The United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a significant shift from the Gulf tradition, will move its weekend to Saturday and Sunday starting next year, according to a tweet by the UAE media on Tuesday.

Most countries in the Muslim-dominated Gulf have Friday to Saturday weekends because Friday is a day of worship for Muslims.

The new shift is billed to begin next year according to UAE Media. The weekend will start on Friday afternoon and lasts until Sunday, marking a four and half days working week.

The UAE has been leading the transformation of the Gulf to align with global practices. The government’s media office said the longer weekend is meant to “boost productivity and improve work-life balance.” But there is more to that.

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a retired professor of political science based in the UAE, told CNBC that the move was widely expected and is in line with the country’s plan to go global.

“21st century UAE is not the same as [the] UAE of 20th century,” Abdulla said, describing the shift as a quiet “revolution.”

Last year, the UAE announced changes in Islamic personal laws. The new rules allows unmarried couples to stay together, abolishing the long-held tradition that forbade unmarried couples from cohabiting or sharing a hotel room. The changes, which went into effect immediately, also decriminalizes alcohol consumption, though it leaves the legal age at 21.

The weekend days’ changes will kick in from Jan. 1, 2022, and will apply to federal government entities. Friday working hours will be from 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., the government media office said. Working hours from Monday to Thursday will start at 7.30am and end at 3.30pm.

“Adopting an agile working system will enable the UAE to rapidly respond to emerging changes and enhance wellbeing in the workplace,” CNBC quoted state news agency WAM saying in a report.

“From an economic perspective, the new working week will better align the UAE with global markets, reflecting the country’s strategic status on the global economic map,” and is designed to smooth trade, financial and economic transactions with other countries, it added.

The country will also be hoping the move boosts “not only trading opportunities but also add to the flexible, secure and enjoyable lifestyle the UAE offers to its citizens and residents,” according to WAM.

CNBC also quoted Christopher Payne, chief economist at Abu Dhabi-based Peninsula Real Estate, saying that shifting the weekend sends a clear message that the UAE is a “leader in the Gulf and the Middle East, taking bold decisions to change ahead of other countries.”

“In the broader context, this measure is part of a larger number of public policy changes … that will continue to make the UAE a highly attractive destination for foreign investment and expats,” he said, pointing to the relaxation of laws on cohabitation and changes in visa rules.

It is not the first time the UAE is making such a bold move. Years back (around 2005), the UAE government shifted the weekends from Thursdays and Fridays to Fridays and Saturdays. This was to accommodate Western lifestyle and increase business activities as starting the weekend from Thursday means losing four working days. The UAE has large business dealings with people from outside the Gulf, who use Western calendar.

The consistent changes to would-be rigid rules the country has undergone in recent years is seen as a sign of its determination to make economic progress, and also an example for other Muslim-dominated regions.

Experts have urged northern Nigeria, where alcohol is still forbidden, to learn from the UAE and undo many of the rigid rules that have hampered economic growth in the region.

Cyber security is one of the most important things in the digital world. Learn more about the importance of it and how it’s improved.

How Cyber Security Has Improved Around the World

Cyber security is probably the leading concern for everyone who works in the online space, banks in the online space, and who just generally enjoys the online space. When the internet first launched in 1983 (some argue it was before this), no one thought that cybercrime would even exist, but eventually, it did. But cyber security is extremely important as we must protect online gamers, the mother who does her daily online shopping, the student who naively enters an online chatroom, and even the high school teacher who is running a small business selling candles.

Why is cyber security so important?

Our current digital climate leaves little to no room for mistakes, mistakes that can ultimately cost you dearly. Everyone needs to protect their data – their personal information – and cyber security is important for this very reason. There is a range of data that must be protected at all costs. These include medical information, personal information (name, email, social security number, address, etc.), intellectual property, data, and government, and industry information systems. Basically, every single piece of data needs to be protected.

Some of the biggest data breaches in our history include:

• Yahoo: In August 2013, 3 billion accounts were compromised.
• Alibaba: In November 2019, 1.1 billion pieces of user data were breached.
• LinkedIn: In June 2021, 700 million of its users were posted to a forum on the dark web.
• Sina Weibo: A hacker obtained 538 million users and their personal details in March 2020.
• Facebook: In April 2019, Facebook announced that 533 million users’ personal account information was posted online.

How cyber security has improved

In the US

While there is still so much to learn about cyber crimes as criminals are advancing their attacks every day, cyber security remains as relevant as ever. In the US, many companies are continuously prioritizing cyber security solutions. Measures and policies are slowly getting better, but as they do, the adversaries become smarter too. There were three major cyberattacks in the US, one in 2020, the effects of which were only experienced in 2021, and the other two were in April and July this year. In December 2020, a software company created by SolarWinds was the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack.

Fast-forward to April 2021, and Colonial Pipeline was attacked by hackers using a private account which was used by employees to log in remotely. Then in July, the Kaseya attack was a ransomware attack. What we notice here is that all these attacks are prime examples of how the threat landscape is changing but also staying the same. And while many ask if these attacks could have been avoided, it is important to note that the attacks mentioned are great examples of improperly monitored and protected systems. However, American companies are consistently improving their cyber security.

In Russia

A key trend to note is that the cybercriminal ecosystem has always been made up of different roles. However, there are constants in the system like the infrastructure needed to carry out cybercrimes and the tools used for it. So, the functions of people doing these cybercrimes depend directly on the infrastructure and the instruments.

If we look at 2021 alone, browsers are much safer as they update automatically without the user even being aware. And what’s great is that developers are actively finding and assessing new ways to invest in vulnerability assessments. What this is also doing is opening discovered vulnerabilities to developers themselves rather than having them go searching for the issues. With safer browsers, web attacks have become less attractive to cybercriminals, and it has become more expensive to target regular users rather than corporate users.

In China

According to the Reuters article on China’s new cyber security industry plan, the country issued a draft three-year action plan to develop its cyber security industry. The reason being that the Chinese authorities plan to improve their efforts to better govern data storage, data transfer, and personal data privacy.

Earlier this year, and to improve on overall cyber security measures, the Cyberspace Administration of China proposed the draft rules specifically calling on data-rich companies with over 1 million users to undertake detailed security reviews before they list their company overseas. Experts have called this a smart move in offering peace of mind to both the Chinese government and its citizens.

There’s always room for improvement

While there have been and continue to be improvements in the cyber security space, 2021 was a difficult year in this regard. The threat to digital wellness across the spectrum of consumers, governments, and companies cannot be understated. The country that is showing the best improvement must be the US. America is waking up and tackling cyber threats (for the most part) before they happen. This is a big win. In countries like China and Israel, while they have noted the increased need to stay on top of cybercrimes, they are two of the countries most affected by cybercrime.

Types of Cybercrimes: 

• Phishing attacks: Arguably the oldest and most-used form of cyberattack, and most people are aware of how it works, cybercriminals are continuously advancing their methods.
• Ransomware: Cybercriminals release a type of malware that encrypts files on a network, leaving them unusable until the ransom demands are met.
• Internal breaches: Most cyberattacks are external, but some do stem internally. Often disgruntled current and former employees launch cyberattacks to gain financially for what they feel the company has wrongly done against them.
• Equipment sabotage: Technology provides a wealth of benefits but can also make people vulnerable if not used correctly. Exploitation is a major concern, and hackers are creating advanced means to sabotage equipment as devices are becoming more and more interconnected.
• IP theft: Intellectual Property theft is an extremely sinister mechanism from hackers. If an IP is stolen, cybercriminals will have access to product design and innovative service solutions – often the most valuable information for an organization.