In an unique interview throughout Black Hat, Mohammad Flaifel, Regional Gross sales Director of KSA and Türkiye at Group-IB, shared unique insights into Saudi Arabia’s rise as a cybersecurity hub. The dialog delves into the rising risk of AI-driven cyberattacks, the significance of intelligence sharing, and the way Group-IB is empowering native expertise to strengthen the Kingdom’s cyber defenses.1. Are you able to give a short background on Group-IB’s journey in Saudi Arabia and the way it operates within the cybersecurity house?The corporate has been round for 23 years, however we began working in Saudi Arabia three years in the past. Since then, we’ve engaged with a variety of shoppers, together with authorities entities, monetary establishments, and regulators. Our focus has been on supporting them in combating cybercrime. Saudi Arabia is now rising as a regional cybersecurity hub, and we’re proud to contribute to this momentum by advancing investments in native operators and experience.2. How do you see Saudi Arabia evolving as a cybersecurity hub, and what position does Group-IB play on this transformation?Saudi Arabia is without doubt one of the fastest-growing economies within the area and is main the best way in digital transformation. With practically 98–99% cell phone penetration, the adoption of expertise is exploding. Nonetheless, this speedy digitalization has additionally attracted cybercriminals, whose assaults have gotten extra subtle with using synthetic intelligence (AI). AI permits attackers to dynamically scale their operations, goal vulnerabilities with precision, and bypass conventional detection strategies, which presents a major problem.As Group-IB, we’re deeply engaged in supporting native entities, telecom operators, banks, and regulators to defend towards these rising threats. Past providing options, we prioritize constructing native experience by coaching Saudi professionals to fight cybercrime successfully.3. Out of your perspective, what are essentially the most urgent traits in cyberattacks inside Saudi Arabia as we speak?Digital transformation has resulted in two major varieties of assaults dominating the panorama. First, nation-state assaults goal the Kingdom’s vital infrastructure. Second, financially motivated assaults, like phishing and fraud schemes, focus closely on sectors similar to banking.We’re additionally seeing an increase in AI-enabled cyberattacks. Attackers are leveraging AI to automate phishing campaigns, develop extra convincing social engineering assaults, and create malware able to bypassing superior safety measures. For instance, phishing assaults now use AI to craft extremely personalised messages, making them tougher to detect and more practical in tricking people. These traits underline the necessity for superior risk detection options, steady intelligence sharing, and enhanced safety measures.4. What makes the Cyber Fraud Intelligence Platform significantly related to Saudi organizations coping with rising digital fraud?The Cyber Fraud Intelligence Platform (CFIP) is one in all our flagship merchandise. It addresses the rising problem of combating cyber fraud. A vital difficulty we’ve recognized globally—and significantly in Saudi Arabia—is the shortage of intelligence sharing between entities. In cybersecurity, no group can achieve isolation. Collaboration is vital.CFIP permits entities to share fraud intelligence securely whereas respecting privateness rules. Regulators historically forestall monetary establishments and others from sharing delicate information. Nonetheless, our platform anonymizes and aggregates intelligence, enabling a cooperative strategy to struggle threats. By studying from one another, entities can detect and tackle threats proactively, even earlier than they escalate.5. For those who might emphasize one vital takeaway out of your newest intelligence work, what wouldn’t it be?Sharing intelligence is totally essential. Through the years, I’ve noticed that cyberattacks usually replicate shortly. As soon as an attacker succeeds with one group, they are going to try the identical techniques with others throughout industries and verticals. The one technique to forestall that is to equip others with well timed intelligence whereas additionally studying from them. This drives sooner responses—nearly zero-day velocity—and a unified protection technique towards rising threats.6.Saudi Arabia is quickly constructing native cybersecurity expertise. What gaps nonetheless exist, and the way is Group-IB addressing them?Whereas many firms focus solely on bringing their options to Saudi Arabia, Group-IB has taken a unique strategy from day one. We consider the important thing lies in investing in native capability and coaching, as expertise requires expert professionals to function and optimize it.Our “glocal” (world + native) strategy emphasizes hiring and coaching native Saudi expertise. We additionally established the Digital Crime Resistance Heart (DCRC) to localize cybersecurity experience. The DCRC equips Saudi professionals with the instruments, coaching, and understanding they should fight attackers—together with these utilizing AI-enhanced strategies—whereas being aware of the cultural and operational nuances distinctive to the area.This strategy helps bridge the expertise hole, making certain a sustainable workforce outfitted with cutting-edge data to defend the Kingdom towards more and more subtle cyber threats.
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