OIC-CERT hosts Cybersecurity Roundtable at MWC 2024 to Instill Digital Trust and Cyber-resilience

On the sidelines of MWC 2024, OIC-CERT (Organization of The Islamic Cooperation – Computer Emergency Response Teams) organized a high-level industry roundtable to jointly discuss the evolving global cybersecurity landscape and challenges. Under the theme ‘Instilling Digital Trust & Resilience’, the event gathered 13 members and organizations from Oman, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Egypt, Bangladesh, Jordan, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, the OIC Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) based in Pakistan, and Huawei.

During the roundtable, OIC-CERT participating members finalized action plans and initiatives like the OIC-CERT 5G Working Group & Cloud Security Working Group, 5G security, and Cloud Security Framework. The creation of a new potential working group for AI security and supply chain security was also discussed.

Eng. Badar Ali Said Al Salehi, Chair of the OIC-CERT, and Director General, Oman National CERT (OCERT), delivered the opening address, stating, “As a leading cybersecurity platform, OIC-CERT is committed to making cyberspace safe, and we hosted this exclusive roundtable to gather some of the world’s leading cybersecurity experts to help build digital trust and boost cyber resilience. We strongly believe that through a global collaboration, we will be successful in mitigating cyber threats.”

The OIC-CERT event featured several high-level speakers that shed light on crucial topics. Professor Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General, COMSTECH, delivered a keynote address, while Sean Yang, Huawei Global Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection Officer, hosted a session on the need to boost digital trust and resilience. Huawei is a commercial member of OIC-CERT, and Dr. Aloysius Cheang, Huawei’s Chief Security Officer for Middle East and Central Asia together with Cybersecurity Malaysia, the OIC-CERT Permanent Secretariat were the co-chair leading the 5G Security Working Group.

Salma Hafez, Head of National Efforts Coordination Department, EG-CERT from Egypt moderated a session on the roles of multiple stakeholders, like regulatory authorities, industry organizations, enterprises, etc., in enhancing digital trust and resilience. She highlighted that by aligning interests and leveraging collective expertise, organizations can effectively harness the power of their stakeholders to propel digital transformation and fortify resilience in an increasingly volatile and interconnected world.

Abdalla Mohamed Alzarooni, Senior information Security Analyst, aeCERT from UAE, led a session on the actions and measures for instilling digital trust and resilience. He explained that organizations risk falling behind competitors and failing to capitalize on emerging opportunities without deliberate actions. He also elaborated that organizations can proactively enhance digital thrust and resilience by taking strategic actions and implementing rigorous measurement practices, ensuring long-term success in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Iman Ahmed, Director of Cybersecurity Development, OCERT from Oman, and Dr. Hulk Zhang, Senior Cybersecurity Specialist, Huawei UAE, shared a case study on Cybersecurity Industry Development Strategy Maturity Model (CIDSMM), a collaboration project between ITU-ARCC and Huawei. In addition, Prof S Khurshid Hasanain, Adviser, COMSTECH, shared the way forward for enhancing the collaboration between OIC-CERT and COMSTECH.