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Walid Slaiby
DOha
Qatar Central Bank (QCB) will be taking appropriate measures to reduce crimes related to financial services, including cybercrime and information security-related frauds, in order to create a safe and stable financial environment, QCB Governor Sheikh Abdulla bin Saud al Thani has said.
The QCB Governor said this on Sunday, on the opening day of a two-day conference in Doha.
The conference, which aims at highlighting the importance of information security in the financial sector and the need to protect it, saw the participation of over 100 professionals and experts in information security from all over the world.
The 'Fourth Annual Information Security Conference for the Financial Sector', on the theme of"Cyber Attacks and its Impact on the Economy", is being organised by the QCB.
Sheikh Abdulla said,"QCB continues to exert all efforts to develop and update software and systems relevant to information security in accordance with the latest global practices in the field."
He added:"One of the QCB's objectives is to take appropriate actions and measures to reduce crimes related to financial services. The QCB has issued a number of circulars and instructions to the financial institutions in Qatar regarding the required precautionary measures that have to be taken to protect information security and develop relevant applications and systems."
Speaking on the occasion, QCB Deputy Governor Sheikh Fahad bin Faisal al Thani said,"Today, the world faces challenges and risks in the field of information technology, which call for urgent and effective solutions to reduce such risks."
Sheikh Fahad added,"Keen to protect information security in the financial institutions and fully utilize the latest software and systems, QCB has been holding the annual conference for information security, addressing all aspects related to information security protection in the financial sector."
Lead Financial Sector Specialist at World Bank, Syed Mehdi Hassan said in a presentation under the title"Cyber Security: Risks and Opportunities", that the changing cybersecurity landscape is a problem which cannot be totally fixed, adding,"It's not a static threat. It is a dynamic threat which should be faced on proactive and continuous basis. You cannot fully address it because the threat keeps changing in different shapes and forms."
Hassan further noted,"The people behind these threats are learning new tactics to launch new threats. So we have to be very proactive in terms of our detective systems and in terms of our responses."
He stressed the need to enhance cybersecurity awareness on a personal level through the relevant organizations.
"The financial system is becoming increasingly interconnected. It is a complete global system where any weak breach will bring the whole system down. And that leads the world's most powerful states (G20) to take a global response to cyber threats," said Hassan.
Head of United Nations Regional Program for Crimes and Justice Research Fransisca Bosco made a presentation titled,"The Threat Landscape and Promising Initiatives".
Bosco praised Qatar's efforts in promoting cybersecurity and protecting the international financial community.
She stressed the importance of financial technology (FinTech), saying,"Global investment in FinTech in the first month of 2016 reached $20 billion."
Bosco cited some risks relating to mobile banking specifically,"because more people are conducting their transactions on mobile phones where we have to be sure how to protect our sensitive data stored on our mobile devices."
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06/11/2017
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