EY to launch Oman's new digital security centre in November

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- To address the growing threat of cyber crimes and provide a safety net to business establishments from cyber attacks, the global professional services provider EY is planning to open a new digital security operations centre (DSOC) in the sultanate, according to a senior EY official.

Speaking at a conference held under the theme 'Towards Digital Transformation in Oil & Gas' on Tuesday, EY Partner Mohamed Nayaz said,
'This centre with advanced facilities will work 24x7 to monitor cyber security situation in the country. We plans to open this centre in November.'

Under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, the conference was hosted by Huawei and Special Engineering Services (SES) at Grand Hyatt Muscat. The event was attended by a number of delegates from companies engaged in the business of hydrocarbon exploration, production and processing.

Nayaz said that the DSOC will comprehensively monitor the security of IT systems, operations technology systems and IoT (Internet of Things) of organisations on a 24x7 basis in Oman and the GCC region. The aim is to make the sultanate a hub for cyber security operations in the region in coming years, he added.

Citing a survey recently conducted on cyber security for oil and gas sector, Nayaz said only 25 per cent of the respondents feel that they have safeguards available to meet the cyber attacks.

According to Nayaz, the lack of awareness and budget constraints are the two biggest hurdles which most companies [especially those engaged in the hydrocarbon sector] have to overcome in strengthening their security cover for their IT infrastructure.

'Another severe problem related to cyber security is that the attacks are not only becoming lethal but they are also becoming more and more sophisticated,' Nayaz said.

He added that now various other organisations including nation states and organised cyber criminals are actively involved in facilitating attacks on IT installations.

Speaking at the event, Anders Brun, global leader of the advance analytics at Mckinsey & Company, said that the data is becoming more and more important for companies and it means the protection of data becomes a prime concerns for most firms particularly in the oil and gas sector.