The nations in the Middle East region all strive for an environment that is digitally secure. But efforts both from companies and from the government are reactive and fragmental in nature, even though it has been increased in the last years. The response therefore often has a hard time catching up with the ever evolving and changing threat from cybercrimes.

The increase of digitalization increases the exposure to cyber threats
One of the Middle East’s largest economies, the United Arab Emirates, witnessed a 250 % increase in cyberattacks and cybercrimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another example is Saudi Arabia, which stopped more than seven million cyberattacks in the first three months of 2021. The number of these attacks has risen by 104% over the past year. There are cyber-attacks from both other nation-states and criminal organizations seated around the world.
The increase in threats is also reflected in the projection for the cybersecurity market in the Middle East. The size of the market today is estimated to be USD 20.3 billion and is projected to grow to USD 44.7 by 2027. The need for operational security is steadily increasing to safeguard the supply of oil and gas to different countries around the world.

Increased need for applied cyber security solutions
Credence Security, which is the dominant distribution arm of CYBER1, headquartered in Dubai and offers solutions to both public and private sector across India and the Middle East.
“We can see an increased awareness of digital threats and risks in the Middle East. We also notice the growing demand for not only responding to threats but increasing preparedness for breaches in cyber security. This is also reflected in the market projection for 2027”, says Garreth Scott, Managing Director of Credence Security.

The company operates from six pillars of business.
· Digital Forensics & Incident Response: Focuses on the identification, investigation, and remediation of cyberattacks. Some of the leading vendors in this field include Exterro, Oxygen Forensics, Teel Technologies, and Sumuri.
· Privacy, Security & Data Governance: Providing solutions both at the end-user level and in corporate networks, servers, databases, and the cloud to protect business-critical data with automated security solutions that help you stay ahead of today's ever-changing threats. Some leading vendors in this pillar are HelpSystems, Digital Guardian, Lookout
· Continuous Adaptive Risk & Trust Assessment: CARTA similarly to Zero Trust is a strategic approach to IT security that favors continuous cybersecurity assessments and contextual decision-making based on adaptive evaluations of risk and trust. Some key solutions in this pillar are SOAR from D3 Security, Digital Risk Protection from ZeroFox and Breach & Attack Simulation from Picus Security
· Anti-Phishing & Security Awareness: Security measures that individuals and organizations can take to prevent a phishing attack or to mitigate the impact of a successful attack. Vendors in this pillar include EmailAuth and HumanFirewall
· Identity, Payments & Data Security: Enabling trusted identities, payments and data protection. Today more than ever, people demand seamless, secure experiences, whether they’re crossing borders, making a purchase, accessing e-government services or logging into corporate networks. The leading vendors in this pillar are Entrust, Forentix and Randtronics, NetIQ and Futurex
· DevSecOps: Automates the integration of security at every phase of the software development lifecycle. Leading vendors in this pillar include CheckMarx.

The above collobrations with leading industry vendors, demonstrates that CYBER1 is well placed to cater for the current and projected growth of cyber security provisions required in the region.