UAE- International conference to take stock of cyber security in ME
Date
9/8/2015 10:50:20 PM
(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)More than 800 cyber security experts from around the world are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi in November for the RSA Conference on information security a long-running international event that will make its Middle East debut in the Emirates.
Topics to be discussed - on November 4 and 5 at the Emirates Palace - include information security for "smart cities" cybercriminal threats and the cyber threat to critical infrastructure such as oil and gas platforms. Speakers include representatives from Microsoft American defense contractor Raytheon du Saudi Aramco Cisco and the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Petroleum Operations (Adco) the UAE Ministry of Labour and NYU Abu Dhabi. The conference first held in 1991 as a forum for cryptographers is being organised in coordination with the UAE's National Electronic Security Authority (Nesa). In an interview with Khaleej Times RSA Conference General Manager Linda Gray said the conference's expansion to the UAE reflects the growing importance of cyber security to the UAE and the wider region. "The Middle East has rapidly emerged as a hot information security market" she said. "We wanted to give the region a platform." "It's a split between the vendor organisations and also the people who actually work in security day in and day out" Gray said. "There will not only be a lot of best practice sharing and learning in the sessions but also networking out of the sessions." Sandra Toms vice-president and curator of the RSA Conference said that the conference will address ever-increasing concerns about cyber security in the Middle East. "Anyone who's involved in connecting on the Internet is certainly concerned about security. It's a global issue" she said "There are some specific concerns regionally that are (represented in) the event. For example we have a critical infrastructure track which is focused on oil and gas and supply chain issues." "There are also a lot of smart city initiatives within the region so we'll talk about the Internet of Things mobile mobile apps and we'll look at big data analytics and how that can help protect organisations and what you can do with that" Toms added. "We're also focused on policy and strategy so people can get together and share best practices in the region." Looking to the future Gray said she expects the RSA Conference to be a feature of regional cyber security discussions for some time to come. "We're certainly not planning this to be a one-off event. We are looking to be here for the foreseeable future." Bernd Debusmann Jr. Originally from Mexico City I've been in Dubai since January 2015. Before arriving in in the UAE I worked as a general news reporter in TV and print in Mexico City NYC and Washington DC. I'm interested in defence issues politics technology aviation and history. In my spare time i enjoy traveling and football - I'm a keen fan of Chelsea FC. I developed an interest in the Middle East traveling through Jordan and the West Bank. I have a BA in Political Science from Dickinson College in the USA and an MA in International Journalism from City University London.
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