Saudi Arabia to Host MENA’s Largest Cybersecurity Event

Saudi Arabia develops cybersecurity capabilities to limit cyberattacks (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia develops cybersecurity capabilities to limit cyberattacks (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia to Host MENA’s Largest Cybersecurity Event

Saudi Arabia develops cybersecurity capabilities to limit cyberattacks (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia develops cybersecurity capabilities to limit cyberattacks (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia will host the international Black Hat event in mid-November, the largest cybersecurity event in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), bringing together the most important cybersecurity experts worldwide.

The event is organized in cooperation between the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones (SAFCSP) and Informa Tech, in partnership with the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), as part of the Riyadh Season 2022 activities.

The three-day event starts on Nov. 15 at the Riyadh Front Center.

The Black Hat event brings together a group of the most prominent experts and speakers in the field of cybersecurity, with more than 200 officials of the most important authorities in the world.

Black Hat includes training courses with accredited certificates, sessions, workshops, and several competitions with prizes amounting to more than $266,000.

The event targets experts, amateurs, and those interested in cybersecurity.

It also includes an activity area sponsored by NEOM. It has a “Capture the Flag” competition, where competitors take on many challenges to gather the largest number of flags, such as exploiting the loopholes of websites, digital forensic analysis, reverse engineering, encryption, and others.

The competition includes the participation of 1,000 contestants representing 200 teams from 35 countries, competing over three days for the competition prizes, amounting to $186,000.

The activity area also includes the “Gap Rewards Platform” competition, which motivates participants to discover security gaps in actual companies and the total prizes totaling $80,000.

The activity area also includes the “Cyber Village,” with six different challenges, including the car hacking challenge, which aims to educate security experts about the functions of vehicle systems and provide them with practical experience.

The second is the unlocking challenge, a physical security experience where visitors can identify weaknesses in different locks.

The room escape challenge is based on team cooperation, where the contestants solve a series of puzzles within a limited time frame.



Oil Up as Israel, Hezbollah Trade Accusations of Ceasefire Violation

FILE - An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, makes an appearance over pumpjacks as they draw out oil and gas from well heads near Cremona, Alberta, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE - An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, makes an appearance over pumpjacks as they draw out oil and gas from well heads near Cremona, Alberta, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
TT

Oil Up as Israel, Hezbollah Trade Accusations of Ceasefire Violation

FILE - An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, makes an appearance over pumpjacks as they draw out oil and gas from well heads near Cremona, Alberta, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE - An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, makes an appearance over pumpjacks as they draw out oil and gas from well heads near Cremona, Alberta, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Oil prices ticked up on Thursday after Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah traded accusations that their ceasefire had been violated, and as Israeli tanks fired on south Lebanon.

OPEC+ also delayed by a few days a meeting likely to extend production cuts.

Brent crude futures edged up by 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $73.13 a barrel by 1741 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 23 cents, 0.3%, at $68.93. Trading was thin because of the US Thanksgiving holiday, Reuters reported.
Israel's military said the ceasefire was violated after what it called suspects, some in vehicles, arrived at several areas in the southern zone.
The deal, which took effect on Wednesday, was intended to allow people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting.
The Middle East is one of the world's major oil-producing regions, and while the ongoing conflict has not so far not impacted supply it has been reflected in a risk premium for traders.
Elsewhere, OPEC+, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, delayed its next policy meeting to Dec. 5 from Dec. 1 to avoid a conflict with another event.
Also supporting prices, OPEC+ sources have said there will again be discussion over another delay to an oil output increase scheduled for January.
"It's highly unlikely they are going to announce an increase production at this meeting," said Rory Johnston, analyst at Commodity Context.
The group pumps about half the world's oil but has maintained production cuts to support prices. It hopes to unwind those cuts, but weak global demand has forced it to delay the start of gradual increases.
A further delay has mostly been factored in to oil prices already, said Suvro Sarkar at DBS Bank. "The only question is whether it's a one-month pushback, or three, or even longer."
Depressing prices slightly, US gasoline stocks rose 3.3 million barrels in the week ending Nov. 22, the US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, countering expectations of a small draw in fuel stocks ahead of holiday travel.
Slowing fuel demand growth in top consumers China and the US has weighed on oil prices this year.