NEWS

ARAB NATIONAL BANKS TAPS CONFLUENT TO ADVANCE COLLABORATION

Confluent today announced that Arab National Bank has successfully leveraged the Confluent Data Streaming Platform to unlock the power of its operational and customer data. This is enabling the bank to introduce innovative new services that enhance customer experiences, and proactively collaborate with the Kingdom’s new breed of agile FinTech companies.

As a wave of digitalisation has been sweeping the banking sector in Saudi Arabia, a recent YouGov survey reports the vast majority (91%) of Saudi residents now prefer online/app banking to traditional alternatives. Consequently, in the first quarter of 2022, the Saudi Central Bank revealed that 13 bank branches and 81 ATMs were closed across the Kingdom. Recognising these rapidly evolving customer preferences, Arab National Bank embarked on its digital transformation journey several years ago and recently partnered with Confluent to capitalise on new opportunities for growth.

“One of the main drivers of our transformation was the disruption being caused by agile FinTech companies. Unlike other banks that are threatened by these organisations, we have embraced a collaborative approach with the aim of positioning ourselves as the banking arm of FinTech businesses in Saudi Arabia,” explained Naif Alharbi, CIO at Arab National Bank.

By Implementing Confluent’s platform, we are able to harness the power of real-time data. Given the scale of our operations, we are able to use this to offer actionable insights to our FinTech partners. The value this provides is evidenced in the fact that we now support 65% of the FinTech ecosystem across the Kingdom,” Alharbi added.

Equally important has been the Bank’s ability to create compelling new offerings for Its customers. One of these has been a service that simplifies and streamlines savings by analysing transactions in real-time, and automatically transferring funds to a customer’s current account based on their predefined savings criteria.

Arab National Bank is also utilising the real-time transaction insights made possible by Confluent’s data streaming solution to implement a new loyalty program.

MICROSOFT LAUNCHES VIVA SALES

Microsoft Middle East & Africa (MEA) has announced the regional launch of seller experience business application, Viva Sales. The product was announced during Microsoft’s Customer Experience Reimagined event, which brought Microsoft customers from across the UAE and the wider MEA region together to unpack the latest trends and best practices shaping Customer Experience.

Viva Sales helps sellers focus on selling and removes the time spent on manual data entry. The tool leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically capture insights from across Microsoft 365 and Teams so sellers don’t have to enter data manually, and simultaneously delivers AIdriven recommendations and reminders to sellers – all while staying in the flow of work. It streamlines the seller experience by surfacing insights with the right context within tools salespeople already use, saving sellers time and providing the organisation with a more complete view of the customer.

Speaking at the event, Michel Diab, Director: Business Applications at Microsoft MEA described why Viva Sales is a gamechanger for businesses. “It’s not uncommon for sellers to have customer information and deal insights saved across Outlook files, Excel spreadsheets, Teams chats and more. Ask any seller and they will tell you that capturing all of that information manually into their CRM system is a time-consuming and meticulous task,” he said. “With Viva Sales, not only is this time reduced, but the rich insights it delivers helps sellers understand overall sentiment of their engagements, measure KPIs and completely revolutionise their overall selling experience.”

Viva Sales provides a level of customer engagement data that was not available previously. As sellers are working, they can tag customers in Outlook, Teams or Office applications like Excel, and Viva Sales will automatically capture it as a customer record, layered with all relevant data about the customer. This data can easily be shared with team members while collaborating in Office and Teams without retyping or looking it up in a CRM.

IT IS LEADING THE BUSINESS INNOVATION IN UAE: MANAGEENGINE

ManageEngine announced results from its IT at work: 2022 and beyond study. This newly released data, involving IT decision makers (ITDMs) and business decision makers (BDMs), examines the democratisation of IT and the ability of IT teams to influence business decisions in large and enterprise-sized organisations in the UAE.

According to the study, there is increased collaboration between IT and other teams within organisations, which may have contributed to non-IT employees possessing more knowledge about IT now than they did before 2020.

IT structures within organisations are being increasingly decentralised, and non-IT departments now enjoy autonomy when it comes to technology decisions.

However, any concerns over the role of

IT teams being diminished are dispelled as the study found that they are pivotal in building tomorrow’s enterprises. Around 76% of ITDMs expect IT to play a greater role in setting the organisation’s overall strategy in the next 5 years. This is 11% higher than the global average.

The success of the IT team in playing its role has a significant bearing on the organisation’s success, with over 91% of all respondents pointing to a direct correlation between both. Furthermore,

IT professionals are increasingly expected to be innovators, with more than nine in ten (91%) respondents agreeing that IT is more responsible for business innovation than ever before.

“Professionals are keen to gain new perspectives from industry peers in order to stay updated and advance in their career. Through this study, we hope to facilitate the sharing of knowledge among stakeholders in the UAE. These insights also help ManageEngine in its constant endeavour of evolving as a comprehensive and effective IT management platform,” said Rajesh Ganesan, president at ManageEngine.

Key findings from the study: 1. Increased collaboration leading to tech autonomy for non-IT teams. • The vast majority (90%) of respondents report that collaboration between IT teams and other departments has increased during the past two years. • More than four-fifths (84%) of respondents agree that non-IT employees in their organisation are more knowledgeable about IT now than they were before 2020. • Around 44% of organisations have already decentralised their IT structure, with another 49% currently attempting to do so. • Nearly all (98%) BDMs say their department has autonomy when it comes to making technology decisions.

This autonomy relates to not only purchasing software (64%), and devices (47%), but also to hiring tech talent (62%). 2. Leveraging AI and machine learning (ML) against cyberattacks. • Around 91% of all respondents say

AI and ML technologies will play a significant role in strengthening their organisation’s IT security framework. • Nearly all (95%) BDMs say that their organisation has invested in AI and

ML technologies and are doing so for more than one use case, on average.

A notable proportion of BDMs report that they are using AI to prevent cyberattacks (52%). • IT and security teams are held responsible when it comes to defending against cyberattacks.

Around 73% of decision makers (both ITDMs and BDMs) say it is the responsibility of IT and security teams to protect organisations. 3. Development of skills and talent retention. • Two-fifths (41%) of ITDMs in the UAE say they are actively looking for a new job, while pretty much the same number (45%) say they feel less loyal to their current employers than than they were two years ago. • When it comes to what ITDMs want from their role in the next five years, these were cited as most important: the potential to learn new skills (55%), the ability to step into a more senior role (49%), and the ability to guide change within the organisation (48%). • Around half of ITDMs say that they would be driven away from their organisation if their pay did not at least stay current with inflation (54%), if there were no potential for advancement/promotion (52%), or a flexible work model (50%), or any of several other existing benefits cited, were taken away.

ManageEngine commissioned independent market research agency Vanson Bourne to survey 200 decisionmakers across IT and other key business functions from a range of private-sector organisations in the UAE.

OMANTEL TOPS 5G UTILISATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION

After three years of relentless efforts across the nation, Omantel’s 5G now accounts for more than 60% of the total wireless access traffic on its network – making it the first operator in the Sultanate of Oman to reach such figures in 5G deployment and have positioned the company as a leader among the best 5G network operators in the region.

Commenting on the achievement, Eng. Aladdin Bait Fadhil, Chief Commercial Officer at Omantel, said, “Our sustained efforts are bearing fruits and I am glad that more people throughout the Sultanate of Oman are now connected through our stateof-the-art 5G network. We are keen on accelerating our progress to take 5G deployment miles ahead, and we are getting future-ready by bringing the most advanced technologies to the nation.”

Omantel was the first operator in the Sultanate of Oman to commercialise 5G services, after leading the commercialising of the FWA and eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband) services, significantly expanding all basic 5G outdoor coverage in major cities of Oman in 2022. Omantel is proud of its leadership of the 5G market in the Sultanate of Oman and for being one of the leading regional 5G operators. Omantel is engaged with vertical industries and partners to expand the industry’s digital transformation. During last year’s GITEX, Omantel along with Hutchison Ports Sohar and Huawei collaborated to successfully launch the use case of 5G smart port in the Sultanate of Oman. This was the first 5G application in the field of ports in the Middle East region.

KELVIN STRENGTHENS EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM

Kelvin has bolstered its executive leadership team with strategic hires and internal promotion. The company is delighted to announce that Suhail Jiwani has been promoted to Chief Technology Officer; Sheena Chandra has been appointed Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer; and Citalouise Geiggar has been appointed Vice President of Marketing. The strategic appointments represent a key element of Kevin’s strategy to capitalise on the momentum to serve and broaden its customer base.

The senior appointments aim to advance Kelvin’s position in the market and enable it to continue partnering with global enterprises to solve unique industrial customer challenges by allowing companies to connect, create, and scale control applications across their operations, with market-leading solutions including Kelvin Carbon Maps and Kelvin Copilots.

“The right talent is vital to Kelvin’s success, so it gives me great pleasure to welcome Suhail, Sheena, and Citalouise to Kelvin’s executive leadership team. With their years of extensive experience and vast achievements in prior roles, they are well-proven appointments that give us the ability to build further on the impressive momentum we’ve built with Kelvin over the last few years. Together, the expansion of our team boasts diverse and strong expertise that will thrust Kelvin into the next phase of its global growth,” said Peter Harding, Founder & CEO of Kelvin.

“We look forward to working with global enterprises and delivering industrial intelligence via our marketleading collaborative control solutions. Our solutions have proven themselves across energy and manufacturing sectors, empowering businesses to achieve their net-zero goals, find and fix issues across their entire production process, with automation and closed-loop control.”

TREND MICRO JOINS FORCES WITH SCCC ALIBABA CLOUD

Trend Micro recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Cloud Computing Company (SCCC) Alibaba Cloud to protect the enterprises of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the evolving threat landscape and to promote the localisation of cybersecurity solutions in Saudi Arabia.

During a special ceremony at the inauguration of Trend Micro’s MEA HQ in Riyadh, SCCC Alibaba Cloud’s Chief Executive Officer, Eng.Talal Albakr, and Trend Micro’s Area Vice President and Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Dr. Moataz Bin Ali, signed the agreement in the presence of His Excellency Haytham Alohali, Vice Minister, Ministry of Communications, and Information Technology.

In 2022, Alibaba Cloud became the world’s first hyperscale cloud provider to enter the Saudi Arabian market, offering its services through Saudi Cloud Computing Company (SCCC). SCCC Alibaba Cloud and Trend Micro will collaborate to provide cutting edge solutions that benefit the customers of both companies. Together, they will share cybersecurity best practices, insights and explore opportunities for hosting Trend Micro’s innovative data lake in Saudi Arabia. The data lake will allow Trend Micro and its partners to offer advanced threat defense solutions from inside Saudi Arabia. The two organisations will also work together on the localisation of cybersecurity solutions and practices across the kingdom.

“SCCC Alibaba Cloud is committed to enhancing collaborations with partners in various markets to provide tailormade cloud solutions that will empower businesses across industries and help them to thrive in the digital age,” said Eng. Talal Albakr, Chief Executive Officer, SCCC Alibaba Cloud. “With the advent of technology and accelerated digital transformation, our partnership with Trend Micro will go a long way in supporting enterprises across Saudi Arabia in navigating the evolving threat landscape.”

SOPHOS LAUNCHES MDR SERVICE

Sophos has announced the general availability of Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR) with new industry-first threat detection and response capabilities. Sophos is the first endpoint security provider to integrate vendor agnostic telemetry from third-party security technologies into its MDR offering, providing unprecedented visibility and detection across diverse operating environments. Sophos also introduced the Sophos Marketplace and $1 million Sophos Breach Protection Warranty.

The need for MDR services and specialised defenders has never been greater, as shown in today’s new research, “LockBit 3.0 ‘Black’ Attacks and Leaks Reveal Wormable Capabilities and Tooling,” from Sophos X-Ops, the company’s crossdomain threat intelligence unit. The research analyzes tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by LockBit, one of today’s most prolific ransomware gangs, that are similar to BlackMatter, and explains how the latest version of the ransomware, LockBit 3.0, adds wormable capabilities and uses legitimate pentesting tools to evade detection.

In a second article, “Detection Tools and Human Analysis Lead to a Security Non-Event,” Sophos X-Ops details a recent Sophos MDR use case involving credential theft, another technique that allows adversaries to impersonate legitimate users. In this case, the Sophos MDR team combined its threat hunting intelligence with information from the customer’s third-party security appliance to thwart an attack.

“The only way to reliably detect and neutralize determined attackers who increasingly combine the use of pentesting tools, stolen credentials and other stealthy tactics to maneuver undetected is with 24×7 eyes on glass, operating on signals from a diversity of event sources and employing actionable threat intelligence into real-time attacker behaviors,” said Joe Levy, chief technology and product officer at Sophos. “Organizations are struggling to keep pace with well-funded adversaries who are continuously innovating and industrializing their ability to evade defensive technologies alone. Sophos MDR can discover and intercept these steps before they result in a data breach, ransomware or other type of costly compromise. Sadly, ransomware persists as one of the greatest cybercrime threats to organizations, as evidenced in the Sophos 2023 Threat Report. We’re raising the industry standard for how critical MDR services can be delivered to broaden visibility for better, faster detection and response.”

Sophos claims it is the first leading endpoint security provider delivering MDR across both its own product portfolio as well as end users’ existing security deployments. To support this effort, Sophos launched the Sophos Marketplace, an open ecosystem of more than 75 technology integrations, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Check Point, CrowdStrike, Darktrace, Fortinet, Google, Microsoft, Okta, Palo Alto Networks, Rapid7, and many others. Expanded visibility across these integrations and diverse operating environments enables Sophos MDR experts to better detect and remediate attacks with speed and precision, regardless of customers’ existing security solutions.

MIMECAST REPORT HIGHLIGHTS RANSOMWARE RISK

Mimecast has released its latest State of Ransomware Readiness 2 report, revealing that ransomware has become a primary threat to organisations worldwide, with Middle Eastern companies not spared from the devastating impact of ransomware attacks.

The report found that 59% of cybersecurity leaders in the UAE have seen the number of cybersecurity attacks increase or stay the same over the past year, with 39% saying they’ve experienced significant downtime due to a ransomware attack.

Mimecast’s State of Ransomware

Readiness 2 report is based on insights from 1100 cybersecurity decision-makers in Australia, France, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordics, Singapore,

South Africa, the UAE, UK and US.

According to Werno Gevers, cybersecurity expert at Mimecast, business and security leaders see ransomware attacks as virtually inevitable. “Seventy-five percent of businesses in the UAE reported they experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, ahead of a global average of 64%. The consequences can be devastating: a third of UAE cybersecurity teams have experienced an increase in the number of absences due to burnout following an attack, while 23% have seen changes in the C-suite due to a successful ransomware attack.”

The report further found that 44% of UAE organisations have experienced a loss in revenue due to a ransomware attack in the past twelve months. This may partly explain why nearly half (46%) of cybersecurity professionals in the UAE are considering leaving their role in the next two years due to stress or burnout, with 73% of cybersecurity leaders in the region saying their role gets more stressful every year.

Gevers says the research also found that 94% of global cybersecurity leaders believe more budget is required to combat ransomware, with 24% of UAE organisations seeking an increase of 11% to 20% in their annual cybersecurity budgets.

“Cybersecurity leaders need to focus on proactively reducing the chances of a ransomware attack causing disruption. Organisations need integrated security tools to improve threat detection capabilities and relieve pressure on busy security teams. Good fundamental security practices must be in place to reduce vulnerabilities, and security teams need to evaluate crisis planning to understand the real consequences of an attack. It is also essential that leaders acknowledge that cyber risk is business risk, and not leave the financial and personnel resource burden to only IT teams.”