Cybersecurity must evolve to meet challenges: Expert

Cybersecurity must continue evolving to meet the ever-changing modus operandi of cyberattacks worldwide, Assad Arabi, Managing Director, Gulf Cluster, Trend Micro, told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the 14th Milipol Qatar. 

Trend Micro, a Japanese cyber security software company with a regional office in Qatar, has operated for more than 20 years in the country. In the last few years, it has increased its investment in Qatar. The company aims to secure the digital transformation journey of all enterprise customers in Qatar and the region through its security solutions that looks after cybersecurity for endpoints, data centres, networking, email systems, and clouds.

“So the war between the good guys and the bad guys will continue as long as the bad guys can generate benefits from their malicious actions. What we are trying to do in Trend Micro is not only to be reactive but to be proactive as much as possible. We are trying to predict the attacks before they happen and to protect our customers. If they got attacked for a reason, we would help them investigate how it happened, how it started, how it got into the network, and who was behind these attacks to ensure it never happens again,” Arabi said.

“Apparently, because the attacks keep evolving, we have to keep our technologies also evolving. Last month, we launched a new platform called Trend Micro One. This platform will give our customers visibility of what’s happening in their environment. From a single point of view or a centralised point of view, they will have visibility of what’s happening on their network, on the endpoint, servers, cloud, and email. It will help them investigate incidents using rapid tools to get answers faster,” he added.

According to Arabi, Trend Micro is leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning, strong threat intelligence and telemetry data collected from its sensors to compile a centralised overview of what’s happening from a risk perspective.

 “So we help our customers discover the risks they have, assess them, and then respond to these risks, all in one platform,” he added.

Speaking on the cybersecurity challenges small, and medium (SME) companies face, Arabi noted that SMEs sometimes face more significant challenges than enterprises because they are not equipped with cybersecurity defences. 

“The SME cannot have the same defence structure as the enterprise, but at the same time, they are exposed to the same level of attacks. The attacks are as complex as those of the enterprise sector. So with Trend Micro, we released a specific business line of solutions targeted at SMEs. These solutions are tailored for SMEs from functionalities, technicality and commercial perspectives.”
Arabi stated that SMEs could afford the new system, which would provide them with a reasonable level of protection.

He stressed that the main challenge of SMEs is cybersecurity attacks and that protecting them from cyberattacks is crucial to the economy because 60% of SMEs that got attacked usually file for bankruptcy after these breaches. 

In Qatar, Trend Micro has assigned dedicated looking to the security of SMEs. Alongside its partners, Trend Micro provides SMEs with the necessary cybersecurity awareness and exposes them to tools they need to use and the best practice to protect their digital assets. On the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Arabi said Trend Micro is prepared to help in the coming event. 

“We understand that the country might be exposed to many cybersecurity attacks. We blocked about four million attacks that arrived by email last year; we also blocked seven million attacks in Qatar through malicious links. And we are focused and dedicated to helping enterprise customers, especially the critical entity, the critical entities to be ready to address the challenges that might take more serious shape as we are approaching the World Cup.”

He also lauded Milipol Qatar for enabling stakeholders to exchange ideas, showcase new technology and for experts to create more awareness of cybersecurity.

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