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Saudi Arabia Highlights Cybersecurity Achievements, Urges Global Collaboration at UN Debate

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Highlights Cybersecurity Achievements, Urges Global Collaboration at UN Debate

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Dr. Abdulaziz Alwasil emphasized the critical need for a secure and reliable cyberspace that fuels growth and prosperity.

Speaking at a day-long UN Security Council debate on evolving cyberspace threats, Alwasil underscored the importance of prioritizing cybersecurity efforts globally, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Saturday.

He stressed that robust cybersecurity is essential for safeguarding nations' vital interests and national security.

Alwasil advocated for strengthened international cooperation in cybersecurity and urged combined efforts to mitigate cyber risks. He stressed the need for the international community to adopt a serious and practical approach to unifying global efforts against cyberspace threats through relevant UN committees and specialized bodies.

Moreover, he highlighted the significant and rapid progress achieved in Saudi Arabia's cybersecurity sector, which aligns with the goals outlined in Vision 2030.

The Kingdom has embarked on a transformative journey to develop the "Saudi model" in cybersecurity based on centralized governance and decentralized operability, he went on to say.

Alwasil detailed the Kingdom's accomplishments in cybersecurity, including achieving a global ranking of second, and first in the Arab world, the Middle East, and Asia according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Global Cybersecurity Index.

The Kingdom has also secured second place globally in 2022 and 2023 in the World Competitiveness Yearbook's cybersecurity indicator, published by the Swiss-based Institute for Management Development (IMD). This year, Saudi Arabia solidified its global leadership in cybersecurity by claiming the top spot in the World Competitiveness Yearbook.

Alwasil said the Kingdom's establishment of the Global Cybersecurity Forum (GCF), a Riyadh-based organization dedicated to bolstering cybersecurity on an international scale.

Alwasil emphasized Saudi Arabia's commitment to fostering regional cooperation in boosting cybersecurity. This commitment is exemplified by the establishment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Cybersecurity Ministerial Committee and the League of Arab States (LAS) Arab Cybersecurity Ministerial Council, both spearheaded by Saudi Arabia.

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US Supreme Court Tosses Case Involving Securities Fraud Suit against Facebook

A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen in front of a displayed stock graph. (Reuters)
A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen in front of a displayed stock graph. (Reuters)
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US Supreme Court Tosses Case Involving Securities Fraud Suit against Facebook

A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen in front of a displayed stock graph. (Reuters)
A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen in front of a displayed stock graph. (Reuters)

The US Supreme Court sidestepped on Friday a decision on whether to allow shareholders to proceed with a securities fraud lawsuit accusing Meta's Facebook of misleading investors about the misuse of the social media platform's user data.
The justices, who heard arguments in the case on Nov. 6, dismissed Facebook's appeal of a lower court's ruling that had allowed a 2018 class action led by Amalgamated Bank to proceed. The Supreme Court opted not resolve the underlying legal dispute, determining that the case should not have been taken up. Its action leaves the lower court's decision in place, Reuters reported. 
The court's dismissal came in a one-line order that provided no explanation. The Facebook dispute was one of two cases to come before the Supreme Court this month involving the right of private litigants to hold companies to account for alleged securities fraud. The other one, involving the artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia, was argued on Nov. 13. The Supreme Court has not ruled yet in the Nvidia case.
The plaintiffs in the Facebook case claimed the company unlawfully withheld information from investors about a 2015 data breach involving British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica that affected more than 30 million Facebook users. They accused Facebook of misleading investors in violation of the Securities Exchange Act, a 1934 federal law that requires publicly traded companies to disclose their business risks. Facebook's stock fell following 2018 media reports that Cambridge Analytica had used improperly harvested Facebook user data in connection with Donald Trump's successful US presidential campaign in 2016. The investors have sought unspecified monetary damages in part to recoup the lost value of the Facebook stock they held.
At issue was whether Facebook broke the law when it failed to detail the prior data breach in subsequent business-risk disclosures, and instead portrayed the risk of such incidents as purely hypothetical.
Facebook argued that it was not required to reveal that its warned-of risk had already materialized because "a reasonable investor" would understand risk disclosures to be forward-looking statements. President Joe Biden's administration supported the shareholders in the case.
US District Judge Edward Davila dismissed the lawsuit but the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals revived it.
The Cambridge Analytica data breach prompted US government investigations into Facebook's privacy practices, various lawsuits and a US congressional hearing. The US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2019 brought an enforcement action against Facebook over the matter, which the company settled for $100 million. Facebook paid a separate $5 billion penalty to the US Federal Trade Commission over the issue.
The Supreme Court in prior rulings has limited the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that polices securities fraud.