VIEWPOINT
DIGITAL LABRADOR FOR NEXT-LEVEL CYBERSECURITY AMMAR ENAYA, REGIONAL DIRECTOR – METNA, VECTRA AI, SAYS IT IS TIME TO MODERNISE YOUR SOC
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he Arab Gulf region has a well-deserved reputation for being a frontrunner in technology adoption — a reputation that its governments have retained throughout the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In the digital transformation era, managed services wormed their way onto the agenda of most, if not every, regional organisation, but until recently — cybersecurity remained an afterthought.
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CXO INSIGHT ME
JANUARY 2022
However, governments in this region have a way of inspiring others by example. By adopting economic visions with technology pillars that put cybersecurity front and center, GCC leaders pushed digital risk management to top-priority position in the private sector. And those efforts have paid dividends. Saudi Arabia is second and the UAE fifth, on the International Telecommunication Union’s Global Cybersecurity Index for 2020. But there’s still work to be done.
Security professionals are overworked and under resourced. This starts in the security operations center (SOC), which all too often is holding on to a legacy that has had its day. Modern complexities of rogue devices, remote employees and multi-cloud environments have brought previously unseen levels of unpredictability to the SOC. These transformative changes coupled with advanced attack methods used in today’s ransomware and supply chain attacks equal a