Opswat, a global leader in Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) cybersecurity solutions, today announced the opening of its Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) regional office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, following GITEX earlier this month.
Industry sources added that this initiative is focused on answering the increasing demand across the region for zero-trust cybersecurity solutions capable of safeguarding critical infrastructure.
Industry sources added that the opening of OPSWAT’s Dubai office closely follows a period of significant growth for the company in the region. Over the past 12 months, its regional momentum has included a 60% surge in revenue, a 50% growth in its customer base, a 50% increase in the number of projects, and a substantial increase in the company’s operational resources.
“This office opening is timely, as we will have an on-the-ground presence in a market where we are fast becoming the vendor of choice for government ministries and banks,” stated Sertan Selcuk, VP of Sales, Middle East, Turkey, Africa & Pakistan (METAP), at OPSWAT. “Our expectation is to see at least 500 companies as our customers in the META region by the end of this year.”
Selcuk explained that the ongoing merger between IT and OT has added many layers of complexity to securing critical infrastructure. IT cybersecurity solutions lack the tools to protect such infrastructure and very few security professionals have the skills to tackle the current threat landscape as it relates to OT. A further challenge is that few training and certification programs focus on critical infrastructure protection.
“Like elsewhere, many critical infrastructure networks in the Middle East rely on outdated or legacy systems that were not originally designed with robust security in mind,” Selcuk said. “Most OT networks rely heavily on IT systems and this interconnectedness often increases the attack surface. Securing these interdependencies poses substantial challenges.”
“This investment [office launch] builds on the foundation we’ve been laying in the region for years, and we’re excited to have a strong presence in this key market,” Selcuk noted. “We are fully committed to the cyber fight alongside our META customers and partners. We see Saudi Arabia and the UAE as critical markets for cybersecurity awareness, and we see our growth in the region as continuing through our channel partners. We look forward to working with them to bring our solutions to more customers in the months ahead.”
Industry sources also further added that OPSWAT’s growing reputation in the region has been built on its Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) technology, which addresses these challenges directly. In CDR, files ranging from PDFs and HTML to image and video assets are pulled apart, sanitized, and reconstructed in real-time.
From its new base in Dubai, the company will offer CDR and other technologies to an expanded market. Its hub presence will ease OPSWAT’s engagement with partners and customers, who will get face-to-face access to industry experts.
Following two successful years where its business has more than doubled, OPSWAT is looking to a strong 2024, characterized by the same level of growth.
Industry sources also confirmed that apart from serving as a collaboration hub for customers and partners, OPSWAT’s Dubai office is home to a critical infrastructure protection (CIP) laboratory, where industry professionals, clients, and channel organizations can see for themselves the power of OPSWAT products like Neuralyzer, MetaDefender Kiosk, MetaDefender Vault, NetWall, and much more.
They will also be able to explore the advantages of OPSWAT Academy training, experience attack simulations, and discuss with the company’s experts how to combine these products and services to build the best possible OT security posture.
Apart from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Selcuk described OPSWAT’s growth in Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait as “exponential”. “We are also in the midst of a very aggressive restructuring in Turkey, which is home to more than one million manufacturers,” Selcuk continued. “We have reaped the fruits of this in the first six months of this year. Next year we will focus on Pakistan and South Africa and we plan to manage all the countries in the META region from our new offices in Dubai.”
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