INTELLIGENT BANKING & FINANCE
and hope to capitalise on these
opportunities to further consolidate our
foothold and strengthen our position.
In addition to the GCC, we have also
expanded our operations into the
Levant and North Africa.
FireEye helps organisations detect
advanced and unprecedented cyber
attacks through multiple security alerts
and defences. By working with FireEye,
organisations can prioritise alerts,
identify the connection between alerts
and acquire actionable intelligence for
prompt mitigation.
Looking at 2016/2017, what
does FireEye see as the
main demands of end-user
enterprises and government
entities in the region in terms
of infrastructure virtualization
services and the security of
same?
The virtualisation of infrastructure is
a major trend right now and gaining
much popularity, as a result of factors
such as lower costs and enabling
business continuity.
With a new shift in the nature of cyber
attacks, such developments required
a new and smarter way of addressing
cyber security, as the foundation of
virtualisation infrastructure is not
completely secured.
In comparison to more
developed markets, are
enterprises in the region
adequately aware of and/
or preparing sufficiently for
more advanced data breaches,
especially in the age of private/
hybrid cloud adoption?
If you look at recent reports by FireEye
and Mandiant, the Middle East is
considered a prime target for hackers,
and for many reasons. Economic and
political developments have raised the
stakes, and this makes it all the more
important to prioritise security as a
must, and not an option.
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The real change in the region will be
towards building strong cyber units
which consist of people who have the
skills and level of readiness to defend
organisations against the new type
of attacks, and to hunt for breaches
before they expand in the networks.
Another initiative by the governments
of the GCC countries, as well as some
in the LEVANT region is in establishing
national cyber entities, responsible
for securing and protecting critical
national infrastructure (CNI) across
their respective countries.
Cloud adoption, virtualisation,
big data and mobility have
been big talking points for
2016. How is FireEye advising
enterprises an/or government
entities to best prioritise
investments for 2016-2017
across these operations in
order to better reinforce data
architecture security?
The aforementioned four pointshare,
in reality, are interconnected. They
are now increasingly being considered
as one. At FireEye, we always work
to raise awareness around the fact
that any successful security operation
centre must rest on three pillars –
People, Process and Tools.
As important as it is to leverage
the cloud, virtualisation, big data
and mobility to foster growth, it is
equally critical to build the proper
security architecture at the same
time, supported by the experts with
the requisite knowledge to ensure
that the architecture is constantly
running and is not only able to adapt
to the needs of changing processes,
but also the ever-evolving face of the
cyber landscape.
This forms the core of our philosophy
and is our mission. We don’t just offer
tools, but also make sure that we train
and enable the right people with the
right expertise to build and sustain a
robust cyber defence framework that
will run round-the-clock.
How has the BYOD phenomenon
affected how FireEye does
business and how are clients
best protecting their networks
with BYOD becoming
increasingly dominant?
Mobile devices have become critical
in today’s digital workplace. But most
organizations lack the security to ensure
they, and the data they contain, are
secure. Most security teams cannot fully
account for—let alone monitor—the
vast array of apps that have access to
valuable corporate data.
For enterprises with little insight into
mobile security risks—and no way to
deal with advanced attacks on mobile
devices—apps represent a serious threat
vector. Most enterprises lack control
points to mitigate the risk of a malicious
app coming into their environment.
With increasing network
speeds and data traffic across
networks, are enterprises
and governments adequately
investing in pre-emptive
security precautions and
monitoring tools? Is a lag
with regulation in the region
enabling a lag with compliance?
As a result of changes in network speeds
and data traffic, the governments of the
region are introducing initiatives geared
towards the establishment of national
cyber units and entities that will protect
their respective nations from all manner
of cyber attacks and enhance their
defensive posture in the event that such
an attack occurs.
The UAE, KSA and Qatar are leaders in this
field, when it comes to the Middle East,
as they have established independent
regulators for cyber space. As the region
undergoes significant changes, we
expect to see the introduction of similar
initiatives, as well as laws aimed at
combating cybercrime.
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