The seventh edition of the African Cyber Security Summit (ACSS) kicked off in the Algerian capital on Monday with participation of cyber security experts from 10 African nations, Canada, and the United States, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

“African companies and institutions are enhancing largely through the use of digital technology as a competitive factor, exposing, thus, their computer systems to cyber-attacks,” the Summit’s Chairman Mehdi Zakaria told the event’s participants.

“It is essential to guard against cyber-threats by learning to detect and identify cyber-attacks,” Mehdi said, stressing the importance to understanding the various techniques of cyber attacks, as well as the appropriate countermeasures to combat them.

For his part, Moncef Zid, a Senior Executive in Arbor Networks France and North Africa Company, said cybersecurity teams need advanced cyber solutions to enable them detect and stop all sorts of cyber-threats.

The two-day event, entitled “A Secure Digital Africa,” tackles a number of subjects related to cyber security in the African continent, including cybercrime, information and sensitive data protection, in addition to finding ways to enhance joint African cyber security cooperation.

The participants will also discuss information and communications technology security, digital economy, online payment, internet and private life protection against cyber threats and attacks.