To combat rising cybercrime and cyberattacks targeted against the country and the institution, the General Court of Audit (GCA) of Saudi Arabia has adopted a new cybersecurity strategic plan. The plan aims to create safe and reliable cyberspace, support the bureau’s work, protect its information and technical assets, and promote best practices in the field of cybersecurity, and will thereby focus on strengthening and protecting the institution from both — internal as well as external threats.
President of General Court of Audit (GCA), H.E. Dr. Hussam Alangari approved the plan and pressed for the organizational structure of the cybersecurity department. The plan would incorporate key cybersecurity principles like confidentiality, safety, and availability of cybersecurity infrastructure, and awareness to make sure that the protection measures adopted by the nation would be accurate and appropriate.
“The cybersecurity strategy was designed to introduce recommendations related to cybersecurity in GCA that are consistent with the work nature of GCA. This move will enable work initiatives such as the governance, compliance, risk management, preventing and detecting cyber threats, longevity of cybersecurity, and building the capacity of human resources in the cybersecurity field in addition to providing a clear and unified vision to be circulated among GCA departments and branches,” GCA stated in a release.
It added, “the plan will be applied on all personnel related to the issuance of identities of users and management of these users and issuance of authorizations according to their roles in the systems of GCA. The cybersecurity strategy will be also applied on entities dealing with GCA and using its data or any information assets of GCA.”
Cybersecurity Greatest Threat to Saudi Businesses
An earlier survey by KPMG CEO Outlook saw 20% of the CEOs in Saudi Arabia reach a consensus that cybersecurity risks are the biggest threats to their businesses. According to the CEO responds of the survey 60% of CEOs regarded information security as a strategic function that gives their organizations an edge over their competitors while 14% believed they expect a cybersecurity risk or incidence in immediate future. The survey also highlighted that 56% of organizations in Saudi believe they are ready for a cyberattack while 54% stated that they have faith that a strong cybersecurity strategy creates trust among all its stakeholders.