NCSA Organizes 2nd Qatar Cyber Assurance Conference

Doha, September 28 (QNA) – The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) organized Thursday the second Qatar Cyber Assurance Conference under the theme of ‘Governing the Cybersecurity Supply Chain’.
The event brought together HE Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai; HE Minister of State and Chairperson of Qatar Free Zones, Ahmad bin Mohammed Al Sayed; HE NCSA President, Eng. Abdulrahman bin Ali Al Farahid Al Maliki; and HE President of Jordans National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) Eng. Bassam Al Maharmeh.
The event aims to elevate awareness of the governance and security of supply chains in the field of cybersecurity by issuing certificates of compliance with national standards for ensuring information security and accreditation programs for cybersecurity service providers, in addition to hardware and software security certificates issued by the Qatari program for common and globally recognized standards.
The accreditation scheme for Penetration Testing Services Providers was also launched.
HE Eng. Al Maliki hailed in press statements the event as culmination of the NCSA’s journey in strengthening and developing the governance of cybersecurity supply chains in the State of Qatar.
Based on NCSA’s keenness to support the cybersecurity system in the country in accordance with the Qatar National Vision and the NCSA Strategy, unremitting efforts are being exerted to ensure the integrity of sensitive data and information and to maintain the continuity of supply chain operations in the field of cybersecurity under the National Information Security Compliance Framework (NISCF), His Excellency added.
His Excellency expressed his pride that the State of Qatar was now the first Middle East country to be able to grant Hardware/Software vendors the globally recognized information security vetting certifications.
His Excellency handed over certificates of accreditation to Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud as compliant with the National Information Assurance policy (NIA certification) and Protiviti, OASSG Consultancy and BSI Middle Easton accreditation certificates.
During her opening speech, Director of NCSA’s Governance and National Cyber Assurance Affairs Eng. Dana Al Abdullah said that many entities were exposed to hacking due to supply chains, which requires work in several different directions, and therefore the concept of governance and communication with the relevant institutions in the country is a cornerstone to reach a secure balance in supply chain governance so that it does not impede development, innovation and sustainable economic development. 

In turn Director of the Cyber Assurance Department at the National Cyber Security Agency Eng. Jassim Al Muftah said that the National Cyber Security Agency is working to raise the efficiency of service providers in cyber security through the accreditation program, which is one of the programs of the national framework for compliance with information security, explaining that this program is based on measuring the commitment of service providers to the quality and standards necessary to perform penetration testing, which include efficiency of capabilities, quality of procedures, and safety of service.
During the conference, the National Cybersecurity Agency and the Qatar Free Zones Authority signed a memorandum of understanding, related to the governance of companies that provide cybersecurity services, in addition to signing a memorandum of understanding between the agency and the Qatar Financial Center for the governance of companies that provide cybersecurity services and regulating data privacy.
The conference hosted Regulations Director at the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore Lawrence Tay as a keynote speaker to review the Singaporean experience in securing the supply chain and talk about lessons learned and success stories, in a move to enhance the exchange of experiences between friendly countries, in addition to hosting keynote speakers from Turkiye and Germany to review experiences related to testing devices and applications.
The conference witnessed a discussion session on the supply chain and cybersecurity service providers, moderated by Director of Risk, Resilience and Crisis Management at the National Cybersecurity Agency Eng. Noura Al Abdullah. The conference also included holding two workshops entitled the Path to obtaining penetration testing certification, in addition to a lecture given by Dr. Ashraf Ismail from the National Cybersecurity Agency about the leadership of the State of Qatar in examining information technology security in the region.
The National Cybersecurity Agency also organized a bilateral meeting with the Cybersecurity Agency in Singapore, during which ways of joint cooperation between the two sides were discussed, especially in the field of governance of cybersecurity supply chains.
The Qatar Cyber Assurance Conference was attended by about 280 people, including corporate executives, assistant undersecretaries and department directors in various ministries of the country, in addition to specialists and professionals in the field of cybersecurity. (QNA)