RIYADH: The UN continually explores strategies for managing artificial intelligence in an “ethical manner,” according to Ahmed Abdel-Hafez, chairman of the Executive Bureau of the Egyptian Supreme Cybersecurity Council.
Speaking at the Global Cybersecurity Forum in Riyadh on Thursday, Abdel-Hafez claimed “AI is uncontrollable technology until now” and often aids online criminals as they regularly invent new and sophisticated attacks.
Mohammad Abdulaziz Boarki, chief of the National Cyber Security Centre in Kuwait, underscored this statement by stating “AI is something constant," adding: “It could be power for protection and could be a weakness and a threat.”
He emphasized that controlling AI is a complex and demanding task due to its sophistication and depth.
The call for strong safeguards was echoed by Dan Cimpean, director of the National Cyber Security Directorate in Romania. He acknowledged this would be “extremely difficult” as technology will always be one step ahead of the regulatory environment.
He added: “First technology will come, cybercrime will use and exploit vulnerabilities of those technologies and will do harm, and then national competent authorities, at the level of one country or group of states, will have to come with some measures.”
Cimpean went on to say this is “one big challenge and is not very easy to align those measures” and that “we have to really invest a lot in educating the user,” especially when it comes to the “ransomware phenomenon” as there is no “magic solution” for tackling whether to “ban payment for ransom or not.”
Boarki elaborated on the topic, suggesting that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for each country and that each nation should manage the issue according to its individual needs and perspective.
“I believe if it is for the national interest. I don’t think there is a problem to negotiate,” Boarki said.
Abdel-Hafez continued: “Data is going to be the oil of the globe right now, so if any organization did not control or make a backup for their data, as a punishment, they should pay the money to get their data back.”
He added: “Each region has its mindset about data protection, data privacy, human rights, but if we did not collaborate, the attacker will be successful.”
Abdel-Hafez further underscored that cybersecurity is a cross-border activity and that collaboration with governments is necessary.
