Huawei’s chief security officer for the UAE Mr. Aloysius Cheang has stated that the company is collaborating with a number of government agencies in order to develop the UAE as a “globally-trusted digital oasis” that is safe from potential cyber threats.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in October, the Shenzhen-based company has created a new position of CSO to assist the UAE in achieving its aims of smart cities and e-governments while “keeping the nation’s critical infrastructure safe.”
“At the recent Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference in Dubai, Huawei was also appointed co-chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – Computer Emergency Response Team’s (OIC- CERT’s) 5G security working group. It is mandated to ensure end-to-end cybersecurity for OIC member states,” as per the reports.
Aloysius Cheang CSO Huawei UAE
“In the UAE, the company is working to train local talent in cybersecurity and enter into public-private partnerships to create a “robust security system”. The cyber threat landscape is continuously changing, it knows no borders. Every day is a new challenge, it will hit you without you even knowing it, like what happened with [the] SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline breaches. Therefore, to build [the] local capacity and to enable a foolproof environment, we aim to have more cybersecurity professionals on the ground. Huawei has adjusted to the local conditions and drafted a tailor-made strategy to address the regional requirements.”
Cyber threats to firms and individuals have increased as a result of rapid digitalization and the growing number of connected devices, notably in the Middle East.
According to a report from IBM Security, the average cost of a data breach in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s two largest economies, climbed 9.4 percent last year to $6.53 million per breach. The figure is greater than the global average of $3.86 million per breach and ranks second among the 17 areas surveyed.
