with cybersecurity issues, such ethical problems as privacy must be considered. While the use of cyber tools to achieve political goals is difficult to recognize, its potential generates fear and provokes governments to cyber race.
Diseases are a previously underestimated threat since people, thanks to medical development, could control their spread to some extent. However, many diseases are not stopped yet, and new ones appear. This threat affects not only health security but also economical and food security. COVID-19 caused the world pandemic and has become a threat to all world states’ safety, including the UAE. Quarantine measures restricted people’s activities, which adversely affected economic security. However, this is not the only area threatened by a coronavirus. Information disseminated about the danger, although crucial, creates panic among the population. The population’s emotional state is also aggravated by restrictions, leading to a depressed state, discontent with the government, and mistrust.