The Launch of the Cyberspace Conference in Qatar

On Monday, May 16, the National Agency for Cybersecurity organized the Cyberspace Conference in the State of Qatar: (Compliance and Guarantee)

The conference was attended by HE Minister of Transportation Jassim bin Saif Al-Sulaiti, and HE Eng. Abdulrahman bin Ali Al-Farahed Al-Maliki, Head of the National Cyber Security Agency, with the participation of local and external bodies concerned with the field of cybersecurity.

The conference aims to shed light on the system of compliance, assurance, and accreditation of cybersecurity service providers, as well as evaluating and issuing software and hardware evaluation certificates after testing them in accredited international or national laboratories.

His Excellency Eng. Abdulrahman bin Ali Al-Farahid Al-Malki, Head of the National Cyber Security Agency, said in a statement: “Cybersecurity is an essential pillar of continuity and assurance with regard to technological infrastructure at all levels and all sectors.”

His Excellency stressed that the State of Qatar has witnessed in the past decade a great development in the field of cybersecurity, as it has sought in its various parties to work to raise the readiness of institutions to address cyberattacks and raise the level of awareness about various threats.

And He pointed out that the state has undertaken various efforts represented in strengthening the role of the private sector, service providers, and the supply chain as essential partners in ensuring cybersecurity, and among these efforts joined the common standards system in 2015, which is considered one of the most important global systems in examining and evaluating devices and applications.

His Excellency handed over certificates of compliance and accreditation to the institutions and companies that obtained them, in different tracks: compliance, accreditation of technology testing laboratories, accreditation of consulting service providers, and compliance with the standards of the Qatar Common Standards Program.

For her part, Ms. Maryam Haji Abdullah, Director of the Information Systems Department at the Public Prosecution, spoke about the Public Prosecution's experience in developing its compliance-related capabilities and obtaining the first certificate of compliance with the National Information Security Standards in the State of Qatar

And She stressed that this accreditation is an incentive to develop and improve performance, and raise the efficiency of its operations, noting the Public Prosecution's realization that information security is a continuous journey and a constant struggle between good and evil, especially with the development of tools and technology that are used.

She explained that the Public Prosecution has embarked on a project to comply with the National Information Assurance Policy, and this initiative was under the auspices, supervision, and follow-up of the higher administration, and thus the Public Prosecution would be the first in the country to succeed in adopting and implementing the policy, in order to support national trends in the transition to secure digital society.

It is worth noting that the State of Qatar is keen to be proactive and keep pace with the continuous changes in the cybersecurity scene, as the state has adopted the approach of joint responsibility, and the involvement of the private sector and the supply chain in this responsibility through multiple programs.