Plans are under way to initiate an academic program for cyber security at King Saud University (KSU), according to Eugene Kaspersky, chairman and CEO of Kaspersky.

Kaspersky was speaking to reporters in Riyadh on Thursday to highlight the evolving trends in the cyber-threat landscape and help consumers, enterprises and government organizations stay safe in the fast-changing cyber world.

He addressed the Security Forum for partners and customers hosted by Kaspersky Lab.

Garry Kondakov, chief sales, marketing and support officer; Nikolay Grebennikov, chief technology Officer, and other top managers and leading Kaspersky Lab experts were present.

Kaspersky said that there was a growing need to increase the strength of cyber security measures because of the rapid growth in the IT sector. Touching on the remarkable growth in the IT sector in the Kingdom, he said that there was a need for more technical hands to provide cyber security. He hoped that the program with the KSU would be beneficial to the youths to know more about cyber crimes and the measures to combat such attacks.

Kaspersky and host of the event Khalid Abu Baker, MD of Kaspersky Lab Middle East, held the meeting with KSU, a world-class institution regarded as the best in the Arab world.

“Today, we are witnessing how the Internet is being transformed from a network for sharing information to a global communication platform, a vital piece of infrastructure that can be vulnerable to potentially devastating strategic attacks. At Kaspersky Lab, we work around the clock to bring our customers the most advanced security solutions. We also work with governments and international organizations by sharing our expertise and insight because we think that only by combining our efforts we can achieve our common goal — making the Internet safe and secure,” Kaspersky noted.