Spokesperson – Assad Arabi, Managing Director of Gulf and Emerging Markets at Trend Micro.
Q. Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving. How is Trend Micro adopting to address the latest cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities, And can you highlight some innovative approaches the company is taking to stay ahead in the cybersecurity landscape
So, you have rightly said that the threat landscape is continuously evolving. And we do see that attackers are using creative technologies to execute successful attacks. We have a team at Trend Micro called the FTR team. The job of this team is to predict what these people might think of in the future, allowing us to stay ahead of them.
From this perspective, we’re probably among the very first vendors to have adopted artificial intelligence as part of our solution. AI is now part of every single product that we offer. We have even been among the very first to adopt generative AI as part of our solutions, which helps our customers discover and respond to attacks quickly and addresses the shortage of cybersecurity skills in the market.
We have built a comprehensive cybersecurity platform that addresses multiple layers of security, which represents our philosophy. We always recommend multi-layered security. Through this platform, we can provide protection across servers, networks, email, cloud, IoT, and OT environments, as well as 5G. We can predict, prevent, detect, and analyze attacks whenever they happen, and we can automate responses to those attacks. So, our technology really gives peace of mind to our customers and helps them reduce the frequency of attacks.
Q. What role does Trend Micro play in ensuring the security of the cloud environment and remote workforce? And how do you envision the future of cybersecurity in a more decentralized and digitally connected world?
The modern business landscape has evolved. Now, everyone is working from various locations, using an array of devices. Protecting these devices and the dispersed data is a significant challenge for security specialists. That’s why we adopted a zero-trust philosophy in our cybersecurity platform ahead of others. Zero-trust technology enables organizations to protect machines, data, and users, regardless of their location or setup.
In addition, we have implemented attack surface risk management. By “attack surface,” we mean every potential point vulnerable to attack—be it email, mobile devices, notebooks, data center servers, or cloud storage. Security specialists often struggle to identify all these attack points, but our technologies assist in this crucial task. We help them locate and secure these vulnerable areas.
Regarding cloud security, the cloud presents its own set of challenges, with numerous attack surfaces. We offer a comprehensive portfolio—not just a single product—to secure various cloud components. This includes workloads, networks, storage, containers, serverless applications, and even cloud configurations. A staggering 99% of attacks occur due to misconfigurations. That’s why our system continuously scans cloud setups to ensure they adhere to best practices, automatically correcting any errors.
Q. Collaboration and information sharing with the cybersecurity industry are essential to combating cyber threats effectively. How does Trend Micro engage in information sharing and cooperate with other cybersecurity organizations both in the public and private sectors to strengthen global cybersecurity efforts?
This is a very good question because sharing information is something that is in our DNA. We believe that the more information we share and the more we collaborate with other entities, the better we can prevent and stop attacks. We compete with cybercriminals; those are our competitors. So, any help that we provide, or that others provide, is very much appreciated. That’s why we continuously collaborate with various private and public entities. For example, we collaborate extensively with Interpol. We have worked with them on an operation that spanned across 30 countries to catch a group of cybersecurity criminals in Africa. Locally, we also work with the Cyber Security Council. Just three days ago, we signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with them to further our collaboration. So, we are constantly working with them and sharing information.
Q. Trend Micro has a global presence and serves a wide range of customers across different sectors. Can you provide examples of recent success stories or notable challenges you’ve encountered with implementing cybersecurity solutions for specific industries? And what is Trend Micro’s strategy for continuous growth and innovation in the cybersecurity market? Like?
Yeah, good question. One of the main challenges that customers in the UAE have faced is their desire to adopt the latest SaaS technologies. However, UAE regulations prohibit the use of applications hosted outside the country. This has been a particular issue for government and financial industries, who wish to adopt these technologies but can’t due to regulatory constraints.
Trend Micro received an exception to this rule. Our security solution, usually hosted in the US or Europe, is now hosted inside the UAE itself. We are the first cybersecurity vendor to do so. The next step is to make our entire cybersecurity platform fully resident within the UAE. This will enable all government and financial organizations to use the latest technologies while still complying with UAE rules and regulations.
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