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ontents
Editorial
News in Detail
Thank You and Let's Celebrate I
t is my absolute pleasure to bring to you the 75th Edition of “The Integrator” Magazine. It is indeed a milestone for us to celebrate this issue. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our readers who choose us as their preferred medium to receive their communication. I also specially thank all our patrons who supported the magazine and have made a wise choice to communicate to the value add channel across the region. With this special commemorative edition, we celebrate our 75th issue and our prosperous run in the industry so far. The Integrator has been chronicling the latest technology topics and is the first magazine to give readers in the Value Add Channel all they need to know. Seven years ago, we discovered an opportunity to provide an audience with a new product and consequently provided a platform to broadcast relevant channel messaging. Since then we have gained success and continue as communication leaders in the VAD segment. Whether you’re reading this in print or online, we would like to thank you. The very act of picking up a copy of The Integrator or even clicking on the link, says that you value this platform. Product improvisation is a continuous process; we welcome and value your feedback on how we can further improve our product to better suit your needs. It has been a wonderful journey so far and we hope you enjoyed your every read as much as we enjoyed putting up each edition of The Integrator magazine to bring you nothing but the best. I would also like to thank all those who worked hard at JNS Media International to put up the product and from a visionary start took it to market leadership. This year, The Annual Integrator Awards returns for its 6th Edition and with this issue we are kick-starting our voting process. The process for the same is quiet simple and we are hoping for votes to keep pouring in. Looking forward to receiving your votes for the best candidates. We look forward to a successful event and wish all the participants the very best. May the most deserving win!
Vivek Sharma Managing Editor
NetApp announces joining forces with Google Cloud to launch NetApp Cloud Volumes – pg 9
Honeywell introduces new visualization technology – pg 10
Riverbed appoints Andy Elder as New Chief Sales Officer – pg 10
Cisco deploys its cyber security solutions at Invest Bank PSC – pg 11
Insight
Middle East receives first AI driven SOC from Paldion – pg 14 Importance of cloud service providers in cloud migration – pg 15
Oracle recognizes Al Falak’s strategic role in IT growth – pg 16 Kaspersky Lab discovers critical vulnerabilities in popular industrial protocol – pg 17
Gisec at a glance
Mimecast demonstrates cyber resilience for email – pg 18 Carbon Black showcased CB Predictive security cloud (PSG) – pg 18 Fidelis cybersecurity unveils active deception technology – pg 19
Cloud Management
Veritas announces Data Protection and Governance for Microsoft – pg 22
Regulars
News bytes EyeTech
Published by: JNS Media International MFZE Managing Editor: Vivek Sharma Art Director: Faiz Ahmed Sales Manager: Christopher David
P.O Box 121075, Dubai UAE, Tel: +971-4-3705022 Fax: +971-4-3706639, website: www.VARonline.com Sales Inquiries: sales@var-mea.com All other Inquiries: info@var-mea.com | Editorial: editor@var-mea.com Disclaimer: While the publishers have made every attempt possible to get accurate information on published content in this handbook they cannot be held liable for any errors herein.
News Bytes
Biometric payment cards launched for Visa. Leading digital security provider, Gemalto and Zwipe a biometric technology company have joined forces with financial and payment technology company Areeba. Along with the backing of Unilux Cards, they have come together to innovate a battery-less dual interface biometric payment card for Visa in the Middle East. This card was showcased by Areeba and Visa in partnership with Gemalto and Zwipe at the dynamic summit, Seamless Middle East in Dubai. This card provides an alternative to PIN or signature recognition by testing the use of fingerprint recognition to authenticate the cardholder during a transaction. Maher Mikati, CEO of Areeba explains the benefits this card can offer, “Areeba is committed to investing in new capabilities that deliver better & more secure payment solutions; using fingerprint technology to authenticate a person for payments will provide cardholders a faster, easier and more secure payment process compared to the traditional use of PINs. We are proud to partner with Visa, Gemalto and Zwipe to run this pilot program in the Middle East and make this innovative product available for financial institutions who are keen to integrate biometric technology into their payment cards to enhance convenience and reduce fraud.”
4 | April-May 2018
Avaya, Afiniti partner to bring AI-Driven Behavioral pairing to the contact center Avaya Holdings Corp, a contact center solutions provider and Afiniti, an AI-based behavioral pairing solutions provider has partnered to improve enterprise customer experience and contact center performance by integrating artificial intelligence into contact center routing technology. This collaboration will bring together Afiniti Enterprise Behavioral Pairing with the Avaya Contact Center platform. The Afiniti Enterprise Behavioral Pairing discovers and predicts patterns of interpersonal behavior to optimally pair customers with agents. It applies these patterns in real-time to drive improvements in health, enterprise profitability, and customer satisfaction. “Every enterprise is looking to get more out of their contact center, and AI is the next major shift in the way contact centers operate,” said Jim Chirico, Avaya President and CEO. “Working with Afiniti provides a unique, proven AI offering, and is another example of Avaya investing in transformative technologies to deliver unparalleled contact center performance to companies around the world.” By integrating Afiniti Enterprise Behaviroal Pairing Technology into Avaya’s outbound and inbound voice routing solutions, Avaya AuraContact Center Elite, Avaya Proactive Outreach Manager and Avaya Oceana, extends the value of customer's existing Avaya investment while adding AI capabilities. In the third quarter of this year, this partnership will introduce an AI edition of Avaya Aura Call Center Elite, which will allow companies to benefit from Behavioral Pairing for both on-premises and cloud deployments. Integration with Avaya Proactive Outreach Manager and Avaya Oceana will soon follow.
Dell Technologies launches new customer solutions center in the UAE Dell Technologies has recently launched its Customer Solution Center in Dubai, which serves as a state of the art technology hub for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) region. On display at the Center is the industry’s inclusive portfolio of technologies, it aims to aid organizations within the region to collaborate, innovate and prove their efforts towards digitization. It was inaugurated by Marius Haas, President and Chief Commercial Officer at Dell EMC, Aongus Hegarty, President, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Dell EMC and Mohammed Amin, Senior Vice President, Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) at Dell EMC. The Center creates an assuring environment for world-class IT experts to collaborate with customers to explore, test and demonstrate end-to-end solutions, share best practices that improve business outcomes and create a competitive advantage. Experts engaged with partners and customers with technical briefing, architectural design sessions and Proof of Concepts after the opening ceremony. Dell EMC also hosted a roundtable to bring to light their solutions line-up in the three main areas vital to organization’s digital transformation strategies: IT Transformation, Workforce Transformation, and Security Transformation.
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News Bytes
D-Link Corporation reinforce's its partner training D-Link Coportation provides connectivity solutions for small, medium and large enterprise business networking. The move has been taken up to improve and expand channel partner training and education schemes to meet the demand for skilled IT professionals in the MEA region. Sakkeer Hussain Director – Sales and Marketing, D-Link Middle East and Africa (MEA) addressed the issue that in spite of the IT sector reaching a maturity stage there is still a shortage of IT professionals in areas such as business intelligence specialists, enterprise and solutions architects, applications products managers, network managers and database developers. D-Link aspires to address the lack of quality and shortage of expertise in these areas by expanding their training efforts to channel partners in MEA and start implementing the company’s networking and wireless solutions competently at the end user level. D-Link aims to tackle these challenges that channel partners face by working with end user customers on behalf of its partners to train and certify their staff on D-Link solution offerings.
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Huawei hosts annual Middle East Partner Summit
Huawei, global ICT solutions provider hosted its annual Middle East Partner Summit in Dubai on May 7th with the theme, ‘Leading New ICT, the Road to Win-win Ecosystem’. The event brought together participants from 12 countries across the Middle East. The participants came together to form a collaborative platform in order to discuss the necessary requirements for a successful digital transformation and to bring in the new Artificial Intelligence era, share ideas, success stories and best practices. The full-day event brought to light Huawei’s latest partner programs and outlined the company’s strategic plans for digitalization in the Middle East to pioneer ahead by adopting the latest AI technologies and cloud computing. Huawei in partnership with GAPP, a Diamond sponsor of the event launched their GTM (“Go To Market”) Strategy, which aims to cater to Middle East market requirements by building a better service portfolio with GAPP serving as their systems integrators. Various other partners who supported the event were Diamond sponsor Redington, Platnum sponsors Microsoft and STME, Gold sponsors CNBM Technology, Enterprise Systems, net., SAP and Suse. At the event, Huawei showcased their updated products and solutions, including the Agile Campus 5.0 network solution, All-flash Storage Dorado product, Prefabricated Modular Data Center and all new M-Serials Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled video surveillance camera. Huawei also displayed their newest product portfolio as well as the launch of its FusionServer G5500 Heterogeneous Server.It is specifically designed for data center deployment, and uses a fully modular design, with independent CPUs. It uses a heterogeneous computing platform for AI, HPC, intelligent cloud, and video analytics. The G5500 supports GPUDirect RDMA as well as P2P interconnect technologies. It supports one-click topology switching, which provides the optimal heterogeneous topology configurations for diverse workloads. “We see our long-term enterprise strategy in the region cantered around building an ecosystem through which Huawei can help our Middle East channel partners meet their customers’ needs with enhanced connectivity and improved user experience, across different domains,” said Alaa El Shimy, Vice President and Managing Director, Huawei Enterprise Middle East. “Huawei advocates openness, collaboration, and shared success. Through joint innovation with our customers, partners, and peers, we are increasing the value of ICT in support of a more robust and mutually beneficial industry ecosystem. Our goal is a win-win situation for everyone, and we are dedicated to working together to establish mainstream standards and lay the foundations for this shared success.”
Symantec discovers malicious application in the Google Play Store Symantec has discovered 38 malicious application in the Google Play Store which were disguised as games and education apps. These applications hide their existence by removing their icons from the home screen and redirecting victims to install another app on Google Play that displays ads. The apps were published to the Play Store in December 2017, but have all been removed after Symantec notified Google. Majority of users downloading the apps were in US, UK, South Africa, India, Japan, Egypt, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden. They were downloaded onto at least 10,000 devices. Symantec have also found a set of malicious apps have reappeared in the Play Store under a slightly different name and publisher even after Google removed the original app. The malware is Android. Reputation.1 and appears in at least seven apps in the U.S. Its features include emoji keyboard additions, space cleaners, app lockers, calculators and call recorders. The malware waits for four hours before launching malicious activity, requests admin privileges, and can change its launcher icon and delivers content to the device for profit.
AppCentrix debuts in Middle East to tackle security and business analytics needs South Africa based managed ICT Services Company; AppCentrix has announced its expansion into the Middle Eastern market. They have signed a distribution agreement with ExtraHop, who provide real-time IT analytics for network performance management and security. AppCentrix’s aim is to benefit from the region’s growing need for better and competitively priced cyber security solutions. They will introduce a subscriptionbased managed services model that also drives strategic decision making by delivering data analysis for management insight. Over the last three years, the Middle East is seeing managed security services gaining steady momentum. “Organizations have been keen to address their IT skills and resource constraints by employing the technical expertise of providers such as AppCentrix. However, they are also keen to engage with partners who have demonstrated commitment to the region as, after all, security is deeply rooted in trust,” explained Omar Sati, Executive Board Member at AppCentrix International. The company intends on working with leading local systems integrators and their customers to deliver real-time value through the managed services model. Omar Sati, has also stressed upon the company’s ambitions of partnering with key service providers to leverage the growing popularity of the cloud in the region.
Ingram Micro signs distribution agreement with Forcepoint Ingram Micro Inc, a leading technology distributor has announced a distribution agreement with Cyber Security leader, Forcepoint. This agreement allows Ingram Micro to distribute all of Forcepoint’s offerings in 23 countries across the MEA (Middle East and Africa) region Forcepoint provides human-centric security capacities delivered through cloud, network and risk-adaptive security solutions that help enterprises and government agencies to accelerate their digital transformation “Ingram Micro has started a two year Cyber Security initiative based on People, Processes and Technology, and we are very pleased to partner with Forcepoint to help drive this vision forward. Forcepoint’s humancentric approach fits perfectly into our strategy—especially at a time when security attacks are becoming increasingly more complex and sophisticated. With the Forcepoint agreement, we are reaching the front runner position as a value-added distributor of Cyber Security solutions” said Marc Kassis Director Cyber Security in Ingram Micro META Region.
“The Integrator has been our trusted partner for all our communication needs for many years. They have provided us excellent channel reach in the region and we congratulate them on their 75th issue. We look forward to continue working with them in the future.”
– Amanulla Khan Managing Director, Belkin April-May 2018 | 7
News Bytes
Qualcomm supports Wi-Fi Alliances latest protocol Qualcomm Technologies Inc, has announced that moving ahead they will be integrating the industry’s latest Wi-Fi security protections with their range of mobile and networking infrastructure products. They will support Wi-Fi Alliance’s latest and most secure protocol, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA3). It provides strong protection of user’s passwords and better privacy in both public and private Wi-Fi networks. Qualcomm is leaving a mark on the industry by implementing these advanced security features, including the recently launched 2x2 802.11axready solution for client devices, the WCN3998, and IPQ807x AP platform. The increasing number of security threats and vulnerabilities is alarming consumers. Recently, KRACK (Key Reinstallation Attack) vulnerability evaded the WPA2 network security protocol and put users at risk. This would allow potential attackers to access unencrypted network traffic and potentially steal sensitive information. To combat this issue Qualcomm Technologies cracked down and closed security holes by implementing WPA3 across its mobile and networking portfolios. This addition is designed to provide a more seamless on-boarding experience of Wi-Fi devices and provide a more secure wireless access. “At Qualcomm Technologies, we’re committed to working closely with industry bodies like the Wi-Fi Alliance to develop security standards to best protect data traffic across networks and devices, especially as security threats and attacks continue to become increasingly sophisticated,” said Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager, connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “
8 | April-May 2018
Mimecast Appoints General Manager for Middle East Mimecast Limited an email and data security company has appointed Jeff Ogden as general manager for the Middle East. Jeff will oversee the company’s UAE operations and growth in the region, and will be responsible for educating organizations about evolving cyber attacks and how to build a cyber resilience strategy for email. Jeff has over 35 years of experience in the field of technology, 17 years of which he has spent in IT security. With Jeff’s skill, Mimecast will continue to build a strong and loyal channel programme, ensuring all resellers share knowledge of the company’s technology and services, alongside a commitment to customer experience. “Mimecast has successfully been operating in Dubai for just over a year and Jeff’s appointment is the next step to support an aggressive growth strategy in the Middle East,” said Brandon Bekker, managing director at Mimecast MEA. “This appointment will bolster our existing strong customer relations and help us establish new alliances and partnerships.” Before getting on board with Mimecast, Jeff held various senior executive roles, which include leading Symantec’s managed security services and consulting division in the Middle East. Jeff also set up Netcure Middle East, a security consultancy and integrator, part of the UAE’s largest IT provider – Mideast Data Systems (MDS).
OMA Emirates showcased live demos at Seamless Middle East 2018 Leading payments Solutions provider, OMA revealed their brand new innovative technology solutions at the exhibition held between April 15th and 16th. As the region sees a rise in the number of airports, amusement parks, stadiums and retail facilities, visitors can benefit from their new ‘iSelf’ solution. It allows quick and easy payment at parking meters through hardware and software that enables payments through debit and credit cards. On the banking aspect, they demonstrated their Instant Issuance Kiosk and Account Opening Kiosk as part of their Digital Banking Solutions. It allows customers to instantly print debit cards with customization and open accounts easily. OMA’s MPOS Solution also tackles the mobility constraints at retail outlets by enabling payments via iOS, Android or Windows tablets. It’s a great solution for retailers as it speeds up their checkout process by checking out the customer from the aisles instead of them waiting at checkout lines therby enhancing customer experience. They also showcased their ‘Benefit Beyond’ Mobile application, a multi-behavioral app that hosts multiple programmes. It allows users to avail points across multiple outlets and pay utility bills, and other services. The QR code acceptance and Cash@Pos solution at retail stores attracted many along with the additional services of Gift Card and Prepaid Card programs that have been added to the platform. NiranjSangal, Group CEO, OMA Emirates concludes, ““The payment world is moving very quick in technology advancements and we have the perfect solutions to meet the needs of our discerning customers. We were pleased to also showcase our Unattended, Mobility and Retail solutions that provide payments anytime and anywhere within a store, hotel or restaurant, transport, parking etc.”
News In Detail
NetApp announces joining forces with Google Cloud to launch NetApp Cloud Volumes
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etApp launches NetAppCloud Volumes, which offers customers a fully managed, cloud-native file storage service that’s integrated with Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It is designed to speed developer access to resources and makes management simpler. This release is the beginning of a partnership that brings together the reach of NetApp’s data services with Google Cloud’s application development, analytics and machine learning.
“Companies are increasingly looking at using data and cloud technology to accelerate their businesses,” said George Kurian, CEO of NetApp. “As the leader in hybrid cloud data services, NetApp is uniquely positioned to help them create new market opportunities by rapidly deploying new technologies. Only NetApp makes it easy to integrate data with performanceleading flash and the world’s leading clouds for elastic compute and powerful
analytic engines." The company also revealed several new innovations at the opening of their brand new Data Visionary Center, an immersive executive briefing center experience. The Center displayed their new high performance, cloudconnected flash system that powers artificial intelligence (AI) and computeintensive applications, and StorageGRID which ensures better cloud-architected infrastructure for data
retention compliance. The new AFF A800 is an end-to-end NVMe enterprise platform, which achieves consistent sub200 microsecond latency starting from application host through to data storage while offering enterprisegrade efficiency, security, and flexibility powered by NetApp ONTAP® 9.4 software. These new cloud services help decrease total ownership costs like the NetAppFabricPool feature which automatically collects cold data from primary storage to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure thereby reducing capacity costs. NetApp Active IQ technology provides new cloud-based analytics predict future performance needs and identifies unprotected data to optimize operations. NetApp’s StorageGRID technology provides the best data management solution for distributed organizations, by automating tamper proof retention of critical financial and personal data. Its focus on data analytics allows its customers to maintain a vast amount of data including recorded calls, scanned contracts, and email archives with the confidence that all customer data is compliant with varying local, federal, and international data compliance regulations.
The Integrator is a leader in the VAD Channel and we are happy to have them as our trusted partner. Through their coverage they have helped us to grow and progress in the industry. We wish them all the success and prosperity.
– Arun Chawla, CEO of Trigon April-May 2018 | 9
News In Detail
Honeywell introduces new visualization technology
Riverbed appoints Andy Elder as New Chief Sales Officer
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oneywell has launched its new control technology solution, which increases the productivity for batch operations. This technology gives operators foresight into their processes to gain an understanding of the tasks needed to complete a product batch.
visibility into their batch processes,” said Matthias Maaz, director of pharma and specialty chemicals, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Not knowing what tasks are coming when or being unable to foresee delays can lead to reduced production. Experion Batch solves this issue and
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Experion Batch uses visualization technology to gives operators a head-up on the potential delays, which make it easier for them to multi-task and plan appropriate actions in advance. In addition, this technology does not depend on individual operator experience making it easier for manufacturers to conduct operations even if their veteran operators are retiring. This technology is specifically designed for manufacturers that depend on increasing operator efficiency while maintaining their product’s quality and using resources efficiently to reduce costs. “Many operators currently say they don’t have enough
allows operators to do more with less.” Pharmaceuticals, specialty chemical and food processing industries will benefit from this technology. Maintenance is made easier with Experion Batch by eliminating the requirement for centralized, dedicated batch server. It gives engineering and maintenance personnel the added benefit of taking out a unit controller out of service without affecting the other units. Experion Batch reduces testing and validation efforts by allowing plants to quickly transition from recipe testing to execution and is aligned with international batch standards ISA S88 and IEC 61512-1.
10 | April-May 2018
he digital performance company, Riverbed has appointed Andy Elder to Chief Sales Officer. He steps in for Paul Mountford who has recently been made Riverbed’s new CEO. Elder joined Riverbed in March 2017 as SVP EMEA Sales and over the last year and provided the EMEA organization with strong leadership and achieved commendable growth in the region. “Riverbed is experiencing significant momentum, and we’re in a unique market position to lead businesses forward as they modernize their IT architecture to accelerate their digital strategies and maximize digital performance. As we continue to build on this momentum and drive deeper partnerships with our growing customer-base, I’m delighted to announce the promotion of Andy Elder as our new Chief Sales Officer,” said Paul Mountford, CEO, Riverbed Technology. Elder has joined Riverbed after spending two years as the President of EMEA at Intel Security. His expertise helped Intel Security’s growth where he was responsible for go-to-market and operations for 100 countries. His portfolio includes leading global sales teams in celebrated technology companies like Intellectual Ventures, Rovi, and Cisco. He spent 13 years at Cisco in many roles including Vice President of Global Sales for the Sports and Entertainment division. He is from the United Kingdom and has lived in various places like, the Netherlands, Seattle, as well as California. As he assumed the position of CSO, Riverbed has already begun the quest to find a new EMEA sales leader. “I am excited and proud to lead Riverbed’s global sales organization, and I’m very confident we can deliver on our next phase of growth and drive an even greater impact for our customers and partners worldwide,” said Elder. “With a strong customer base, a thriving partner system and a world-class portfolio, Riverbed is experiencing significant market momentum in today’s digital world and I’m looking forward to continuing to build on this success.”
Cisco deploys its cyber security solutions at Invest Bank PSC
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nvest Bank PSC, a commercial bank based in Sharjah, UAE has announced that it has successfully integrated Cisco’s comprehensive cyber security solutions. It also includes Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP), which will support the bank’s digital transformation strategy. Invest Bank’s through its digitization strategy aims to keep up with fast-changing customer expectations and offer various customer experiences across multiple channel platforms. With an increasing number of cyber threats, they realized the need to establish pervasive security as a base for their digital capability. “Invest Bank’s vision is to adopt the latest technologies to deliver greater
value to our customers, employees and shareholders. As we expanded our mobile digital network and Internet banking services, we sought to establish a robust security framework that underlies every aspect of our digital transformation,” said Sami Farhat, CEO, Invest Bank. Invest Bank wanted an easy-to-manage solution that delivers consistent protection and service across all locations. After multiple vendors were evaluated, Cisco was selected for its integrated security offering and effectiveness against advanced threat attacks and ransom ware. Cisco provides the intelligence-powered Cisco® AMP for Endpoints, a next-generation security solution that prevents, detects,
and responds to advanced threats. The security solution incorporates intrusion prevention, system recovery, analytics insight, as well as monitoring and authentication. Since the deployment, Invest Bank has seen a reduction in the average time spent responding to and mitigating security threats from 10 days to 2-3 hours. This frees up valuable time for the IT and security teams to develop new applications and customer facing platforms and drive deeper operational efficiencies. The multi-level security architecture also allows the bank to share real-time information and grants them deep visibility and control.
“Our strategic association with The Integrator has immensely helped us in our growth. They understand our portfolio of solution offerings and have given us the best possible coverage.” – Sunil Paul, Co-Founder and COO, Finesse
April-May 2018 | 11
Insight | Paladion
Middle East receives first AI driven SOC from Paladion
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yber criminals all over the world have started to launch their own AI-driven cyber attacks, Paladion’s AIDriven SOC are a response to tackle this global and regional issue. These criminals are equipped with AI platforms, which makes their attacks bigger and more sophisticated. Organizations today are challenged with more threat data than they are able to process. An AI-driven cyber defense is they only way to combat this increasing volume of threat data and next-generation threats. Middle Eastern organizations are threatened by local “Hacktivists” who are well funded and politically motivated who believe they can harm a country by attacking their largest organizations. Paladion’s AI-driven SOC in Dubai is specifically equipped to deal with these targeted attacks, which are close to impossible to identify and defend against using traditional approaches to cyber security. “Our region faces a severe cyber security skills shortage, and limited resources to defend against our escalating attacks, our AI-Driven SOCs addresses this
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gap,” explains Amit Roy, EVP & Regional Head –EMEA at Paladion. He adds, “The UAE government’s vision to be the city of the future with the early and right of adoption of Artificial Intelligence requires an equally robust and quick adoption of AI-Driven Cyber Defenses. Paladion’s AIdriven SOC brings this advanced, critical cyber security capabilities for the Middle East to help enterprises tackle today’s sophisticated and creative cyber-attacks.” The Middle East can stay one step ahead from these cyber criminals with Paladion’s AI-Driven SOC, which plugs the regional SOC to their Global Security Operations Center and provides an
advanced up-to-date protection from global threats. By improving threat detection, Paladion’s AI-driven SOC also increases incident response times for organizations within the Middle East. It automates incident remediation, and provides a streamlined, comprehensive response while coordinating with the customer if required. This platform has demonstrated its ability to decrease attacker dwell time and improve incident response. After the attack is taken care of, Paladion provides the organization with a map of the attack, advanced learnings which would help the affected organization
Insight | eHosting DataFort
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loud service providers play a pivotal role in aiding end user organizations relocate their workloads from on-premises to the cloud through jointly engaging in a proof of concept, says, Sachin Bhardwaj, Director Marketing & Business Development, eHosting DataFort. Migration of data to the cloud is the process of moving business processes, business elements, data and applications, from on-site premises to a cloud environment. It has its own share of project management and change management challenges. Migrating to the cloud has a unique challenge of its own. Once successfully migrated to the cloud, the end user's IT environment and its data are no longer under the direct control of the end user and is under the control of the cloud service provider and hence needs to be managed primarily by the end user. In addition to the other operational considerations that need to be overcome are concerns around privacy, interoperability, data and application portability, data integrity, business continuity, and security. Migrating to the cloud has its share of benefits and hitches and end user organizations should work with their cloud service provider to identify what is in their best interests. The cloud is meant to provide environments that are scalable, reliable, and highly available, amongst others. Migrating workloads to the cloud brings with it various benefits. The cloud platform can scale with the demands of user access and the connectivity is much better than an on-premises installation. This means end users no longer need to depend on investing in internal resources to manage performance as the demands scales up. When the demands scales down, the investment does not become idle and suffer a loss in return on investment
opportunity. By migrating database, applications, and data to the cloud organizations can effectively manage the costs of organizational IT operations, while anticipating the demands of seasonal periodicity, and geographic and business expansion. Increasing demands in terms of compute and storage resources linked to business expansion and increasing application workloads is another strong driver for end user organizations to bring in a cloud service provider. End users and business decision makers are increasingly impatient for the IT organization to produce these resources on demand and drive adoption of the cloud. Application development cycles being managed by internal teams also need to be
Importance of cloud service providers in cloud migration shortened to match business expectations in terms of time to market. Adoption of cloud helps to reduce application complexity and reduces time to market. On the other hand, migrating to the cloud does raise its fair share of questions, primarily whether the move is justified or not. If the application manages sensitive, confidential, and country specific data, that is controlled by highly governed procedures of risk and compliance, it may not be possible to move such data and applications to the cloud. An end user organization that has outsourced a significant portion of its hardware and software operations to a third-party will find it increasingly
challenging to move those parts to the cloud in the early phases of migration. Similarly, those applications that are proprietary or have undergone significant customization on-premises will be challenged in the initial phases of cloud migration. If the applications being used on-premises are not cloud-ready, there will be similar obstacles in the initial phases of the migration. A healthy partnership between the end user organization and a cloud service provider can therefore go a long way in ensuring success of the cloud migration journey.
“We are very happy to be affiliated with The Integrator. As a leader in VAD Channel communications segment their product is the perfect read for the latest updates on the Industry. We congratulate “The Integrator” on their fantastic run so far and wish them the very best for their future.”
– Khwaja Saifuddin, WD April-May 2018 | 15
Insight | Al Falak
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l Falak Electronic Equipment & Supplies Co., an IT solutions provider in Saudi Arabia, recently received recognition from Oracle, during the ‘My Journey to the Oracle Cloud’ event held in Al Khobar. The company was honored for its performance in facilitating the growth of information technology solutions in the Kingdom. Al Falak played a vital role and recorded a successful achievement in the implementation of Oracle Cloud for the financials, supply chain, HCM and payroll solutions within three months. Oracle, in partnership with Al Falak, held its second ‘My Journey to the Cloud’ roadshow in 2018 in Saudi Arabia, where global thought leaders in the field, partners, customers and other IT experts discussed the value of next-generation applications that drive innovation across different businesses and industries. Oracle announced during the event that the ‘Go-live’ of Oracle Could ERP & HCM solutions at MBTC Saudi Arabia were implemented in record phase amidst challenges which include implementation of value-added tax, financial year end closing and annual auditing. Ahmed Ashadawi, President and CEO, Al Falak, said: “Al Falak’s consistent performance as a leading IT solutions provider in the Kingdom has earned it numerous awards and recognition. This recent award from Oracle is a testament to our continued dedication to ensure excellence in the delivery of IT solutions in the country, in line with the country’s ambitions towards digital transformation under the Saudi Vision 2030. Al Falak relentlessly works to provide the nextgeneration applications that contribute to the country’s technological development.” Established in 1981, Al Falak assists in and contributes to the technical modernization of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf region. Al Falak, a wholly owned Saudi Arabian company, has played a major role in the information technology (IT) evolution by serving a diverse clientele throughout the region, including government ministries and agencies, universities, and prestigious private sector corporations in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
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Oracle recognizes Al Falak’s strategic role in IT growth “Al Falak’s consistent performance as a leading IT solutions provider in the Kingdom has earned it numerous awards and recognition. This recent award from Oracle is a testament to our continued dedication to ensure excellence in the delivery of IT solutions in the country, in line with the country’s ambitions towards digital transformation under the Saudi Vision 2030. Al Falak relentlessly works to provide the next-generation applications that contribute to the country’s technological development.”
Insight | Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab discovers critical vulnerabilities in popular industrial protocol
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PC UA (Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control Unified Automation) protocol) is specifically designed and released by the OPC Foundation in 2006 for reliable and secure data transmission between various systems on an industrial network. Kaspersky conducted an analysis and found 17 zero-day vulnerabilities in the protocol’s implementation, leading to denial-ofservice threat attacks, as well as remote code execution. Experts at the lab also examined its open-source code (available on GitHub), including a sample sever, and discovered that current implementations of the protocol had code design and writing errors. These errors should not exist in such widespread critical infrastructure software. This was immediately reported to the developers who fixed them accordingly. Furthermore, Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT analyzed third-party software based on this industrial protocol, including solutions by leading industry vendors. The discovered that in most cases
that the flaws were caused by the developers not using some of the protocol implementation functions properly. In other cases, vulnerabilities were the result of incorrect modifications applied to the protocol’s infrastructure. Thus, experts discovered the insecure implementation of functions in a commercial product, despite the fact that the original OPC Foundation implementation did not include errors. Modifications made in the protocol’s logic, done by the vendors for unknown reasons was the cause for the risky functionality. These vulnerabilities found in the OPC UA protocol implementations could potentially result in harmful damage to industry. On the one hand there was the risk of denial-of-service (DoS) issues, which could pose serious threats to industrial systems by disrupting or shutting down industrial processes. On the other hand, remote code execution was made possible, allowing attackers to send any kind of server commands to control industrial processes, or continue their intrusion into the network.
Kaspersky Lab recommends organizations:
•
pay close attention to security checks and testing as a necessary step during the application development process, and do not fully rely on protocols.
• conduct audits and pen testing to discover vulnerabilities. •
isolate software development processes, therefore if an application is hacked, attackers won’t be able to get access to the network.
April-May 2018 | 17
Gisec at a glance
Mimecast demonstrates Cyber Resilience for Email
M
imecast Limited an email and data Security Company, addressed the growing issue of targeted cyber attacks at this year’s Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference. The company highlighted the continuous challenges organisations face in defending themselves against malicious attachments, dangerous file types, impersonation attacks and spam to help provide customers with Cyber Resilience for Email. By showcasing their full-range of advanced email security, data protection services, and new enhancements to Targeted Threat Protection highlights the importance of building a cyber resilience strategy in an evolving cyber threat landscape. Cyber resilience expert, Hany George, gave a talk and performed live hacks to reveal simple techniques that hackers use to infiltrate organisations. These demonstrations showed how organisations could protect themselves against advanced cyber attacks like impersonation fraud. Mimecast’s quarterly Email Security Risk Assessment (ESRA) report showed incumbent email security systems are not providing sufficient security protection against known malware and impersonation attacks. It highlighted that 23,072 impersonation attacks were caught – increasing 22 percent in comparison quarter over quarter. Another study from Mimecast and Vanson Bourne, which was shared at GISEC, found that 40 percent of the 800 responding IT-decision makers saw an increase in impersonation attacks over the past 12 months. Mimecast also unveiled new enhancements to its Targeted Threat Protection services - Impersonation Protect, URL Protect, and Internal Email Protect – to combat and remediate the evolving threat landscape. “A defence-only security strategy does not protect against the level and volume of advanced attacks that lead to financial and intellectual property loss, unplanned downtime and decreased productivity,” said Brandon Bekker, Managing Director at Mimecast MEA.
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Carbon Black showcased Cb Predictive Security Cloud (PSC) at GISEC
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ext-generation endpoint secuirty provider, Carbon Black partcipated at the Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference (GISEC 2018) for the fourth consecutive year. The event was held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 1st to 3rd 2018 in conjunction with IoTx, under the umbrella of The Future of Technology Week. Carbon Black showcased the Cb Predictive Security Cloud, a converged endpoint protection platform that delivers nextgeneration security and IT operations services. It is done through the cloud and ensures products and services are delivered in an effective and timely manner. This technology is different from traditional endpoint security programs which usually require multiple, independent systems running their own resourceintensive agents. This can bog down end users and complicate platform management. Cb Predictive Security Cloud on the other hand provides a comprehensive and effective approach to endpoint protection, delivering greater visibility and better prevention capabilities to combat today's advanced threats. Carbon Black also discussed the recently launched Cb Integration Network (CbIN), a technology partner program designed to improve cybersecurity through collective defence and powered by Carbon Black’s open APIs and the PSC. Rick McElroy, Security Strategist from Carbon Black said: “There are growing concerns around advanced threats across the Middle East and companies in the region are keen to build and maintain strong change management and quality assurance practices to combat cybercriminals. During GISEC 2018, we will be showcasing how these companies can leverage the power of the Cb Predictive Security Cloud.”
Fidelis Cybersecurity unveils Active Deception Technology at GISEC
F
idelis Cybersecurity an automated detection and response provider participated in GISEC 2018. They built on the capabilities of Fidelis Elevate, an automated detection and response (ADR) solution, which were launched in the Middle East at GITEX 2017. Fidelis Cybersecurity demonstrated how regional organizations could leverage a modern Deception defense that extends visibility and detection deep into the network, learns new attacker techniques and better defends organizations’ critical data assets. Roland Daccache, senior regional sales engineer, MENA at Fidelis Cybersecurity said, “Regardless of the techniques— behavioral, signature based, machine learning—used by traditional security stack solutions like anti-virus (AV), next-gen firewall (NGFW) and sandbox, attackers and advanced malware are slipping
through the cracks.” Fidelis Deception goes a step further and creates evidence of credentials and connections from ‘breadcrumbs’ throughout the network, which are irresistible to attackers. This data, both leads attackers toward the persuasive decoy network while simultaneously creating validated threat intelligence that includes devices, data, and behavior, all designed to turn the tables on the attackers. They pursue the lures, so security professionals can detect, learn, and defend. Fidelis research team recently conducted a Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge, wherein 50 professional hackers
and security experts used their knowledge and skills to try to extract a pre-defined piece of data and stay undetected. Among the key findings from the research, 100% of attackers were detected using one or more of the deception mechanisms planted. In terms of mechanisms, 66% of the attackers were lured to and detected by decoys while the rest were detected by other deception mechanisms such as data traps and beacon traps.
April-May 2018 | 19
EyeTech
Ring introduces new security Cameras Overview:
Axis new range of IR-enabled cameras Overview: IR’s allows cameras to essentially ‘see in the dark’ is an added benefit to video surveillance as it provides 24/7 surveillance without the need for additional lighting to enable ultra-discreet surveillance in sensitive locations. By providing users with this option Axis is giving customers all the benefits of IR in a cost-efficient, easily installed manner to almost any indoor or external surveillance requirements. Axis has featured it’s own smart, power-efficient and patented IR LED technology in its new models. It optimally uses the light to enable an even illumination over the complete camera view. The range includes AXIS Q6125-LE, AXIS M3057-PLVE & AXIS M3058-PLVE, AXIS P1447-LE & AXIS P1448-LE, AXIS FA3105-L, AXIS P3717-PLE Key Features: AXIS FA3105-L • Small size and eyeball design, the sensor unit is ideally suited for installation together with other sensor units and AXIS FA54 Main Unit, to meet the varying surveillance needs in retail. AXIS P3717-PLE • Compact 8-megapixel camera with its four varifocal lenses enables high-quality 360° overview and details in multiple directions • 360° IR illumination, Forensic WDR, Lightfinder and
Zipstream, this camera delivers excellent image quality in all light conditions. • One IP address and one network cable needed, alongside remote zoom and focus, the four-camera-in-one unit provides a flexible and cost-effective solution.
20 | April-May 2018
A leader in home security Ring has announced the release of Spotlight Cam Battery with 1080HD video, LED spotlights and a 110-decibel siren. It adds next-level security and convenience to any home, so monitoring your property is even easier than before. Ring has added an outdoor light/camera hybrid that illuminates the area and records video when its motion sensor is tripped, with multiple power options to its roster of Wi-Fi connected home security devices. The new Spotlight Cam features LED light panels that automatically turn on when motion is detected, as well as a 1080p camera with night vision, two-way audio, and a 110-dB siren to let homeowners see activity around their homes and communicate with people who set foot on their property. It also features a convenient quick-release battery pack, so you can easily charge your batteries without moving the device. Key Features: • Spotlight Cam Battery • Brilliant 1080HD video and two-way talk • Built-in microphone and speakers • Adjustable motion sensors • Wide-angle camera lens • Quick-release rechargeable battery pack • Motion-activated spotlight • LED Spotlights • Infrared night vision • 110-decibel siren alarm • Live View on-demand video and audio • iOS, Android, Mac and Windows 10 compatible
Vembu BDR Suite 3.9.1 – The Standard edition
MTE110S PCIeNVMe M.2 SSD Overview: Transcend Information Inc., a leader of storage and multimedia products has recently launched its brand new MTE110S PCIe SSD featuring the PCI Express Gen3 x4 interface supported by the latest NVMe standard, to unleash next-generation performance. The MTE110S PCIe SSD aims at highend applications, such as digital audio/ video production, gaming, and enterprise use, which require constant processing heavy workloads with no system lags or
Overview: The upgraded version is now GA and ready for download. With the release of v3.9.1, Vembu BDR Suite is now available in Free, Standard and Enterprise editions. The users can choose the edition that best suits their business needs. Keeping in mind the budgetary constraints of various IT infrastructures in mind, Vembu, through this
slowdowns of any kind. It is Powered by 3D NAND flash memory, the MTE110S PCIe SSD delivers not only fast transfer speeds but unmatched reliability. It provides compelling performance by using the NVMe 1.3 protocol and PCIe Gen 3 x4 interface, the Transcend MTE110S uses four lanes for transmitting and receiving data simultaneously, resulting in compelling performance of
standard edition, decided to keep the cost of the product
up to 1,800MB/s read and 1,500MB/s write. Transcend's
affordable for everyone. The v3.9.1 edition also comes
MTE110S PCIe SSD is engineered with LDPC (Low-Density
with significant enhancements and bug fixes aimed
Parity Check) coding, a powerful ECC algorithm, to keep data
at improving the performance of our flagship offering
secure. Transcend's SSD Scope and SSD Scope Pro software
Vembu BDR Suite. No matter how simple or complex your
are designed to monitor your SSD's healthand help the SSD
IT environment is, the Standard Edition of Vembu BDR
run more efficiently. Other functionalities include View Drive
Suite will be a competent BDR solution for your business,
Information,View S.M.A.R.T.
thereby ensuring the right value for your money. Key Features: • Affordable • Vembu BDR Suite is composed of products that are designed for backup and recovery of VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Physical Windows Servers Desktops/ Laptops, File Servers, MS Exchange, Active Directory,
Key Features: • Compelling performance for high-end applications • Better endurance and higher reliability • User friendly SSD utility suite • The MTE110S PCIeNVMe M.2 2280 SSD comes in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities, all ofwhich are covered by Transcend's five-year limited warranty.
SQL Server, SharePoint, Outlook, and other similar applications. • User-friendly
April-May 2018 | 21
Cloud Management
Veritas announcesData Protection and Governance for Microsoft
V
eritas Technology a leader in multi-cloud data management,announcedVeritas Data Protection and Governance for Microsoft Office 365 solution,a new set of data protection and governance offerings. These simple-to-use, softwareasaservice (SaaS)applications can be activated quicklyanddeliverenterprise-grade data management capabilitiesfor analyzing, discovering, and recoveringOffice 365 data wherever and whenever necessary. As organizations begin torealizethe benefits associated with Office 365 subscriptions, they must also take steps to protect their data to help ensure it is easily recoverable in the event of a data loss. Organizations should also ensure their Office 365 filesare preserved and searchable to comply with strict regulatory requirements.
Automated Protection and Governance for Office 365 With this set of SaaS offerings, organizations of all sizes will be able to establish enterprise-grade
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data management practices with automated protection and governance for their Office 365 environment. Theseofferingsprovide coverage across the Office 365 ecosystem including Microsoft Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, and Yammer. • Veritas SaaS Backup is a unified data protection solution that ties together backup, search and restore capabilities in a single user interface for all Office 365 data. A simple, three-step set-up process providesnear-immediate access to Office 365 data anytime, anywhere and from any device.SaaS Backup delivers multiple restore options including, direct download, in-place restore, entire account restoration, and account data migration to ensure a seamless recovery experience. • Veritas Enterprise Vault. cloudsolutionhelps organizations address strict legal and regulatory requirements such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR). With journaling support for Exchange Online, OneDrive, Skype for Business, and Yammer, Enterprise Vault.cloudcan deliver a tamper-proof repository for all content and limits exposure to data deletion or chain of custody violations. Enterprise Vault.cloud solution’s advanced eDiscovery functionality, including Iterative Search, helps organizations accelerate the document review process. • Veritas Information Map softwarepresents subscribers with a real-time view of their unstructured data stored across the Office 365 ecosystem. Organizations that maintain a better understanding about their data sitting in SharePoint and OneDrive can make more informed data retention, migration and deletion decisions that limit information risk exposure. It alsocollects data regarding file type extensions and can quickly help pinpoint ransomware attacks and other suspicious files to help ensure administrators have all information.