Fahad Al-Talal from Riyadh
Total spending on cybersecurity in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach about 1.6 billion riyals this year, driven by spending on consulting, integration, and managed security services, to record an increase of 6.25 percent, compared to spending 1.5 billion in the last year 2019.
This came, according to the estimates of participants in the "Fairchupport" conference for information security solutions in the Middle East and North Africa, which was held virtually in its eighth edition, under the title "Evolution from cyber resistance to cyber resilience in the era of smart cities, digital economy and the Internet of things", sponsored by the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security Programming and Drones as a national sponsor, and its activities will continue from 5 to 6 October, with the participation of seven Arab countries: "Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, and Jordan."
The title of the current session’s conference is consistent with the growing interest of the governments of the region’s countries in running their services through total digital transformation, and reaching the concept of “digital government”.
During the second session of the conference, Muhammad Ali Al-Ghamdi, Director of Cybersecurity at the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones discussed the topic of penetration testing for the next generation, in addition to a panel discussion entitled "Women in Cybersecurity."
Emphasis was placed on the pioneering role of women locally and internationally in the field of cybersecurity, and during the International Cyber Security Forum held in Riyadh, which was organized by the National Cybersecurity Authority last February, where Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman directed the adoption of two initiatives to serve global cybersecurity, the first being the Protection Initiative. Children in the cyber world, by launching projects to lead efforts related to protecting children in cyberspace.
The second initiative is the empowerment of women in cybersecurity, with the aim of supporting them to participate actively in this field and to enhance the professional development of women, and to increase the human capital of cybersecurity.
For his part, Tariq Kuzbari, general manager of Cyberizon in the Middle East, told Al-Eqtisadiah that he expected losses resulting from the lack of investment in cybersecurity to reach more than 21 billion dollars in the Middle East this year, compared to only five million dollars two years ago.
According to Kuzbari, based on the research conducted, the cost of the breach is $ 6.52 million, compared to the global average of $ 3.86 million, and the time to identify and contain the breach is 369 days, compared to the global average of 280 days. For his part, Ihab Derbas, Vice President of Sales at Cyber-Knight, told Al-Eqtisadiah that the size of the Middle East cybersecurity market is expected to reach $ 16 billion by the end of this year, and will continue to grow to more than $ 28 billion in 2025.
He explained that Saudi Arabia is one of the largest markets in the region, and it is expected that the volume of its spending on cybersecurity and the systems supporting it will be about two billion dollars, due to the importance the Kingdom attaches to this vital sector.
