Efforts on to keep cyberspace secure during World Cup

During a meeting with representatives of local media outlets, Al Maliki said the agency's cadres and team works are working relentlessly and around the clock to guarantee the promotion and strengthening of cyber security across the country

President of the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) Abdulrahman bin Ali Al Farahid Al Malki said Sunday the agency continues its efforts to offer  optimum cyber security systems nationwide during the forthcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. During a meeting with representatives of local media outlets, Al Maliki said the agency's cadres and team works are working relentlessly and around the clock to guarantee the promotion and strengthening of cyber security across the country depending on the best world-class practices. Speaking about his agency's roles during the competition, which is set to kick off in November, Al Maliki explained that there was a plan to put a number of procedures in force including activating plans linked with sporting events in order to respond to incidents and the effective treatment with possible cyber threats and hackings as well as activating operational capabilities including watching, finding out about cyber-attacks and the effective and immediate responses to cyber incidents. He added that part of the agency's preparations for the competition were the testing of the systems through simulating the hacking of programs, applications and networks of the institutions operating during the tournament and the testing of these institutions' abilities to face hacking attempts through periodic scanning and testing the stadiums' networks as well as evaluating potential and dangers of cyber security for more than 100 vital facilities across the country. The agency checks and evaluates all technical designs, programs and apps linked with the championship before its kick off to ascertain all cyber security preconditions are met, Al Maliki said, reiterating the agency was safeguarding all facilities that provide indirect services for the championship as well as providing cyber security-related technical consultations. The agency's representatives will be present at all championship-related facilities to immediately and directly respond, monitor and verify any electronic attacks against computers and networks, he added, noting that the agency had previous live experiences in a variety of tournaments including the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup which helped the agency boost strategies and capabilities to confront any hacking attempts against sporting facilities. Commenting on the agency's approaches to raise awareness, Al Maliki highlighted the relentless efforts exerted to raise the awareness of governmental, non-governmental organizations as well as the society individuals to better protect personal networks and data as partners in the promotion of cyber security across the country. Al Maliki said that the agency has a large number of programs and training courses aimed at boosting capabilities of individuals and institutions in securing data, in addition to frequently launched media campaigns on the social media and newspapers regarding awareness of cyber security. He also said that the agency works on promoting the individuals' culture of self-protection against getting hacked. He called on individuals to obtain information from official and trusted organizations and wean themselves from rumors and misleading information. Recently, the NCSA established partnerships with a number of state agencies. It also provided training to 25,000 employees in different sectors since March 2021, with plans to further this number in the future to better preserve and protect information for the sake of achieving a secure cyber environment.