Towards synchronized security

Channel Post speaks with Harish Chib, Vice President MEA at Sophos on their participation at GITEX.

Harish Chib, Vice President MEA at Sophos

Is this your first time at GITEX Technology Week or have you participated before? If yes, what were your takeaways from last year’s event?

Sophos has been participating at GITEX as a leading security vendor in MEA for many years now and we have shared extensive thought-leadership with this platform. GITEX 2016 was a great success as it gave us an opportunity to meet existing and potential customers and partners. We shared our highly innovative and simple-to-use security solutions with them, and demonstrated the strength of our synchronized security strategy in addition to addressing any security concerns that our customers and partners had.

Why did you choose to participate in GITEX Technology Week 2017? What are you most excited about GITEX Technology Week and what are your expectations from this year’s participation?

GITEX brings together MEA’s top ICT thought leaders on a single platform while becoming a launch pad for lucrative ICT partnerships, exciting deals and new innovations for MEA businesses. The threat landscape is constantly evolving and adoption of digitization in the Middle East has increased the risk of cyber-attacks that are now unpredictable and complicated. Hence cybersecurity remains a top priority for all organizations.

As the region’s largest ICT exhibition, GITEX is a perfect platform for Sophos to reach out to these companies and demonstrate how Sophos’ Synchronized Security strengthens the level of security by creating unparalleled integration between endpoint and network protection to its customers along with significantly reduced incident response time.

Today it has become increasingly easy to build and launch ransomware, regardless of skill. All one needs is ill intent and access to the dark web – a marketplace where malware kits are peddled like shoes or toys on Amazon. This trend is known as ransomware as a service. We look forward to participating at GITEX this year and plan to use this platform to enlighten our customers on Ransomware as a Service and Dark Web through Sophos’ in-depth report on the subject called “Ransomware as a Service (Raas): Deconstructing Philadelphia”

Can you give us details of your hall and booth at the event?

We have our own booth at GITEX and will be exhibiting at Stall D 1-10, Hall: 1.

What are you showcasing at GITEX Technology Week 2017? What technology trends have you seen in the Middle East and Africa market?

At the event, Sophos will highlight its next-gen technology that is built into its security solutions that offer the latest in anti-ransomware, anti-exploit, anti-malware and Advanced Persistent Threats protection across all the devices and data. The company will also showcase its latest innovations including Sophos Intercept X, a next-generation endpoint technology for advanced protection against zero-day malware, exploits and ransomware and the latest version of XG Firewall, one of the highest performing firewalls in the industry stated by NSS Labs in the most recent Next-Generation Firewall Group Test Report .

According to the Sophos-sponsored InfoBrief Synchronized Security Market Analysis – Middle East & Africa, developed by International Data Corporation (IDC), countries in MEA represented a total security solutions market potential of nearly $1.89 billion in 2015, which is expected to increase at a CAGR of 9.3% to a total of $2.94 billion in 2020  as per the IDC Worldwide Security Spending Guide, H12016. Close to 42% of organizations in the MEA felt ‘highly confident’ of their security posture.

It was clear from the responses that, in addition to threat landscape complexity, organizations in the MEA do not have a holistic strategy when it comes to deploying their security solutions. With the increase in sophisticated attacks across the region, companies are now looking for smarter and simpler IT security solutions. The majority of respondents agreed with the concept of linking network firewall and endpoint security for better insights. The acceptance is higher among larger enterprise. Synchronized security is the new key for protection against cyber threats.

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