In conversation with Security MEA, Omar Zarabi, the CEO and Founder of Port53 talks about the evolving cybersecurity landscape and cybersecurity trends that are influencing the region. And, he added the highlight for the company this GISEC would be its managed XDR solution that automate the majority of the incident response lifecycle.
What does your company specialize in and why is it important for you to be exhibiting at GISEC this year?
We focus on enabling lean IT teams to run enterprise-level security postures. By leveraging proven and established controls, and delivering them in an integrated and managed manner through our proprietary offerings, we empower IT teams to not only protect against cyber threats, but to also have the measures in place to quickly detect, mitigate and recover from any incidents. There is a major shortage of talent in cybersecurity across all industries, and businesses are finding it more and more difficult to continue on their digital maturity journey’s in a secure manner. We help those resource-restrained organisations lay the security foundation down and become an extension of their IT teams so moving forward, they can safely, securely and confidently leverage all the benefits that digitization can bring to their businesses.
GISEC is one of the largest global platforms connecting the MENA region’s IT security community, and cyber attacks are growing at an alarming rate in the region. This conference offers us the perfect platform to demonstrate how businesses of all sizes can build truly mature security postures, while highlighting the importance of mitigating potential threats for business continuity. To make cybersecurity more compelling and exciting, we have also designed a unique simulation called ‘Attack & Escape Room’ for our GISEC exhibit, which will challenge participants to improve their strategic thinking, problem-solving, and cybersecurity skills.
What major cyber security trends are influencing the Middle East?
There are several key cybersecurity trends that are influencing the Middle East region. These include an increased adoption of cloud services, more complex cyber-attacks, and a growing focus on compliance and regulations from regional governments. As a result, more and more organisations are realising the importance of building a mature security posture, one that is proactive in its prevention of attacks, and integrated in its mitigation of any incident. A cohesive security stack is essential for businesses to effectively protect their networks and data from online threats, particularly when cyberattacks in the Middle East have increased by 250% in the last year alone.
This requires that businesses rethink their cybersecurity strategy. In this regard, a cohesive security stack is imperative which means companies need to move away from patchy IT security point solutions, and adopt more comprehensive measures to provide multi-layer protection against threats like phishing, malware, ransomware, data leaks and more. A security stack that is augmented with the right frameworks offers a comprehensive set of practices and guidelines for organisations to implement so their digital assets are fully protected, at all times.
What products or solutions will you be exhibiting at the show?
We are exhibiting managed XDR, one of our most highly rated solutions, at GISEC. XDR, or Extended Detection and Response, when managed, makes for customers’ very own security team, meaning we don’t just alert when an incident is happening, we respond and remediate. Managed XDR augments and optimises threat detection, investigation, response, and hunting across a business’s entire IT ecosystem. We are also developing patent protected capabilities to extend the edge of what is automatable in a SOC, and are confident that our next iteration of our mXDR will allow for IT teams to automate the majority of the incident response lifecycle.
For this year’s GISEC, we are also demonstrating the importance of continuous risk monitoring and cybersecurity performance management through our TrustMAPP platform. TrustMAPP is a cloud-based platform which helps organisations track their cybersecurity performance journey while reducing manual effort by up to 70%. Through TrustMAPP, companies gain a continuous view of their cybersecurity maturity, instead of just periodically or through one-off compliance audits, both of which are insufficient in today’s ever-evolving threat landscape. Through our partnership with TrustMAPP, we gauge where our customers’ security stands today and recommend the way forward by identifying security gaps, predicting human resource requirements, and capital investments. This year, we are also demonstrating our vPentTest capabilities, allowing for continuous vulnerability scanning and penetration testing, helping our customers identify potential susceptibilities within their systems.
How do your offerings enable organisations to enhance their security preparedness in the Middle East?
The threat landscape is becoming ever more sophisticated and coordinated, making it more vital than ever to have an enterprise-grade and cohesive security stack that secures an organisation’s digital estate at all levels.
At Port53, we help companies enhance their security preparedness by partnering with world-class vendors and offering tried and true solutions from the cloud to the endpoint. We leverage the cloud as a delivery mechanism, and have Managed Services that are driven by proprietary automation and orchestration capabilities, meaning businesses can now have a fully equipped, expert security team with native automation for the ultimate protection and focus on business growth without worrying about fending off bad actors. We want our customers to focus on what their businesses are great at, while knowing we are an extension of their IT teams and constantly watching over their digital estates 24/7.
What does your company hope to achieve at the end of the show? What message would you like to give to the show visitors and why they should visit your stand?
Cyber security threats and the resulting regulations are ever-changing and can be difficult and increasingly complex to navigate. Businesses don’t always have the bandwidth or the right expertise to deal with it internally.
At Port53, we ensure a safe digital environment for our customers so they can innovate in peace and broaden their impact. We also hope to work with more and more cybersecurity vendors and share the message that we have to unite as an industry for the sake of our customers.
For too long, cybersecurity vendors have been running in a silo’d manner but collaboration can strengthen the industry and its offerings as a whole. With our mXDR solution, we can have different vendors integrate into our platform, and allow their solutions to work hand in hand with other third party controls for optimum results.
Additionally, at GISEC’s upcoming edition, we want visitors with technical expertise to visit our stand and participate in our unique activation to test their cybersecurity skills. Finally, we would like to invite C-suite executives to visit us so we can showcase why cybersecurity is no longer just a technology and IT issue, but rather a business continuity and risk management concern.
Where can visitors find you at GISEC 2023?
Visitors can find Port53 at the Hack-o-Sphere area at the Cyber Maze Challenge booth.