stc Group announced the launch of the Advanced Technology and Cybersecurity Company; a new company dedicated to providing advanced cybersecurity services and solutions in the business sector. The recently announced launch comes to keep abreast of the growing demand for digital services in parallel with stc’s DARE Strategy, which aims to foster digital transformation, pave new paths for development, and achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. This new effort is part of the response to the exceptional circumstances the world is witnessing, circumstances which led many businesses and government agencies to resort to digital solutions for business continuity.
“The vision of the company is to create a reliable platform for the digital economy with world-class leading cybersecurity capabilities to enable and protect the critical economic infrastructure and both government and private services,” said Mr. Haithem Alfaraj, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Advanced Technology and Cybersecurity Company and Senior VP of stc’s Technology and Operations Unit.
Alfaraj added that the company is launching a wide range of innovative and managed cybersecurity services and solutions, including providing protection services against denial of service (DoS) attacks through its largest local and regional platform, which has a capacity of more than 1.5 terabytes. Other benefits offered include local and managed services to detect vulnerabilities, adhere to security controls, and use secure email and browsing through platforms which leverage leading technologies according to the Gartner Research Center. The Advanced Technology and Cybersecurity Company has a cybersecurity operations center that provides the most advanced services. The center is managed by capable national talents, observes the highest levels of professionalism, and adopts international best practices to monitor, respond to and protect against advanced cyber attacks. In addition to conducting proactive digital intelligence research, the center is supported by advanced and integrated services and platforms to address and respond to cyber incidents. Not only that, but one of the strategic objectives of the company is to provide young national talents with training and development in technologies and cybersecurity.
“The establishment of the new company reflects the importance of cybersecurity services. The cybersecurity sector is one of the Kingdom’s and the world’s promising and rapidly growing sectors. Given the increasing and varying cyber crimes and threats, this sector is of vital importance and priority in relation to the Kingdom’s plans and programs to keep abreast of modern technologies and and to protect the Kingdom economically, politically, and socially,” said Fahad Aljutaili, CEO of the Advanced Technology and Cybersecurity Company.
In 2020, stc was the leading digital enabler of the G20 Riyadh summit by dedicating all its efforts and capabilities to provide digital solutions and services, including managed cybersecurity services and solutions that enabled the prevention of more than 42,000 dangerous e-mails and more than 600,000 harmful websites, in addition to addressing 290,000 electronic threats and preventing 41.5 hours of service disruption attacks.
Researchers estimate that cybercrime will cost the world around six trillion U.S. dollars in 2021. The world also faces a cyber attack every 39 seconds as attackers use e-mails and websites as means attacks and target their victims. It is also easy for them to launch denial-of- service and ransom attacks using modern technologies such as digital currency payments, artificial intelligence tools and FinTech. By 2025, the world will have 75 billion devices connected to the internet, making cybersecurity of major importance. The world also faces a shortage of specialized human capabilities in the field of cybersecurity. According to experts, the world will be facing an estimated shortage of 3.5 million specialists in 2021.
