Oman meeting to discuss cyber defence for region

Key regional figures and industry experts and decision makers from the Middle East’s critical infrastructure organisations will gather here next month to discuss and develop a fool proof cyber defence for the region. The ‘Cyber Defence Summit’, on April 2 and 3 and touted as the biggest initiative yet aimed at protecting the region’s vital national infrastructure and virtual boundaries, is endorsed d by ITU-IMPACT, the largest cyber security alliance of its kind with 137 member nations. It will be officially hosted by Oman National CERT and Information Technology Authority Oman. Being held under the theme ‘Defending Your Virtual Borders’, the summit will enable C-level cyber security experts from government authorities and the banking, oil and gas and defence sectors to identify and resolve online security challenges. “The world economy is shifting from the traditional power houses of the West to the Middle East,” Nicholas Watson, Managing Director of organisers naseba, an international events management company, said, adding: “The Cyber Defence Summit is trying to ensure that attacks on the Middle East do not bring down a country or worse — the entire global economy. Everyone and anyone can be a hacker today — and we need to be proactive and vigilant.” Top-notch experts addressing the conference will include Eugene Kaspersky, the founder and CEO of Kaspersky Labs; Suleyman Anil, Head of Cyber Defence at Nato; Jim Nelms, Chief Information Security Officer of World Bank; Shawn Henry, Executive Assistant Director, FBI; and Guy Megeur, General Manager (Middle East) at Cassidian Cyber Security. “Industry leaders like Booz Allen Hamilton, Cassidian, Dell, Microsoft, Bitdefender and Lancope will ensure the region has the appropriate expertise and solutions available to avoid an attack,” Watson said. The summit is being held at a time when countries in the Middle East have made cyber defence a priority and are investing in it heavily.