Cybersecurity is a critical pillar of today’s digital economy in Egypt and around the region. Modern ICT infrastructure provides not just connectivity for people, but is the foundation for the 4th Industrial Revolution, which over the coming decade will connect smart transportation networks, more sustainable energy grids, advanced healthcare systems, and much more. It is perhaps one reason why the Egyptian government is paying even greater attention to the ICT sector as a cornerstone of comprehensive and sustainable development, as per a recent meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and the Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology.
As our lives become ever more connected, the vastly expanded attack surface could prove even trickier to protect from cyber threats. As per the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated technological adoption, yet exposed cyber vulnerabilities and unpreparedness. A privacy-by-design approach is essential for ICT regulators and vendors, where security is baked right into the infrastructure from the ground up.
With that in mind, global industry bodies the GSMA and 3GPP continue to uphold the Network Equipment Security Assurance Scheme (NESAS) standard. This scheme is important for organizations to understand in today’s digital era. It provides a security baseline to verify that network equipment satisfies a list of security requirements. NESAS provides governments and regulators with a template to build a security framework instead of starting from scratch. Today, the NESAS is widely supported by security authorities around the world – including the European Network and Information Security Agency in the EU, the National Cybersecurity Agency of France (ANSSI), and the Federal Cyber Security Authority (BSI) in Germany – and industry organizations globally.
Today, NESAS also incorporates the world’s leading ICT network equipment. It is the premier standard for the sector around the world, through which all tech companies in the ecosystem can design secure systems.
This standard is particularly important now as most ICT service providers and telecom operators in Egypt operate within a multi-vendor environment, meaning that they purchase infrastructure solutions from various different companies. Therefore, a standard-based protocol where all network equipment can be interoperable adds enormous value to businesses, and makes it easier for them to secure their networks. A standardized global framework also makes it easier and cheaper to develop skill sets, especially in an era where skilled tech talent is in short supply across the Middle East Moreover, there are serious risks caused by a lack of global consensus for equipment security.
Without a scheme like NESAS, it makes it harder for enterprises and governments to plug security gaps that threat actors can exploit. This is because cybercriminals have become very sophisticated and organized in leveraging cross-border networks to exploit vulnerabilities. In addition, using only a local approach to security without international alignment presents a formidable challenge to businesses that operate in multiple countries, as they must configure their systems for each geography.
The recent Arab Security Conference 2021 was very timely as Egypt embarks on a digital-led economic recovery post-COVID. The conference reiterated the need for collaboration as the most effective approach to securing ICT networks. Public and private sector leaders acknowledged that cybersecurity is a collaborative effort, because no single government, regulator, or company can do it alone. As an ICT ecosystem, all parties need to cooperate to define, resource and implement unified security standards openly transparently.
What is clear is that both Egypt’s economy and that of the region will increasingly depend on digital infrastructure to accelerate growth and prosperity. We have seen in recent years how cyber-threats can cause irreparable harm to whole sectors of the economy. The realization that cybercriminals pay no heed to industry or geography should inspire technology leaders to strengthen their commitment to international schemes like NESAS, and pursue a joint approach to strengthening cybersecurity.
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