ITA, Oman Oil ink cyber security pact

The Information Technology Authority (ITA), represented by the Arab Regional Cyber security Centre of ITU, hosted in the Oman and Oman Oil Company (OOC), signed a partnership agreement to enable OOC and its group of companies to benefit from the cyber security services offered by ITA and the regional centre.

This was announced at an event held on Monday at the OOC headquarters, where Eng Bader Ali Al Salehi, head of the Arab regional cyber security centre and the DG of Oman National CERT at ITA; and Saleh bin Abdullah Al Musalhi, director-general of Human Capital, ICT and Supply Chain at OOC, signed the agreement, with the attendance of representatives from both parties.

The partnership consists of providing specialised cyber security services, including customised training opportunities in the field of information security for OOC and its subsidiaries, which are in line with internationally recognised standards. The training programmes will include a number of technical and specialised topics in the field of cyber security, such as risk assessment and detection of vulnerabilities, which will contribute in protecting organisations from attacks that may occur as a result of these vulnerabilities or reduce the impact of risks, in case they occur; additionally, the services also include cyber security assessments and cyber threat and risk notifications services.

On the importance of this agreement, Al Salehi said, “Signing this partnership agreement is part of the initiatives adopted by the centre to promote cooperation with the private sector, particularly to enhance cyber security within the critical national infrastructure industry (CNIs). The partnership agreement aims to enable CNIs to benefit from the cyber security services offered by the regional centre to enhance cyber security readiness at CNIs, as well as engage Omani companies to contribute to the delivery of cyber security services.”

“The partnership takes place at this critical period where CNIs, especially the oil and gas industry, have always been targeted by cyber security threats regionally and internationally. Thus, the partnership includes specialised cyber security training and awareness programmes, cyber threat and notification services, security assessment services and the opportunity for OCC and its subsidiaries to participate in regional centre events,” he further added.

Commenting on the strategic partnership, Al Musalhi said, “Choosing ITA as a strategic partner is aimed at further enhancing our collaboration as a company with the government sector, as well as to learn and train from the best expertise in the market.”

“Due to the continuous rapid development of the IT platform, and the ongoing IT security issues the world has faced recently, it is of utmost importance for us as a group of companies to ensure we create partnerships with industry experts to enhance our training opportunities for further knowledge transfer and to adopt the best practices to mitigate threats,” he added.

It is worth mentioning that the establishment of strategic partnerships in the field of cyber security should contribute to the protection of government and CNI entities, especially through the application of the best international standards and practices. The partnership with OOC is to enhance cooperation based on capacity-building and training to ensure a higher level of system development and enhanced skills to deal effectively with threats that an organisation may face in the future.