Muscat – Children and the elderly are more prone to be exposed to fraud, opined Lt. Colonel Mohammed Al Kharusi, Director of Digital Services at the Royal Oman Police, during the panel discussions on cybersecurity issues in the country.

According to him, the main reason for this is a lack of awareness among people and also an increase in the number of cases with fraudsters using newer ways and methods to scam. “The challenge is ongoing, and awareness is ongoing – the basis goes back to the culture of society,” he added, noting that people are not receptive to awareness messages as some come across as humour to them.

Addressing the panel‏ Wael Al Kalbani, Technical Standards Engineer at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, highlighted the significance of dealing with data more accurately. “Linking transactions with the Royal Oman Police facilitates many procedures related to fraud,” he added.
The highly engaging and insightful final session of the summit, moderated by Jaifer Al Maamari, Head of Cybersecurity at Vodafone Oman, fielded an elite group of digital security experts: Lt. Colonel Mohammed Al Kharusi, Director of Digital Services at the Royal Oman Police; Dr. Nasser Al Azwani, Head of Information Technology at Alizz Islamic Bank; Said Al Musalhi, Head of Information Security at Ooredoo Oman; Faisal Al Toubi, Lecturer at the Advanced Cybersecurity Academy; and Wael Al Kalbani, Technical Standards Engineer at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

The session discussed the redefinition of cyber risks in light of the acceleration of digital transformation and the growing interdependence between digital systems. It also pondered over whether traditional risk management models are still valid to face modern threats. The session also discussed the shift from formal compliance to building institutional cyber immunity that contributes to raising the readiness of the banking sector to confront and respond quickly to attacks.

The session stressed the importance of the human element as the most important link in building a cyber-conscious institutional culture and calling for continuous qualitative training programs that contribute to bridging the gap between technical tools and human awareness, in addition to putting forward the idea of establishing a unified national operations room concerned with financial cybersecurity and contributing to enhancing integration between the Royal Oman Police, banks, regulators and telecommunications companies.