The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is considering establishing a Cyber Security Unit within its General Secretariat in 2017 to prevent and combat cyber terrorism, Secretary-General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen said during the OIC – Computer Emergency Response Team’s (OIC-CERT) Annual General Meeting and Conference 2016.

The event was held under the theme "Towards Cyber Resilient Ummah" held from 11th to 14th December 2016, in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"The OIC is considering to establish a Cybersecurity Unit within the General Secretariat in 2017 with the objective of promoting and developing cooperation among OIC Member States to prevent and combat cyberterrorism" said Al-Othaimeen.

"We all realise that the nature of the internet and cyberspace is not confined to the physical boundary of a country. Hence there is a strong need to strengthen the OIC-CERT, which is meant to establish cross border collaborations to share information and initiatives to counter cyber threats," he added.

Al-Othaimeen therefore urged OIC Member States, who are not yet members of OIC-CERT, to exert more efforts to join the organisation to make the important mechanism more effective in dealing with cyber security issues.

Al-Othaimeen used the occasion to launch the new OIC-CERT web portal: www.oic-cert.org