Saudi Arabia's cybersecurity market is expected to grow to $5.5 billion by 2023, according to a report titled - MEA Cybersecurity Market forecast to 2023.

This year alone will witness the rise of the cybersecurity market value to $3 billion as more investments are being made in the sector.

The report pointed out that enterprises operating in the kingdom are adopting the best-in-class cybersecurity solutions and that the country is witnessing increasing awareness about threats among SMEs and large enterprises. This has created a high demand for consulting and advisory services among security experts.

The CEO of the 7th Mena Information Security Conference, Engineer Samer Omar, who has more than 24 years of experience in the cyber security industry, said that the kingdom has taken drastic steps towards establishing the infrastructure and foundation to combat cyberattacks, which have escalated during the past few years and are expected to further increase in the coming years.

He identified two key drivers of cyber-attacks against Saudi Arabia. The first driver is the increase in the digital changes witnessed by the country in the services offered by government sectors at all levels and their classifications

The second driver is the geopolitical situation of the region where Saudi Arabia is located, and given Riyadh’s pivotal role in them, it has become a frequent target for many cyber-attacks at any given moment.

“The professional services segment of the cybersecurity market is expected to contribute the largest share and is projected to grow to $1.4 billion by 2023 at 15.0 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Furthermore, the large enterprises segment is said to grow to $3.4 billion by 2023 at 14 per cent CAGR while the SME segment is expected to grow at a higher CAGR rate, 16.8 per cent, to be valued at $2 billion by 2023 as they increase their adoption of advanced threat defence solutions,” added Omar.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Saudi Arabia ranked first on regional level and 13th on global level out of 175 countries in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) for the year 2018 shooting up 33 places.

The 7th Mena Information Security Conference 2019, which will be hosted in Riyadh for the third consecutive year, on September 9 and 10, titled “Cyber Space, The New Frontier: Deception, Orchestration and Blackholes”.

The previous conferences have attracted more than 300 participants from all over the kingdom, as well as several of the leading brands in the IT and cybersecurity industry in addition to international media organisations.

As the security landscape grows and expands in terms of sophistication and complexity, the upcoming conference will play an integral role in sustaining communication and networking among senior information security professionals across Middle East and North Africa region and will provide them with the necessary security best practices.

Many issues, primarily compliance, legislation, governance, and cloud security have posed a clear challenge to industry leaders and other IT decision makers.

Omar stressed that cybercrime is no longer merely about a hacker; it has turned into highly organised and trained groups and underground organizations to serve certain objectives, especially political ones.

To combat such threats and limit their adverse effects, users must be educated thoroughly about the importance of preserving their data and systems and applying security advice and guidance, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service