Cybersecurity development in Saudi Arabia to fight hackers

NYU
Source: NYU

The National Cybersecurity Authority was established by Saudi Arabia in 2017 with the motive to protect against cyber threats as well as provide cyber situation awareness and respond to cyber incidents.

Some of the other organizations working to protect the cyberspace are the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security and Programming(SAFCSP), the Prince Mohammed bin Salman College for Cyber Security, the Prince Mohamed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Philanthropic Foundation (MiSK) and  Artificial Intelligence and advanced technologies. This organization along with national Cybersecurity authority played a role in cybersecurity advanced technologies and artificial intelligence – all of these are a part of the government’s vision of 2030 agenda.

According to Nouf Abdullah Al-Rakan, the executive director of SAFCSP’s, Saudi Arabia got the topmost position in the Arab world in 2018 and stands at the 17th position globally from the aspect of cyber-attacks executed against the country. As per the study conducted by the Global Cybersecurity Index, a rise in the kingdom of 33 ranks have been witnessed since the last report by the UN international telecommunication union published in the year 2016.

Consecutively, for the fourth time in a row, the MENA ISC 2019 or the Middle East and North Africa Information Security Conference 2019 will occur in the capital of the kingdom, Riyadh. The seventh edition of the Middle East and North Africa Information Security Conference 2019 will take place on September 9 and 10.

This conference will also host the Cyber Saber Hackathon’s third version. Interested students can participate in attempting to depend and hack a model smart city.

As per the report released by the US Saudi Arabian Business Council, the defense sector of the country is expected to offer the GDP of the Kingdom with 23 1.27 billion Riyals or approximately $61.65 billion by the year 2020. The cybersecurity sector will be the fastest-growing fields in the whole country with an unexpected market value of 19.12 billion Riyals or $5.1 billion by the year 2022.