Statistics presented at the second international cyber security conference in Riyadh have highlighted the enormity of cyber attacks being suffered by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council states. During the two-day conference, which was patronized by Vicegerent Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Naif, the National Cyber Security Center's director said it has set out a road map to prevent cyber attacks. The conference called for greater regional and international cooperation to fight cyber attacks around the globe. Dr. Bandar Mashari, assistant interior minister for technical affairs, opened the conference emphasizing GCC's resolve to defeat cyber terrorism. "We will succeed in our fight against cyber terrorism like we did in defeating conventional terrorism. We have great confidence in our electronic systems and services," Mashari told the conference. The GCC region acquires a significant share of the world's energy resources and with an increased usage of personal Internet and smart devices for banking applications over the past few years, the region has become more exposed to phishing and DDOS attacks. Saudi Arabian government departments and private firms faced at least 992 hacking attempts in 2016, which have been monitored by the National Cyber Security Center, according to its director Col. Saleh Al-Motairy. "We have responded to 124 attempts to hack websites of public and private institutions in 2016 and helped reduce its impact," he pointed out. Al-Motairy said his organization had cautioned public and private firms about possible cyber attacks, adding that its warnings enabled them to take precautions to ensure cyber security by adopting advanced systems. He said 2016 witnessed an increase in cyber attacks, especially on government agencies and vital installations. These attacks were aimed at obstructing services, steal information and destroy infrastructure and information systems. Al-Motairy said increased use of laptop computers have contributed to facilitating attempts to hack information and digital systems. "There is a black market to sell computers, rent services, sell stolen IDs of Internet users," he added. He also spoke about the weakness of international systems to prevent cyber attacks and bring hackers to justice. "We have set up a national platform to monitor the dangers from cyber space around the clock. We'll also develop national technological capabilities to prevent possible cyber attacks," he added. Al-Motairy strongly criticized public and private agencies for not following the required standard to foil cyber attacks on their systems. The NCSC issued 1,865 warnings about potential cyber attacks and provided 160 consultancy services to various agencies and firms. Meanwhile, Col. Bassam Al-Mieraj, director of the department to combat economic corruption and ensure cyber security at the Bahraini Ministry of Interior lambasted Iran for launching cyber attacks on his country. "We face about 250 hacking attempts monthly and the largest number of these attacks comes from Iran," he said. Globally, the UAE is placed fifth among victims of cyber attacks due to the high density of established commercial and government organizations in the country. The GCC cyber security market is estimated to grow over $10.41 billion by the end of 2022. Currently, cyber security solutions are acquiring a major share of the market because of an increase in the Internet users in the GCC region with current estimation being approximately 40 million. Cyber space is continually expanding with new and innovative developments like Internet of Things' and Big Data', which will add to more levels of complexities and security challenges with regard to various networks and systems. Therefore, cyber security will prove to be an important element of any organization and will attempt to provide many opportunities to a number of vendors to foster cyber security solutions in the GCC region.
