Saudi Arabia braces to fight cybercrimes

JEDDAH: Cybercrime is not a new phenomenon, but it is hitting the headlines as never before. The growing frequency and sophistication of online threats have exposed businesses to new risks.

The fourth edition of the Kingdom Cybersecurity Meeting aims to address these issues that continue to challenge business leaders to rethink their defense strategies to counter persistent threats in cyberspace.

The event will take place on April 18 and 19 in Riyadh, and will feature more than 20 speakers.

Dr. Taghreed Justinia, assistant professor and program director for health informatics at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, said: “We are a country with a uniquely vast geography, ( as our) cities ( are) still distinctly separated and still under development… We also have an advanced and reliable telecommunications infrastructure that could support a vision favoring smart cities. It is necessary to focus on securing the infrastructure and data. Getting citizens and various agencies involved in unifying the vision is an important step. Investing in cybersecurity is a necessity and should be considered in the planning and budgeting stages of any project. It should not be left for later stages or only when there is a security threat.”

Abubakar Arshad, cybersecurity adviser at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Bahrain, said: “Artificial intelligence ( AI) is one of the most crucial technological developments of our times. It is changing every aspect of technologies around us… Criminals are using AI to hack into the most sophisticated systems. This trend is set to continue exponentially. Therefore, as cybersecurity professionals, we need to be aware of the threat and also adopt AI technologies to protect against threats from organized cybercriminals...”

Set against the backdrop of the growing cyber menace and with the emerging need of aligning security closely to business imperatives, the Kingdom Cybersecurity Meeting will contribute to efforts in building an effective cybersecurity strategy in the region.

“This market is booming with rapid infrastructure development and we must keep up the pace of security alongside the speed of these development projects... Cybersecurity is of key interest to anyone involved with information technology,” Justinia said.