Prof. Dr. Mohammed Abdur Rahman received the “Cyber Resilience Champion, Saudi Arabia” award at the 5th Edition MENA Cyber Security Conference — Riyadh Edition, held at the Crowne Plaza Riyadh Palace on 8 September 2026. The conference brought together more than 120 GCC industry leaders, regulators and innovators under the theme “Strengthening Cyber Resilience Across the GCC: Securing Infrastructure & Enabling Trust.”
He also joined the panel “Strengthening National Cyber Resilience Through Public–Private Collaboration”, moderated by Dr. Mansoor Ali Yusuf Baig (KFSHRC), alongside CISOs and cybersecurity leaders from government and financial services. Speaking from his dual role as Chairman of Cybersecurity & Forensic Computing at the University of Prince Mugrin and CISO of SDM, he shared four convictions:
- Resilience you can’t evidence isn’t resilience — it’s hope. Audits and assurance turn “we should be fine” into proof.
- The supply chain is a shared attack surface, so assurance must be shared too.
- Judge capacity building by outcomes, not attendance. A certificate proves someone sat an exam, not that they will make the right call under pressure.
- Run one joint incident exercise with one real partner before you need it — trust built during a crisis is already too late.
The recognition is shared with UPM and SDM, whose daily discipline turns these principles into practice. Sincere thanks to IGR Events for the organisation and the honour.
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