Turkey to set up cyber-security center

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Turkey’s cyber security incubation center Technopark Istanbul will lead the formation of the country's national cyber security ecosystem, Teknopark Istanbul General Manager Bilal Topchu told Yeni Shafak newspaper on September 12.

Topchu stressed that Turkey's first and only cyber security incubation center - Technopark Istanbul was established to create a national cyber security ecosystem by boosting cooperation among the public, private sectors and universities.

“We allocate one floor of our new 10,000-sq-m incubation center to local cyber security entrepreneurs who will develop in the cyber security sphere. By late 2021, we will host 45 cyber security entrepreneurs at this center and support them to contribute to our country's national technology move in the field of cyber security,” he said.

He explained the rising demand for cyber-security systems with the growth in intensifying cyber-attacks especially, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the WatchGuard Threat Center, one cyber-attack occurred every minute in Turkey and in every 39 seconds around the world in January-June 2021.

During the pandemic, cyber security threats to individuals, companies and countries are increasing exponentially and bring significant financial losses.

According to the Mordor Intelligence's Cybersecurity Market report, cybercrime costs the world approximately $600 billion each year, which is roughly 0.8 percent of the global GDP.

Moreover, the U.S-based cyber security organization Cybersecurity Ventures reported that cyber-attacks are expected to reach from $3 trillion in 2015 to $10.5 trillion in 2025.

Thus, companies, institutions and governments in the digital world are trying to complete their digitalization processes quickly, while trying to make sufficient cyber security investments to ensure that they are protected against attacks.

Topchu pointed out that the increase in cyber security crimes and the regulations to eliminate these crimes ensure that the cyber security market grows day by day.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the cyber security market, which was worth $ 156.24 billion in 2020, is expected to exceed $ 352 billion by 2026.

The cyber-security field has become a new competition area for countries and the U.S, Israel, England, Russia are forerunners in investing in this field.

Topchu recalled that cyber security is considered to be a critical topic for the Turkish defence industry as well.

He added that the shortage of experts in the sector is also growing.

In his words, there is currently a shortage of 3.1 million cyber-security experts worldwide. The global gap in the cyber-security workforce varies by region. He underlined that the shortage of experts worldwide is 12 percent in North America, 17 percent in Latin America, 5 percent in Europe and 66 percent in Asia Pacific countries. Cyber-security expertise will be one of the most demanding professions in the future, he concluded.