Potential Prospectus

Potential Prospectus

Antoine Hanna
Westcliff University
EDU 721: Doctoral Prospectus
Professor:  Dr. Renu Mishra
January 2022

The Saudi Vision 2030 is an exclusive transformative social and economic restructuring blueprint that opens KSA up to the world. Saudi Arabia has an outstanding commitment to attaining its vision to have a diversified economy that relies not only on petroleum (khasham, 2017). The vision depends on the privatization of many sectors. Increasing dependence on foreign companies to achieve privatization requires digitization of the work to connect the local companies to the main offices outside the kingdom, which escalates the cybercrime incidences in Saudi Arabia (Elnaim, 2013). According to Moore, “cybercrime” is a crime that involves a computer and a network. It is an offense committed against people or businesses with a criminal motive to harm the victim’s reputation by using recent telecommunication networks such as the internet on all types of devices. (Halder & Jaishankar, 2011). According to Chevers, most cybercrimes are against the banking sector. Hackers defraud the banks making the investors lack financial resources to undertake investment opportunities. In essence, improving the cybersecurity infrastructure in Saudi Arabia will protect the banks from experiencing cyber threats, and such activity may enhance the success of economic transformations based on vision 2030.

Conceptual framework
Saudi Arabia’s government developed initiatives to promote cybersecurity. It founded the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) to formulate policies to spur information technology and cybersecurity (Quadri & Khan, 2019). The commission is also responsible for licensing the IT companies in Saudi Arabia. In addition, CITC pushes for the increased usage of IT services in businesses (Quadri & Khan, 2019). The increased IT services correspond to internet usage. Therefore, CITC helps to promote cybersecurity in Saudi Arabia.
Vision 2030 requested the ministry of education to involve Saudi Arabian universities to improve cybersecurity. Cybersecurity reduces cyber risk by protecting the entire IT infrastructure, including applications, systems, software, hardware, and data. The Centre of Excellence in Information Assurance (CoEIA) offers cybersecurity solutions at King Saud University (Quadri & Khan, 2019). CoEIA and King Saud University partners to participate in cyber awareness campaigns. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) collaborates with National Centre for Cybersecurity Technology to address cybersecurity matters such as Network Security and Security Governance (Alghazo et al., 2017). Therefore, the involvement of the universities in the commission established by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims at improving cybersecurity research. In 2020, The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama) became Saudi Central Bank (SCB) officially based on the requirements of Vision 2030. SCB requested all establishments working in the finance sector (banks and private companies) to apply cybersecurity standards and cooperate with the education sector to improve cybersecurity skills for IT personnel. All taxpayers are requested to use the E-Invoicing effective December 4th, 2021. It is a step requiring all establishments to update their systems to comply with cybersecurity standards. (https://zatca.gov.sa/en/E-Invoicing/Pages/default.aspx).
Improving sectors such as ICT, hospitality, tourism, healthcare, and finance to grow the economy in Saudi Arabia requires cybersecurity to achieve Saudi Vision 2030. The development of other sectors will require expanded IT infrastructure that is highly vulnerable to cyber threats (Alghazo et al., 2017). The Saudi Vision 2030 targets 90 percent of all households having access to high-speed internet (Quadri & Khan, 2019). However, access to unsecured websites will risk the cybersecurity of the banking sector through increasing vulnerability to hacking. National Authority of Cybersecurity (NCA) intends to promote innovations in cybersecurity to help realize the vision (Quadri & Khan, 2019). Hence, Saudi Vision 2030 will encourage the improvement of cybersecurity infrastructure.
The information technology penetration and usage have increased in Saudi Arabia. Learning, health care, and shopping centers use Information Technology in their operations. CITC reported that Saudi Arabia had a computer penetration increase of eight percent between 2007 and 2009 (Quadri & Khan, 2019). IT penetration has reduced the cost of communication to facilitate smooth operations of businesses. In addition, Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in IT Enabled Services (ITES) to improve the cybersecurity index (Quadri & Khan, 2019). Thus, Saudi Arabia has recorded high computer penetration at individual and business levels.

Research questions
What is the goal of higher education in Saudi Arabia to promote cybersecurity standards?
What is the significance of cybersecurity to realizing the Saudi Vision 2030?
Which measures do the universities in Saudi Arabia undertake to promote cybersecurity?
Which initiatives do Saudi Arabia’s government implement towards developing the cybersecurity infrastructure?

Hypotheses
There is a close relationship between the significance of cybersecurity and the attainment of Saudi Arabia 2030.
The universities in Saudi Arabia have developed cybersecurity measures.
Saudi Arabia’s government initiatives improve the cybersecurity infrastructure.
Cybersecurity is key to the economic prosperity in Saudi Arabia. The improved cybersecurity infrastructure will protect the banking sector from cyber threats. The Saudi government, through CITC, has developed cybersecurity initiatives to enhance security in the banking sector. In addition, the universities have engaged in research to boost IT security. The Saudi Vision 2030 has pushed the government to implement cybersecurity to protect private and public sectors.
References

Alghazo, J., Kazmi, Z., & Latif, G. (2017). Cyber security analysis of internet banking in emerging countries: User and bank perspectives. 2017 4Th IEEE International Conference On Engineering Technologies and Applied Sciences (ICETAS). https://doi.org/10.1109/icetas.2017.8277910

Quadri, A., & Khan, M. (2019). Cybersecurity challenges of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Retrieved January 28th, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331009167_CYBERSECURITY_CHALLENGES_OF_THE_KINGDOM_OF_SAUDI_ARABIA.

Khashan, H. (2017). Saudi Arabia’s Flawed “Vision 2030”. Winter 2017, from https://www.meforum.org/6397/saudi-arabia-flawed-vision-2030

Elnaim, B. (2013). Cyber Crime in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The Threat Today and the Expected Future, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bushra-Elamin/publication/309040131_Cyber_Crime_in_Kingdom_of_Saudi_Arabia_The_Threat_Today_and_the_Expected_Future/links/57ff2f9508ae6b2da3c89b36/Cyber-Crime-in-Kingdom-of-Saudi-Arabia-The-Threat-Today-and-the-Expected-Future.pdf

Moore, R. (2005). “Cybercrime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime,” Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing.

Halder, D., & Jaishankar, K. (2011). Cybercrime and the Victimization of Women: Laws, Rights, and Regulations. Hershey, PA, USA: IGI Global.

Chevers, D (2019). The impact of cybercrime on e-banking: A proposed model, from: https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=confirm2019.