Doha, November 21 (QNA) - The National Cyber Security Agency organized the 10th edition of the National Cyber Drill under the theme "Secure Your Data," with the participation of nearly 170 vital entities in the country, continuing until the 29th of November.

The aim of the drill is to assess the readiness of vital entities in the country, their response mechanisms to breaches, and to measure the efficiency of preparedness to combat cyber risks from the perspective of the triple aspect of cyber security readiness, encompassing the human element, technological elements, and operations.

This falls within the agency's endeavor to enhance the capabilities of various vital entities, elevating their cyber efficiency through educational and awareness aspects as well as identifying and fortifying weaknesses.

Director of National Cyber Empowerment and Excellence Affairs at the National Cyber Security Agency Khaled Al Hashemi highlighted the uniqueness of this edition of the cyber drill, featuring separate scenarios for administrators and technicians. This facilitates evaluating the cyber security readiness of entities administratively and technically.

Al Hashemi emphasized that conducting the annual cyber drill reflects the agency's commitment to supporting and enhancing the cyber capabilities of vital entities in the country, contributing effectively to boosting their preparedness against intrusion attempts.

For his part, Head of National Cyber Initiatives Assurance Department at the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) Mohammed Murshid Al Mannai stressed that the drill and their essential exercises are a vital administrative tool, as they aim to identify and improve gaps, as well as to assess the effectiveness of response and recovery strategies to minimize the impact on national cyber stability, society, and the economy.

The drill aligns with the agency's efforts to raise awareness among participating institutions on this year's theme, data security. It aims to reinforce entities' compliance with laws pertaining to data privacy and classification and ensures their implementation in practical contexts.

Highlighting the importance of the cyber drill from various angles, especially in verifying an entity's or institution's capability to protect its assets from breaches and assessing the alignment of its procedures in dealing with intrusions, this year's National Cyber Drill will contribute to identifying both administrative and technical weaknesses within participating vital entities.

This process will facilitate the National Cyber Security Agency in proposing future initiatives to enhance the institutions' efficiency.

(QNA)