Page 52 - SAMENA Trends - August 2019

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Saudi Arabia Calls for Increased Tech Innovation to Combat Cyber-Attacks

Increasing foreign cyber-attacks on depth of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” he theme “Cyber Space, The New Frontier:
Saudi Arabia are pushing for more added. Last year, Saudi Arabia ranked first Deception, Orchestration and Blackholes.”
institutionalization by developing national among the Arab countries in the number of The increasing attacks on Saudi Arabia
cadres specialized to combat threats, cyber-attacks against it and ranked 17th are due to its economy being one of the
according to Information Security Expert in the world within the same context. This strongest economies in the Middle East
Eng. Samer Omar. Omar further highlights then underscores the importance of the and ranked among the top 20 global
that such initiatives should be established newly established National Cyber Security economies, making Saudi companies and
to support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, Agency along with that of the Saudi Arabia institutions a direct and indirect target of
digital transformation and eGovernment Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming cyber-attacks to disrupt their operations
development. “There is a significant & Drones (SAFCPSD) and their remarkable and seize their data and resources. In line
qualitative improvement in the quality roles and impact already in building and with Vision 2030, the Saudi government
and number of gifted and talented Saudis developing specialized human resources to is working to support the information
working in Cybersecurity and we will see combat cyber-attacks, according to Omar. technology sector, promote creative and
in the near future more awareness and To further highlight the need for increased innovative thinking for companies and
greater capacity in this vital sector of cyber innovation to combat cyber threats, Omar protect their data and systems. Omar then
security by these young men and women,” who is also the CEO of VirtuPort’s 7th underlined the importance of continued
said Samer. “Today we have specialized Middle East and North Africa Information focus on human capital in addition to
courses in cybersecurity in universities Security Conference 2019 announced the investments in tools and technologies
and other concerned institutions, and this launch of the conference’s 7th edition. required by companies and government
in itself is a significant transformation The event, which will be hosted in Riyadh agencies to secure themselves from cyber
that is important and demonstrates the on 9th to 10th September under the related threats.

Cloud Based Messaging app Launched in UAE

cent value-added tax. The single-day others. Urdu, Malayalam and Bengali will be
package of Dh5 will be attractive to cost- introduced in the near future. Commenting
conscious consumers and blue-collar on the launch, Alibek Issaev, Founder,
workers in the UAE. Etisalat subscribers Chairman and CEO of YZER Group, said
will be able to use this messaging app in “We are confident that we have developed
the near future once the two companies a promising and technologically advanced
sign up. Osman Sultan, CEO of du, said product, and are thrilled to introduce such
the company is open to every app that a dynamic product to the UAE. Moreover,
is compatible with the UAE regulations. the interest in the product from such a
“Yzer is a partner and we don’t see it as large player in the UAE market shows the
a competitor. We welcome it because our high potential of the application not only
UAE residents can now make voice and partners have extra features. Translation is in the region but also globally.” Dubai-
video calls to their loved ones for just Dh5 an added value. We are a channel partner based businessman Balvinder Singh Sahni
for the whole day - and that too legally. and we want to offer as many possibilities (popularly known as Abu Sabah), partner
Launched by Yzer Group on Wednesday, to our customers as possible,” he said. and Co-CEO of YZER Group, has acquired
the cloud-based message app Yzer offers The UAE is now seeing the entry of third a 10 per cent stake for Dh400 million in the
automatic translation, video calls, voice party voice over internet protocol (VoIP) Yzer Group. “This investment is not just
calls, texts, group chats and more to the service providers, giving more economical an investment into an application, it is an
users. The app can be downloaded from options to the residents to make audio and investment towards the future of UAE. I
Google Play Store (for Android) and App video calls. Currently, VoIP is blocked in see this as an opportunity that will be a key
Store (for Apple). Du’s mobile users can the UAE, but local telecom providers have driver in bringing people and businesses
subscribe to Dh50 a month and Dh5 per introduced their own apps - Botim, C’me - to closer. This application has every chance
day packages, while home WiFi users will make international calls. The app currently to become the most popular means of
have to shell out Dh100 a month to enjoy supports 16 languages for chat translation communication globally,” said Sahni.
the VoIP service. It excludes the five per including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Farsi and

52 AUGUST 2019