Chairman of Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA),Islam Azzam, said that the growing escalation of cyber risks worldwide made investment in cybersecurity a regulatory and economic necessity to ensure market stability and protect consumers.
Azzam made the remark during the fifth edition of the CAISEC Information Security and Cybersecurity Conference and Exhibition (CAISEC 2026).
The event was attended by Minister of Communications and Information Technology,Raafat Hindi, along with a large number of Egyptian, Arab and African officials specialising in information technology.
The conference was moderated by media personality Osama Kamal, Chairman of the organising company Mercury Communications. This year’s edition focused on digital national security in the Arab and African regions.
The rising attention given to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity reflects the scale of the challenges posed by rapid technological developments, as well as the need to strike a balance between maintaining cybersecurity, keeping pace with technological innovation, and promoting scientific and technical awareness, Azzam said, adding that such efforts are essential to enhancing the efficiency and stability of markets.
The FRA chief highlighted international estimates and statistics indicating an unprecedented rise in cyber risks.
Global losses from cybercrime rose from approximately $3 trillion in 2015 to nearly $10.5 trillion in 2025. In the United States alone, cybercrime-related losses reached around $20.8 billion last year, he said.
These figures reflect the severity of the challenges facing financial institutions and regulatory authorities and underscore the importance of adopting advanced cybersecurity regulatory frameworks to address evolving threats, he added.
Meanwhile, Azzam reviewed FRA’s efforts to support the secure digital transformation of non-banking financial activities.
FRA was among the first institutions to establish a comprehensive legislative and regulatory framework for the adoption of financial technology following the issuance of Law No. 5 of 2022 regulating and promoting the use of fintech in non-banking financial activities, he noted.
He also highlighted the completion of the regulatory infrastructure governing fintech applications in the sector through FRA regulations covering electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) procedures, the execution, storage and retrieval of digital contracts, and the creation and management of digital records.
Azzam reaffirmed FRA’s commitment to strengthening cybersecurity across the non-banking financial sector through a strategy built on three main pillars: regulation and incentives, supervisory oversight and readiness assessment, and training and capacity building.
The strategy is designed to enhance the resilience of the non-banking financial sector and ensure its ability to respond effectively to the growing threat of cyber risks, he said.
