The 9th e-Safe Cybersecurity Summit was held under the auspices of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority. As part of the summit, the “Cybersecurity Awards” were presented for the first time in Türkiye this year.
The Cybersecurity Awards found their recipients at a ceremony attended by Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan and President of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan stated that the number of connected devices worldwide has increased over the last 15 years, with 5 billion people using the internet today, and that digitalization has also transformed business and social life. He noted that the conscious use of data and deriving added value from it have come to the forefront, and that cybersecurity has become a sensitive issue that no country can ignore. Sayan emphasized the importance of countering cyber attacks.
Sayan said, "Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-developing and most complex fields worldwide, and in the century we live in, space and cyberspace come to mind first when we think of war. Events around the world show that cyber attacks have caused and will continue to cause destructive consequences. It is evident that cyber attacks not only damage digital structures but can also cause physical harm. We have witnessed together that pager devices in people's pockets can be exploded via cyber attacks, the healthcare sector can be crippled with ransomware, nuclear facilities can be sabotaged with a virus, and a country's oil supply can be completely halted. Now, all systems need to be viewed from a security perspective. We say that the more we advance in domestic and national production, especially in cybersecurity, the stronger we are, and we are aware that we will have an independent cybersecurity structure. Under the guidance of the National Technology Initiative, we have made it our principle to utilize all our human resources at hand. For this purpose, we established USOM. We are now conducting meetings; we are carrying out the necessary work to transform USOM into an independent Cybersecurity Presidency. We have made considerable progress here. Inshallah, I would like to announce that in the coming months, we are also developing the codes for the Cybersecurity Presidency as an independent structure."
Drawing attention to the fact that human resources are the most important issue in cybersecurity, Sayan called on young people to contribute a brick to Türkiye's digital shield and concluded his speech by saying that they support every effort they make in this direction.