Saudi Arabia’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has received cybersecurity certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the US-based American safety consulting and certification company, for its role in dealing with cyber security issues in the Middle East region
This is the first time the certification has been awarded in the Middle East region.
The NCSC’s deep understanding of regional and international cyber security issues and its community of trust network infrastructure security software met the UL’s standards Cybersecurity Assurance Program (UL CAP).
According to UL, the programme aims to assess software vulnerabilities and weaknesses of network-connectable products and industrial control systems. In addition, it further helps in minimising exploitation, addressing known malware, reviewing security controls and increasing security awareness to ensure an effective cyber security solution.
“The UL CAP program’s purpose is to help organizations, manufacturers, purchasers and end-users, both public and private, mitigate cybersecurity risks via methodical risk assessments and evaluations,” said Ken Modeste, cybersecurity services leader for UL’s connected technologies team.
He further commented, “This was a first in the MENA region as we developed a way to assess and evaluate products and systems for cybersecurity effectiveness based on best practices outlined in recognised global standards, such as NIST and ISO.”
Commenting on the NCSC’s role on cyber security management, Hamid Syed, vice-president and general manager of UL for the MENA region, said, “We carried out an exhaustive examination of the NCSC system’s potential security vulnerabilities and mitigation steps before it was awarded our certification, which signifies that the required standards have been met.”
With focus on cyber security in the Kingdom, NCSC focus on identifying cyber security threats, providing guidance to protect critical assets, promoting information sharing of cyber threats and coordinating efforts to respond and recover from national cyber incidents.
