The second day of the Milipol Qatar 2021 hosted seminars on Cyber Security and Cyber Threats. The seminar highlighted the importance of providing adequate infrastructure for the highest standards of security and safety, noting that, teams and human resources must be provided for defence and protection in order to counter cyberattacks and reduce their various damage and consequences.

Dr. Mohamed Dorani, CEO of Fortress Security Consultancy said that infrastructure is important and powerful for achieving high levels of protection against cyber intrusions, noting that 100% protection cannot be guaranteed in this area. Any imbalances or attacks affecting digital infrastructure would cause damage in various areas, calling for their protection in order to avoid any penetration. He noted that new wars were cyber wars.

He pointed out that cyber-attacks from one country on another are constantly increasing, referring to the methods of cyber-attacks and their ease of reaching targets through professional hackers, and by using malicious worms and new viruses that have not been used before and do not have an electronic footprint and can cross any "firewall" or program Antivirus.

Regarding the cybersecurity strategy, Dr. Al-Dorani explained that the National Cybersecurity Strategy in the State of Qatar provides the necessary protection and legal and security frameworks to ensure safety and protection from cyber-attacks, stressing that the state's government agencies enjoy the best protection programs, in addition to Qatar's cooperation with many friendly countries in the field of cybersecurity, as well as with international security agencies.

Mika Lauhde, from Huawei Technologies, noted that restrictions and lack of participation between governments, individuals and companies in the cybersecurity sector increased during the period of the Covid19 pandemic and figured a challenge at the level of the sector as a whole, calling for building confidence between the various parties to raise challenges.

Mika Lauhde said that when governments isolated themselves due to the pandemic and decreased levels of coordination and communication, the attacks increased, and criminals exploited the gaps, stressing the need to adopt common standards. Lahdi stressed the need to build national capabilities in the field of cybersecurity in order to reach positive results in this field.

Nazeeb Poolakkal, Cyber security expert at Oordoo said that cybersecurity has become a global challenge facing individuals, public institutions and business companies, and the matter is getting more dangerous with the trend towards building smart cities, smart transportation, self-driving cars, and others. He stressed that considering these challenges, all government and private agencies, organizations and business companies require defense and protection teams to confront cyber-attacks and limit their damage and various repercussions. He presented the statistics that reveal the nature of cyber-attacks and the sectors targeted, and the quality of protection provided by companies to counter the risks of piracy and cyber-attacks.

Mr. Mohamed Taha Benssiba of Dell Technologies pointed to the reality of cyber-attacks in the year 2020 and expectations for the current year 2021, warning that the risks are constantly evolving, which requires constant preparation to deal with them. He said that the year 2020 was the liveliest year for pirates, as they made profits estimated at about $ 350 million, noting the risks threatening the global economy as a result of these attacks. He added that the cost of cyber-attacks far outweighs natural disasters. He expected that the rates of cyber-attacks would rise in the current year 2021, stressing the need for countries and companies to take measures to protect them from these new risks.

Mr. Giacomo Speretta of Leonardo, an international group specializing in cybersecurity, also spoke at the seminar about the development of cyber threats and the risks that result from this at all levels.