Page 15 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2024

LEADERS' SUMMIT 2024 SAMENA TRENDS

Dialogue on Cyber Resilience for Telecom Business

The cyber resilience roundtable, held in collaboration with Huawei importance of addressing these challenges, the roundtable was
and stc, during the Leaders’ Summit 2024 aimed at boosting a vital platform for industry leaders, experts, and stakeholders to
telecom cyber resilience and safeguarding the digital space. The engage in meaningful discussions, share invaluable insights, and
roundtable spotlighted how cybersecurity and privacy protection collaborate on strategies to fortify the telecom industry against the
are critical to business success in the emergent digital world, ever-present menace of cyber threats.”
especially since the world is now increasingly digital and intelligent,
with deep network-cloud-intelligence convergence in play, and Mohammed Alosaimi, Chief Security Officer at Huawei Saudi Arabia,
with immersive digital experiences and ubiquitous intelligent reaffirmed Huawei’s commitment to reinforcing cybersecurity
applications, network capabilities, and evolution of infrastructure infrastructure, stating, “As an industry leader actively engaged
driving digital transformation. in cybersecurity R&D and building a cybersecurity ecosystem in
the region, Huawei remains steadfast in our collaboration with
Speakers discussed the importance of cyber resilience for carriers and partners to strengthen the construction of digital
innovative telecom operators, current challenges in light of infrastructure around the world, build a thriving ecosystem, and
accelerated technologies like 5G and 5G-Advanced (5G-A) telecom unleash the potential of the digital world securely.”
networks integrated with cloud and AI capabilities, and the remedial
actions required for each. They also addressed cloud security, The roundtable briefly delved into cyber threats, vulnerabilities,
the strategies, models, tools, and skill sets needed to achieve insider threats, supply chain risks, and the challenges in securing
resilience, and the required support from regulatory authorities. legacy signaling systems (2G & 3G) versus modern IP-based
networks (4G & 5G). Additionally, the speakers shared cybersecurity
Mazen Al Ahmadi, General Manager of Cyber Defense at stc, use cases that support telecom business success. The roundtable
said, “In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, cybersecurity also iterated the importance of collaboration between industry
and privacy protection have emerged as paramount concerns for stakeholders in addressing existing and forthcoming cybersecurity
businesses across all sectors, particularly in the telecom industry. challenges, improve network resilience and signaling security
The potential for cyber threats and data breaches has grown across the telecom ecosystem, and adhere to international
exponentially as the world becomes increasingly interconnected standards and guidelines such as GSMA NESAS, MCKB, and OIC-
and reliant on digital infrastructure. Recognizing the critical CERT recommendations.

15 MAY-JUNE 2024