Dubai: Senior cybersecurity experts and IT leaders from across the globe will descend in Dubai to discuss about the latest developments in the IT security arena and explain how business strategies need to be evolved to effectively fight against increasing attacks.
More than 150 exhibitors from 51 countries are expected to take part in the third Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference (GISEC) which will run from April 26-28 at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Experts have identified sophisticated malwares as the most effective weapons used by cybercriminals to spy, steal critical information or even remotely manage infected computers of an individual or company.
According to research by Ponemon Institute, insecure browsers allow web-borne malware to infiltrate more than 75 per cent of enterprises worldwide. The institute also estimated that organisations have spent $3.2 million (Dh11.7 million) on average to remediate breaches caused by the malware.
“It is essential that information security practitioners dealing with management, governance, enablement and execution, stay current on trends and malware distribution patterns and take a prevention-centric approach to securing their organisations,” said Saeed Agha, General Manager, Palo Alto Networks Middle East.
“Practitioners need to consider security that can identify and stop attacks at multiple stages in the attack kill chain,” he said.
Co-located with Gisec this year is the region’s first Gulf Enterprise Mobility Exhibition and Conference (Gemec), which will address the need for enterprises to embrace mobility. At the event, senior executives will discuss ways to identify, evaluate and source technology and mobility solutions to meet their current and future mobile requirements.
To keep pace with cybercriminals, risk-conscious organisations need adaptive capabilities to quickly detect and respond to the onslaught of threats faced on a daily basis.
Sharing intelligence
According to Trend Micro, hacking incidents accounted for 29 per cent of data breaches last year. “To protect against the growing proliferation of specialised cyberthreats, organisations should consider employing synchronised solutions that detect, analyse and prevent threats by sharing intelligence across the platform,” said Chris Christiansen, programme vice president, Security Products and Services at research firm International Data Corporation.
Among those who will be sharing key insights are Security Guru Bruce Schneier, a Fellow at the Berkman Centre for internet and Society at Harvard Law School in the US; Dan Lohrmann, ex-Chief Security Officer for the State of Michigan in the US; Colonel Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, General Director of Smart Services at Dubai Police; Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO of Cybersecurity Malaysia, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation; Tareque Choudhury, Head of Security, BT Middle East and Africa; Bassam Al Maharmeh, MSEE, Chief Information Security Office, Ministry of Defence in Jordan, to name a few.
“Deep Discovery helps achieve this end by sharing intelligence across Trend Micro solutions, thereby providing adaptive threat detection and remediation capabilities as the threat landscape evolves,” he said.
Patrick Sweeney, executive director, Dell Security, said that everyone knows the threats are real and the consequences are dire, so we can no longer blame “lack of awareness” for the attacks that succeed,
“Hacks and attacks continue to occur, not because companies aren’t taking security measures, but because they aren’t taking the right ones,” he said.
The retail industry was shaken to its core in 2014 after several major brands experienced highly publicised point of sale (POS) breaches, exposing millions of consumers to potential fraudulent purchases and risk for identity theft.
“While malware attacks continue to be a perennial pain point for the country’s IT security community, many UAE-based organisations are also having to face up to the damaging realities of hacktivist activities, advanced persistent threats (APTs), and even cyberwarfare,” said Megha Kumar, senior research manager for software at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.
