Speaking at the GSMA M360 EURASIA 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Dr Mohamed Hamad Al-Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, reiterated that the UAE is at the forefront of creating a state-of-the-art, secure digital infrastructure to help drive the country’s digital economy growth.
“With the increasing number of cybersecurity attacks over the years, it is critical to not only follow the country’s information security standards and policies to protect the country’s digital sphere but also, continuously develop new cybersecurity regulations and guidelines to keep cybersecurity requirements in place to defend against cyber threats and accelerate national cybersecurity capabilities, efficiently,” said Dr Al Kuwaiti.
In parallel to the GSMA M360 Eurasia 2023, regional cybersecurity leaders from the UAE, Oman, and Azerbaijan joined Huawei Middle East and Central Asia at a high-level media roundtable to discuss the latest telecom cybersecurity trends, innovations, and contribute methods to tackle the associated threats among industry actors together. The open discussion aimed at aligning strategic priorities for the region, deepening engagement and steering collaborative efforts in the industry to advance collective action for cyber stability in the telecom industry.
In 2022, UAE published the UAE Telecom Cybersecurity Guidance to strengthen the country’s telecommunication cybersecurity. The Guidance defines a defense-in-depth, zero-trust driven multi-layered framework based on the OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework, GSMA 5G Cybersecurity Knowledge Base, and cybersecurity standards from ISO and NIST. “The UAE Telecom Cybersecurity Guidance is vital to help drive the country’s efforts to establish the world-first telecom information security management system (T-ISMS) to efficiently govern, manage, implement and optimise telecom cybersecurity against telecom threats,” explained Dr Al Kuwaiti.
“e& has proactively responded to the national cybersecurity initiative and was officially nominated as the first UAE carrier to do a pilot deployment of the UAE Telecom Cybersecurity Guidance,” he stated.
Dr Mohammad Khaled, Director, Business Development and Strategic projects, e& enterprise, participated in the exclusive media roundtable, which was held under the theme of “Build more secure and resilient telecom networks to efficiently support the future digital economy”. He was joined in the panel by Dr Tural Mammadov, Director of the Azerbaijan Computer Emergency Response Center (CERT), Dr Haitham Hilal Al Hajri, Sr. Executive – Cyber Security Projects, Oman National CERT, Dr Elvin Balajanov, Chairman of the Board, Azerbaijan Cybersecurity Organisation Association and Dr Aloysius Cheang, Chief Security Officer, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia.
Dr Mohammad Khaled, Director, Business Development and Strategic projects, e& enterprise, said, “As an operator, securing our networks against cyber threats and creating safe digital cyberspace remains one of our most important tasks, especially as we enter a new era of connectivity and cognitive technologies. We realise that cyber threats are global in nature – and solutions must be as well. We are therefore proud to be here, joining other partners and stakeholders in finding joint outcomes to a common threat.”
The telecom industry has become an integral part of modern society and is recognised as a critical infrastructure industry (CII). It plays a vital role in connecting people, businesses and governments, facilitating communication, information sharing and commerce on a global scale.
However, as telecom networks become more complex and interconnected, they become more vulnerable to cyber threats. Cybersecurity of telecoms is a critical component of national security, and therefore, it is essential to bring together telecom stakeholders to promote the development and optimisation of telecom cybersecurity. This includes working closely with telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, government agencies, and other stakeholders to identify and mitigate cybersecurity risks, develop and implement best practices, and raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity in telecom.
Dr Aloysius Cheang, Chief Security Officer, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia, said, “We need to consider how to meet the increasingly strict compliance requirements of regulators on the one hand and how to provide secure and trustworthy products and services that fulfill our commitments to customers on the other. We must also embrace a defense-in-depth approach to provide better security, ensure business continuity, resiliency, improve efficiency and customer experience while always protecting user privacy.”
“GSMA / 3GPP defined NESAS / SCAS certifications shall be a baseline requirement for all telecom equipment once our Guidance is effectively enforced. And those T-ISMS based mainly on GSMA 5G Cybersecurity Knowledge Base and other global standards such as ISO 27001 are also mandatory for telecom operators to implement in securing their mobile telecom networks,” shared Dr. Al Kuwaiti.
Other regional cybersecurity experts agreed that NESAS/SCAS is an ideal example of global collaborative efforts in addressing cybersecurity. It offers a standardised cybersecurity assessment mechanism jointly defined by GSMA and 3GPP, the telecom industry’s leading standards-setting organisations and GSMA 5G Cybersecurity Knowledge Base to provide useful guidance on 5G security risks and mitigation measures.
Huawei has been proactively involved in the telecom cyber security standardisation activities led by GSMA ITU-T, 3GPP, and IETF etc., and has joined security organisations such as OIC-CERT, FIRST and partnered with mainstream security companies to ensure the cyber security of its customers and promote the healthy development of industries.
The UAE Cybersecurity Council, OIC-CERT (Organisation of The Islamic Cooperation – Computer Emergency Response Teams) and e& co-organised the first UAE Telecom Cybersecurity Guidance Adoption Workshop at GISEC Global 2023. At the workshop, e& announced that it is the first UAE carrier to do a pilot deployment of UAE Telecom Cybersecurity Guidance and proactively respond to the national cybersecurity initiative.
“We would continue to accelerate the UAE’s digital transformation agenda and it is still critical to implement best practices and effective strategies for enhancing the national cybersecurity posture to the challenges posed by potential cyber threats today and in the future,” concluded Dr. Al Kuwaiti.
