Muscat: Oman unveiled on Sunday a new cyber-security agency tasked with defending the nation’s rapidly expanding IT and e-governance infrastructure from criminal attack.
The outfit, dubbed the ‘Oman National Computer Emergency Readiness Team (OCERT), has been established at Knowledge Oasis Muscat, a dedicated Information Technology Park set up at Rusayl on the outskirts of the capital.
Underscoring the significance of its establishment, top government officials attended its opening, including Lt. General Malik bin Sulaiman al Maamari, Inspector General of Police and Customs, Mohammed bin Nasser al Khusaibi, Secretary-General of the National Economy Ministry, and Dr. Salim bin Sultan al Ruzaiqi, CEO of the Information Technology Authority (ITA).
Speaking at the event, Lt. General Al Maamari described OCERT as a key building block in the nation’s e-governance strategy.
It will also serve as a command-and-control centre from where cyber threats will be dealt with, online risks mitigated, and safety advisories issued to public and private sector organizations, as well as the general public.
More importantly, OCERT will be tasked with securing the integrity of the country’s public IT infrastructure, ensuring confidentiality of online data, and making e-payments and transactions failsafe.
