National Cyber Security Agency Honors 125 Entities for Participating in 2022 STAR Drill

Doha, June 29 (QNA) - The National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) honored more than 125 governmental and non-governmental entities for their participation in the 9th National Cybersecurity Drill STAR 2022 in continuation of annual national cyber drills aimed at raising State entities' preparedness and efficiency to address and handle cyberattacks. The 2022 edition of the drill is the largest in terms of the number of participants in the history of cyber drills, which lasted for nine years. The number of participating entities in this year's edition of the drill reached 125 major institutions in the country - which belong to the vital infrastructure sectors - with more than 1,400 participants in these institutions, which means a 20 percent increase compared to the number of participants in the last edition of the drill. STAR 9 featured diverse scenarios and exercise models, tailored and engineered by a team of NCSA experts to fit the requirements of the participating sectors and test their preparedness. Several important topics were covered such as elements of protection and resilience in preparation for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, response and recovery from cyber incidents, business continuity, and disaster recovery, communication in times of crisis, as well as the human element and its main role in building a strong and resilient cyber security system. On this occasion, NCSA Chairman Abdulrahman bin Ali Al Farahid Al Maliki said that honoring the entities participating in the national cyber drill comes within the framework of NCSA's keenness to strengthen partnership and cooperation with various state agencies, to assess the preparedness to protect information assets, and raise the level of its flexibility to confront cyber threats. He added that the 2022 drill is part of the agency's leading role in securing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 out of its role in giving valuable indicators about the preparedness to address electronic attacks. For her part, the director of the cyber risks and crises department at NCSA, Nora Yousef Al Abdulla, stressed that honoring the entities participating in the cyber drills aims to support and enhance the entities' ability to preserve the Qatari cyberspace. She pointed out that the drills are concerned with determining the cybersecurity situation of the institutions in the country, measuring their preparedness and maturity in how to protect their electronic assets and their resilience in the face of cyber threats, as well as addressing any cybersecurity weaknesses. The national cybersecurity drills are a major initiative for NCSA and part of its competencies. The 2022 drill complement the series of national cybersecurity drills, which started in 2018, to raise the level of preparedness of the participating entities, and giving indications of their level of cyber maturity in preparation for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. (QNA)