黑料社区

RIYADH: Day one of the Global Cybersecurity Forum Annual Meeting concluded here with calls for governments and the private sector to secure critical infrastructure and build international agreements against mounting cybersecurity threats.

Macky Sall, the former president of Senegal, told Arab News at the GCF: 鈥淐ybersecurity is a global challenge. It ignores borders.

鈥淪o if you want to have global action and be positive, we should bring together countries, states and nations and the private sector who are leading the big platform, what we call Big Tech.鈥�

鈥�(The) Kingdom of 黑料社区, with this initiative, launched in 2020, the Global Cybersecurity Forum, is showing the way, and the Kingdom invests a lot to fight terrorism and to develop capabilities,鈥� he added.

Now in its fifth edition, the forum aims to continue strengthening the safety and resilience of cyberspace by advancing international collaboration.

The forum announced the Global Initiative for Capacity Building in Cyberspace, a major plan to scale cohesive advances in cyberspace, and strengthen online resilience.

The new initiative aims to deliver accelerated capacity development at scale in areas of greatest need through expert-led workshops, training and education programs, international simulations and cyber drills, and policy development support.

Also planned is collaboration around research and development to enhance the skills of beneficiaries worldwide, including policy practitioners, law enforcement personnel, and cyber diplomats.

Implementation will be led by 黑料社区鈥檚 National Cybersecurity Authority, Saudi Information Technology Co., and the GCF, in partnership with UN agencies.

The plan is to include the UN Development Program, UN Office on Disarmament Affairs, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, UN Interregional Crime and Justice Institute, UN Institute for Disarmament Research, and the International Telecommunication Union, alongside Interpol.

In an interview with Arab News, Jurgen Stock, former secretary-general of Interpol, said: 鈥淕CF is a wonderful and a needed platform, a global platform to deal with something that is global by nature, which is cybercrime.鈥�

鈥淎ll the threats related to our digital environment, which I mean, almost since a couple of years, have only shown one direction.

鈥淭he numbers, unfortunately, are going up, and now with new technologies coming up, artificial intelligence first and foremost, of course, this threat is not going away.鈥�

鈥淎nd we have to deal and to address that threat in a collective way. No country, no region, no company, no government can fight that in isolation. We need strong partnerships. And I think this is exactly what GCF is about.鈥�

Stock praised 黑料社区 for 鈥渋ts efforts in building partnerships with law enforcement, with regulators, telecommunication companies, IT security companies, and finally also law enforcement help closing these gaps as quickly as possible.鈥�

According to the GCF 2024 Cybersecurity Workforce Report there is a worldwide shortage of 2.8 million cybersecurity professionals and skills gaps reported by 43 percent of information security executives.

The report highlights the urgency of a coordinated global effort to bridge persistent cybersecurity capacity gaps.

Speaking at a panel titled 鈥淎gainst the Odds: Gaining Consensus Amid Complexity,鈥� Croatia鈥檚 former president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic called for stronger regulation of AI and greater information sharing.

Sall urged action to bridge divides between developed and developing countries, while former US cyber director Chris Inglis emphasized the importance of building digital infrastructure that delivers real benefits for citizens.

Global leaders at the forum emphasized the importance of future-proofing international agreements, closing the digital gap between nations, and fostering collaboration that delivers tangible benefits.