STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT, JUNE 10
The Hadatha Centre for Cybersecurity Industry at SQU continues its efforts to strengthen the cybersecurity ecosystem in the Sultanate of Oman by fostering innovation, supporting student projects, and building strategic partnerships with government and industry stakeholders. Inaugurated in July 2025 through a strategic collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, the Centre has become a platform for nurturing cybersecurity talent and developing practical solutions to address rapidly evolving digital challenges.
During its first year, the Centre engaged 18 students from various colleges across the university in its cybersecurity innovation programmes. It also received 14 research proposals for student projects, which underwent a rigorous evaluation and selection process that resulted in the identification of six high-impact cybersecurity projects with strong potential for practical application and future development.
As part of its efforts to build national capabilities, the Centre organised a range of intensive workshops, training sessions, awareness programmes, and specialised mentoring activities in collaboration with the National Centre for Information Safety and the Communications and Information Research Centre. The Centre also supported and guided students through two dedicated tracks, the Foundation Programme and the Development Programme, with the aim of transforming innovative ideas into market-ready prototypes.
The selected projects focused on addressing emerging cybersecurity challenges across several critical areas, including ransomware detection, artificial intelligence-powered online child protection systems, intrusion detection systems for Internet of Things (IoT) environments, privacy tracking in Android systems, and phishing simulation platforms.
Among the most notable innovations developed by the students was VoiceGuard, a large language model designed to simulate voice phishing (vishing) attacks for cybersecurity training and awareness purposes. Another outstanding project was the Windows Malware Detection System, a lightweight and efficient solution for detecting malware and intrusion attempts, specifically developed for Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Through continuous mentoring, close collaboration with industry partners, and the provision of hands-on learning and applied research opportunities, the Centre has successfully created an environment that encourages creativity, technical excellence and entrepreneurship among students.
The Centre’s first cohort has already demonstrated promising results, developing prototypes with strong potential for commercialisation and adoption within industry. Looking ahead, the Centre aims to expand its strategic partnerships, organise additional technical workshops and specialised competitions, and further enhance student engagement through innovation initiatives and advanced training programmes.
These efforts reflect SQU’s commitment to supporting national priorities in digital transformation and capacity building by providing an educational and research environment that promotes innovation and contributes to the development of a secure and sustainable digital landscape.