Training initiatives to improve Saudi Arabia’s cybersecurity readiness

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s cybersecurity professionals are getting a boost through training initiatives to meet the growing threat of cyberattacks.

Cyberterrorism and cyberwars are successful due to the vulnerability of computer networks and critical infrastructure, and these weak spots have the potential to place the Kingdom at significant additional risk.
Training programs are available in various fields of cybersecurity, a rising profession globally and one that is in high demand in Saudi Arabia, including cloud security, incident handling, web applications security, and advanced network forensics CISSP Certification GISP to support the country’s ongoing information security efforts.
One such program is an upcoming training course from global cybersecurity training and certification firm SANS Institute that is set to begin on March 21. It runs until April 1 and is designed to give professionals flexible access to in-depth and practical courses online.
Legal expert Dr. Majed Al-Hedayan called the program a good opportunity to upskill. “We are expecting big numbers of interested students and employees to enroll immediately to best utilize this initiative,” he told Arab News.
Society was experiencing new challenges and changes due to the pandemic, he said, meaning new models would be adopted based on new technologies. “Therefore, we need to provide such initiatives to prepare our professionals to build their skills as career goals to act with new technology. I do have strong confidence that participants can advance their careers and develop skills through world-class online cyber security training delivered by leading security practitioners.”

He added that the SANS initiative would also allow participants the opportunity to connect and network with like-minded security professionals from the region who were facing similar career and organizational challenges.
According to IDC’s annual Saudi Arabia CIO Survey 2020, 25 percent of enterprises in the Kingdom plan to deploy on-premises and dedicated private clouds, multiple public clouds and legacy platforms to meet their infrastructure needs.
However, security concerns form one of the three main obstacles toward cloud adoption. The same survey said that enterprises needed to be better equipped in current times in order to respond to cyberattacks, data breaches and privacy violations effectively.
“The Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, has been significantly exposed to geopolitical threat actors,” said Ned Baltagi, managing director Middle East and Africa at the SANS Institute. “In the current post-pandemic era, with looming lockdowns, closed borders, and remotely dispersed workforces, adopting cloud platforms is the way forward for enterprises. With SANS Riyadh March 2021, we continue to place emphasis on building skills to manage security practices in the cloud, as well as offer web application security.”