ForeScout Technologies, Inc, an Internet of Things (IoT) security company, has urged the Middle East-based organisations to implement a visibility-first approach to security
Speaking on the sidelines of the IDC CISO Roundtable, held at Dubai’s Burj Al Arab hotel, Hamed Diab, director of METCA, ForeScout, said that geopolitical tensions are driving demand for comprehensive visibility across Middle East’s hyperconnected enterprises.
“As the volume and diversity of IoT devices proliferate organisations and governments invest in ‘smart cities’ for their citizens, ForeScout is helping its clients stay ahead of the curve by offering comprehensive visibility across their networks. You cannot secure what you cannot see,” he commented.
Today, more than 166 IoT projects are running in Saudi Arabia and the UAE alone. As new ‘smart’ cities are built, and new technology installed, massive networks and datacenters will be created to support them, and the immense security challenges they present may be overlooked.
In the last year, organisations have had to keep pace with the rapid growth of devices while managing security hygiene and compliance. Companies are discovering up to 60 per cent more devices on their network than previously known with an increasing majority that cannot support management and security agents. Threat actors have also begun to exploit the expanded attack surface represented by non-traditional IoT and operational technology (OT) devices as entry points into the enterprise.
ForeScout’s expansion in the Middle East comes at a critical time for the region. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates have embarked on ambitious plans for economic reform. Rapid private-sector growth offers new investment opportunities in key sectors such as real estate, construction, tourism and manufacturing, but the sheer scale and pace of change means new security gaps are appearing at a dramatic rate.
“The industry has a massive visibility problem that is only growing as the number of corporate unmanaged IP-connected devices continues to explode,” continues Diab. “When it comes to the extended enterprise, it just takes one rogue or invisible device to take down an entire network. Our platform provides a visibility-first approach to secure the campus to cloud to critical infrastructure and helps enterprises light up all of their devices regardless of if they have one hundred or one million.”
