RIYADH: A major conference on cyber security will be held in Riyadh this September, with delegates expected to discuss various methods that would stop criminals causing significant financial harm to companies and governments. The Middle East and North Africa Information Security Conference, or MENA ISC, will be held on Sept. 6 and 7 entitled “Cyber Fusion: Converging Cyber Intel: Critical Network Infrastructure IT, OT, and IoT.” Commenting on the event, Samir Omar, CEO of VirtuPort, said: “The 10th edition of the conference aims to generate an effective dialogue between C-Level executives, directors, and global cybersecurity experts with rich experiences in developing strategies and cybersecurity techniques for the benefit of digital transformation and technological advancements.” VirtuPort provides cybersecurity advisory services to companies ranging from medium to large entities across all industries in the MENA region. He stressed the importance of the conference for Saudi Arabia, especially because it is the largest market for information and communication technology in the Middle East and North Africa region. “The Saudi ICT market has been witnessing steady growth since the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030. This makes the IT infrastructure in the public and private sectors vulnerable to cyberattacks, where these attacks cause great damage to the economy and various sectors,” said Omar. CyberKnight, which is a cybersecurity value-added distributor headquartered in Dubai, stated that 88 percent of organizations in Saudi Arabia have reported some form of attempted ransomware attack, a relatively high number compared to the global average. It is currently estimated that companies in Saudi Arabia lose about $6.53 million after every such assault. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has jumped 11 places since 2018 in the Digital Competitiveness Report, and more than 40 places since the launch of Vision 2030. In 2021, the Kingdom ranked second globally among the G20 countries in the report, issued by the European Center for Digital Competitiveness.