Symantec to actively participate in EGOV4
IT security leader stresses philosophy of ‘Innovate, but Securely’
KUWAIT: Symantec, the IT Security leader, announced yesterday that they will be actively participating in the upcoming forth e-Government Forum (EGOV4) due to take place from 27 -29 November at Arraya Ballroom of Courtyard Mariotte Hotel. “We are delighted to be part of this annual technology event in Kuwait, especially that it is held under the patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Symantec helps governments, businesses, and individuals safeguard their IT investments against the increasingly malicious cyber threats. “Through the ambitious organizational efforts of CAIT and Nouf-EXPO, EGOV has become a must-attend technology event for every global technology vendor, “said Gordon Love, Vice President Emerging Markets at Symantec.
Gordon continued to say, “the technological advancements we are witnessing today, both on a global and regional level, are nothing short of impressive, and they continue to surpass what we thought we would be able to achieve by this millennia. In fact, IT spending in the Middle East is set to reach $212.9 billion in 2016, a 37 per cent increase from the previous year. Closer to home, we’ve seen Kuwait making considerable progress in becoming an emerging technology and innovation hub in the region. The government has done an excellent job in responding to the society’s level of tech savviness and demand for streamlined services, by implementing projects that have improved government processes vastly through its E-government services.”
Gordon added, “innovation has become an unstoppable force from which we are feeding, and in the coming decade or so, the internet will likely dictate the way in which we live our lives. Every innovation carries intended and unintended consequences. According to Symantec’s ISTR 2016 report, the world bought more than 1.4 billion smartphones in 2015. What we now call the Internet of Things (IoT), will soon become the Internet of Everything. In addition, in the next few years there will be more connected devices than people in the world, and what a momentous time in history that will be! Uses of IoT that were previously impractical will increasingly become more practical, although the problem with that type of vigorous innovation is that most of these IoT devices will lack stringent security measures and will become a deliberate risk.”
Integration
The Vice President Emerging Markets at Symantec commented, “the materialization of the IoT is accompanied with the emergence of added internet-connected devices and the integration of various industries, such as education, health, finance, insurance, and real-estate. While that may be conducive to our highly connected world, it also puts these industries at greater risk of being hacked. By connecting everything, we have given cybercriminals leverage to attack not only one, but all aspects of our society. The role that society will play in this digital revolution is unquestionably understated. Moreover, the Middle East’s geopolitical position and importance to the world economy through trade, tourism and oil and gas resources have made the region highly vulnerable to a high volume of IT security attacks and in turn, triggered rapid growth in its IT security market.
Commenting on Kuwait’s IT security challenges, Grodon said, “Kuwait’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Profile has jumped from a global rank of 70th in 2014 to 61st in 2015, indicating a higher global percentage of security threats, including malicious code, spam, phishing hosts, web and network attacks, and bots from the country. Bucking the global downward trend, Kuwait also experienced more bots with its global rank changing 15 spots from rank 50th in 2014 to 35th in 2015. A bot is a type of malware that allows an attacker to take control over an affected computer. This means that Kuwait is becoming a more attractive target for threats. As the country continues to work towards becoming a leading global hub for technology advancements, this puts numerous organizations at risk should they choose not to upgrade security measures. One of the key challenges for these organizations is the rising complexity of cyber-attacks, which is partially driven by the increasing penetration of smartphones and tablets and the shift towards cloud computing.”
Love added, “moving forward, IT will transition from having technical purpose to having societal purpose. By that token, innovation must veer away from fast-paced modernization and towards addressing the needs of our society and how to protect our businesses. As innovation pushes technology further, legacy devices are no longer able to hold enhanced security measures. The security industry must commit to integrate the advancements generated by innovation by building security into devices and networks. If these measures are not taken, cybercriminals are given easy access into businesses and consumers lives.”‘
Gordon concluded his statement by saying, “as the world’s leading cyber security company, Symantec’s role within these technological advancements is to remain a pillar of vigor, aiming to continuously pursue and patch up whatever dysfunctions are found in these advancements. Our innovation branches out of accurately utilizing our extensive assets to find solutions, where other companies cannot. Helping our customers tackle their biggest security challenges remains a priority in our mission to secure and support upcoming technology hubs like Kuwait.”