Investigating Cyber Readiness for IoT Adoption in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

There is a global trend towards the use of the ‘Internet of Things’ technology in smart applications like smart cities, energy engagement and others. However, this creates many electronic risks because of the IoT technical and technological nature. With multiple e-risks forms and types, it becomes necessary that each country develops protective measures so as to reduce the expected level of risk. Such measures can take the form of actions via legislatures or educating users and companies about the seriousness of this upcoming IoT technology. This can be done by identifying some types of cybercrimes, determining the required security requirements to maintain the security and privacy of users, and defining the actions and duties required by the government and software developers. However, to date, there has been a lack of qualitative and quantitative studies on the awareness of the IoT security risks that could constitute the first line of defence. This study employs a mixed-method approach to tackle the IoT potential threats in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, especially in government sector. While a descriptive survey method is utilized to collect information about the requirements of applying the Internet of things and its anticipated cybercrimes, a traditional screening method with combined analysis is applied to examine the role of national data centers, national information centers, different ministries and government departments in minimizing the cybercrime risks in Saudi Arabia.