Abu Dhabi is modernizing its intelligence servicesGeopolitical changes in the Middle East (the so-called Arab Spring, the conflict in Yemen, the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program, and other global events) have prompted the United Arab Emirates since the mid-2010s to take important steps to modernize its intelligence services.
As the evolution of modern intelligence services shows, countries with significant financial resources, such as the UAE, are developing mainly their technical segments – such as signal intelligence and, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI). This is due to the fact that obtaining certain results using technical means is relatively faster and safer compared to using information collected from intelligence sources, which requires much more time and resources for preparation.
In addition to expanding technical intelligence capabilities, the UAE also continued to encourage the development of the private security sector, especially in cyberspace, with relatively tight state control over this activity. Nevertheless, there have been some failures in this direction – such as the scandal with the Raven project (the Emirati company Dark Matter was involved in it, among others). The scandal sparked an FBI investigation into the use of certain types of digital espionage leading to the arrest of foreign dissidents. This is in addition to the Emirates' support for the Saudi authorities after the murder of opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the UAE's irritating collection of information about the monarchies of the Persian Gulf and other Middle Eastern countries.
The private sector of technical intelligence in the UAE is seriously superior to the state. Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother and national security adviser to the President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, oversees both sectors. The Adviser optimizes the restructuring of the UAE's state cyber intelligence units, for which he is responsible, while strengthening his own capabilities.
It is the private affiliation of the main cyber intelligence groups of the UAE that allows the authorities:
a) promptly distance themselves from all scandals in this area;
b) establish contacts with private companies from countries with which it is inconvenient to advertise relations for one reason or another (for example, now the UAE is ready to finance through private channels an Israeli project to develop cyber intelligence in Albania);
c) effectively maneuver forces and means, literally pouring personnel from the "under fire" structure into the newly formed one.
For example, Royal Technology Solutions (RTS), a subsidiary of the conglomerate Royal Group, part of the personal holding company of Tahnun bin Zayed International Holding Co (IHC), actively engaged in recruiting former Dark Matter executives after the scandal and layoffs. RTS, a cybernetic solutions integrator operating since 2010, has already poached several employees from a local Connection Systems company, many of whom previously worked for DarkMatter.
Another recruitment center is the Abu Dhabi-based OryxLabs office, which gathers a team of cyberattack experts fired from Dark Matter to promote its services in the Middle East.
The National Electronic Security Administration (established in 2012 with the assistance of the United States), headquartered in Abu Dhabi, was renamed the Signal Intelligence Agency (SIA). The department is an analogue of the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States, and technical penetration into the cells of the "Islamic State" (IS, banned in Russia) in the UAE was one of its achievements.
At the same time, there was quite convincing evidence that the authorities or other special services of the Emirates were involved in using the Tik Tok application to record conversations, meetings and photos of individuals. For the five-year plan 2022-2026, the UAE's approved cyber budget is $79 million. and it is the largest in the history of the country. According to the 2020 Global Security Index, the UAE ranks fifth in the world in these expenditures.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence has been created in the UAE. It is assumed that this program will also have an important impact on the development of Abu Dhabi's intelligence services.
At the same time, the Emirates has further expanded the capabilities of the National Defense College, which is currently headed by Major General Aqab Shaheen Al-Ali. And the appointment of the Briton Thomas Drohan as the dean of this college should strengthen ties with similar structures in the UK. The name of Joel Hayward, a New Zealander, a recognized world-class specialist in the field of military strategy and the history of wars, is also mentioned among the teachers at one of the faculties of the college.
To develop the activities of the intelligence services, the Emirates actively hire experts, especially retired military personnel from the United States and Great Britain, who are attracted by high salaries.
Experts note the strengthening of relations between the special services of the UAE and the special services of other states – in particular Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United States. As well as maintaining good relations with similar services of countries such as Egypt, Russia, China, etc.
Vasily Ivanov
