Professors Robert Di Pietro and Marc Dacier have written a framework for cybersecurity in the region 

Innovations in cybersecurity are essential for countries like Saudi Arabia that are racing to a digital future. In a new paper published in Communications of the ACM, KAUST cybersecurity professors Roberto Di Pietro and Marc Dacier join four other experts to provide a multidisciplinary framework for how the Kingdom and other countries in the region can continue their digitization while becoming the global model for cybersecurity. 

The paper, Cybersecurity in the Arab World: Technological and Sociopolitical Dimensions, explains the cybersecurity strategies that will support the Kingdom to achieve its digitization objectives laid out in Vision 2030.  

Ultimately, the best cybersecurity, the paper concludes, is a multi-pronged approach that includes the adoption of global best practices; tailoring interventions to regional cultural and linguistic contexts; and investment in capacity building, from national data centers to a skilled workforce, something that KAUST has dedicated itself through several initiatives.  

“By combining deep scientific and industrial expertise with educational excellence, KAUST is poised to play a key role in advising and contributing to national cybersecurity policy in cooperation with the [Saudi] National Cybersecurity Authority,” said Di Pietro. 

KAUST expertise in cybersecurity 

Dacier and Di Pietro are uniquely qualified to comment on these challenges.  

Dacier, who leads the Security Research Bearing Experimental Results (SeRBER) group at KAUST, has spent more than three decades on cybersecurity research, working at top IT companies like IBM and Symantec. At KAUST, his group addresses threats in IoT and operational technology networks. 

Di Pietro is equally distinguished. He has led global security research at Bell Labs, founded a start-up in cybersecurity, and advised international organizations including the UN, IAEA, and Eurojust. His research at KAUST focuses on AI-driven cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, blockchain, and cloud security.  

Saudi Arabia's e-governance platforms, cloud computing, and smart city networks have put the Kingdom at the global forefront of the digital evolution. In 2024, the Kingdom’s digital economy exceeded $125 billion, accounting for 15% of its GDP. The insights of experts like Dacier and Di Pietro will allow for the complementary advances needed in cybersecurity and offer an opportunity for the Kingdom to lead in what is becoming a critical component of any nation’s defense apparatus.