Barracuda Networks is set to return to GITEX this year, where it will highlight its strategic acquisitions, innovative new offerings and upgraded key solutions from the past year.
Due to pandemic-related challenges and precautions, the global provider of cloud-enabled security solutions was notably absent during last year’s GITEX Technology Week. However, according to the company, the strict health and safety precautionary measures being enforced by the UAE government have given its leadership the confidence to attend physical events of this scale and significance.
Over the past year, Barracuda Networks kept a close eye on the threat landscape and have developed innovations that can help enterprises better defend themselves. ITP.net caught up with Barracuda Networks RVP Sales for META & CEE Toni El Inati to discuss the company’s participation in the upcoming GITEX Technology Week and why cybersecurity is now more pertinent than ever.
Why are tech shows such as GITEX important despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic?
GITEX gives us the unique opportunity to meet a large number of our customers and partners at a single location – something that has been notably missing over the last year. With the UAE and Qatar once again opening up borders, this year we look forward to once again welcoming our Qatari customers. The country represents a significant market for Barracuda, so this opportunity is indeed very important to us.
Over this last year, Barracuda has grown its regional team in countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria, and Morocco. Because of travel restrictions, I haven’t had the chance to meet many of the new members face-to-face. From a team building and company culture perspective, GITEX will therefore prove invaluable. We intend to fly in key Barracuda executives from across the region – making sure of course that they travel and attend in the most safe and secure manner.
Finally, in the fast-paced world of IT, and especially cybersecurity, market-leading vendors such as Barracuda are constantly enhancing and expanding their product portfolios. Over the last year, we have made strategic acquisitions, introduced innovative new solutions, and upgraded key solutions. GITEX will give us the opportunity to inform the market about the value that these investments and initiatives deliver to our end customers.
As businesses continue to embrace hybrid models, why should enterprises invest significantly on cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity has been one of the few industry segments that has grown significantly since the onset of the pandemic. The shift to hybrid workforce models has resulted in a heightened level of cybercriminal activity last the last 12 months. At Barracuda, we have been closely monitoring the threat landscape and believe the key attack types businesses have to protect against now include:
Social engineering attacks: An average organisation is targeted by over 700 social engineering attacks each year of which phishing accounts for the large majority (49%), followed by scamming (39%). The majority (43%) of these phishing attacks impersonate Microsoft, while WeTransfer (18%), DHL (8%) and Google (8%) are also popular brands with attackers. Email remains a top threat vector as 1 in 10 social engineering attacks is business email compromise (BEC).
Ransomware: Barracuda researchers saw a 64% increase in attacks, year over year with attacks on corporations and businesses making up over half (57%) of all ransomware attacks. The cost of ransomware is also increasing as 8% of the incidents had a ransom ask less than $10 million, and 14% of the incidents had a ransom ask greater than $30 million.
Automated attacks on applications: Organisations are struggling with bad bots, broken APIs, and supply chain attacks. In our recent ‘The state of application security in 2021’ study, we found that on average, organisations were successfully breached twice in the past 12 months as a direct result of an application vulnerability. 44% of respondents said bot attacks contributed to a successful security breach that exploited a vulnerability in the organisation’s applications. Businesses are struggling to keep up with the pace of these attacks, particularly newer threats like bot attacks, API attacks, and supply chain attacks, and they need help filling these gaps effectively.
What does GITEX mean for your company?
Over the last decade, there has been just one year in which Barracuda didn’t participate at GITEX – and this due to unavoidable logistical reasons, rather than being a strategic decision not to attend. Our absence that one year alone was noted by the market and stands testament to the importance of being at the show. GITEX represent a significant investment of budget, time, and effort and by participating, we send a strong message to our customers, partners, and other stakeholders about Barracuda’s deep commitment to the Middle East region.
How is your company enabling regional organisations to embrace a ‘bold digital future’?
Barracuda was started with the mission of making robust email-security available to all businesses. Today, we maintain our position as the leader in email security, while expanding our offers to protect employees, data, and applications from a wide range of threats. Barracuda provides easy, comprehensive, and affordable solutions for email protection, application and cloud security, network security and data protection. Today, we serve more than 200,000 global customers include several prominent organisations and entities in the Middle East.
You can visit Barracuda Networks at Hall 2, stand A20 during GITEX Technology Week. Continue the cybersecurity conversation at GITEX Global 2021, register here.
