Dubai: Help AG, an information security services and solutions provider, has been in the limelight due to the rise of network security related incidents in recent years in the region.
“Cyber security robustness does not necessarily come from advanced and sophisticated solutions but rather from taking a renewed look at what risks you have and how you can address them,” said Nicolai Solling, Director of Technology Services at Help AG.
The company, formed in Germany in 1995, entered Saudi Arabia in 2004.
“When internet was getting connected to businesses, security products started to pop up. By coincidence, we got engaged with some companies in Saudi Arabia. So, we decided to enter Middle East and because of Free Zone concept in the UAE, we decided to set up as a Free Zone company at Dubai Internet City in 2004,” he said.
In the beginning, Help AG focused on services rather than products and solutions by working with some of the top vendors and delivering their services.
In 2008, the company changed its focus from services to products and solutions. From a handful of employees, the company now has 100 staff in the UAE and with 200 large organisations.
“We really try to identify solutions for security problems. We help in customers identifying the strategy for protecting their assets. For this, we work with specific vendors in order to deliver solutions for the companies,” Solling said.
Help AG works with industry leaders such as Palo Alto Networks, Symantec, F5 Network, Blue Coat and Fortinet.
“We don’t sell everything such as hardware and software to customers. We understand their problems and work with them to fix the specific issue with the right solutions,” he said.
He added that if any security provider can guarantee companies that they can fix end-to-end security; they are making a promise that is extremely challenging and is not possible to keep.
“We follow an advisory-driven approach to how to secure your IP information environment. We take a pragmatic approach in dealing with security issues in an organisation. We do end-to-end protection but in a close relation with a customer.
“We are unfortunately living in a world with lot of investments going into, not from our side, but from our adversaries in attacking other organisations. You can have the best security solutions in the world but the procedures are not following along. That solution will not be efficient,” he said.
One solution does not fit all organisations, he said and added that with the complexity of attacks that we now see, open interfaces and seamless integration of products is essential to tackle new threats.
“You need to develop and maintain a holistic security program wherein technology, products, systems, procedures, processes, policies and people are all taken into account,” he said.
He said that IT teams in the region have understood that traditional security cannot simply protect against the complex malware types seen today over the last many years and, in fact, many organisations understand that a product or a solution will not protect you, but it is what you do with that product that makes the difference.
Despite these positive developments, he said that there remain critical flaws in frameworks and policies, and this places even enterprises that have invested in network security solutions square in the sights of attackers.
“There are also a number of threats brought on by new technologies and usage behaviours. Among these are the vulnerabilities introduced by endpoint devices,” he said.
The company registered 30 per cent year-on-year growth in 2016 and is cautiously optimistic of attaining the same growth this year also.
As part of expansion, Solling said that Saudi Arabia is the biggest IT market and “we will be shift more focus by end of this year.”
