Cybercrime has been identified as the second most common form of economic crime in the Middle East, with the region’s cybersecurity market set to grow 84 per cent to hit $9.56 billion in 2019, according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey.

The global cybersecurity industry, in the meanwhile, will be worth $155.74 billion in 2019, event as news reports are abuzz with cyber criminals having reportedly succeeded in stealing $1 billion from over 100 banks globally within a span of two years, according to the Market Forecasts and Analysis Report (2014-2019) by MarketsandMarkets.

The growing sophistication and proficiency of cyberattacks is prompting governments and organisations in the region to invest in more secure IT infrastructure to protect against cybercrimes.

The UAE will double its spending on homeland security from $5 billion to $10 billion in the next 10 years, with majority of the budget focusing on cyberdefence and cybersecurity, said a statement.

Highlighting the increasing concern of securing information and minimising the impact of security breaches, the third Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference (Gisec), a leading IT security platform in the region which will run from April 26 to 28 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, will address key issues surrounding cybersecurity management, identity management and disaster recovery across susceptible industry sectors such as financial services, governments, oil and gas, IT and pharmaceuticals as well as in individual accounts.  

As the region’s largest IT security knowledge event, Gisec is set to attract more than 5,000 trade visitors from 50 countries, including chief information security officers (CISOs) and chief information officers (CIOs), who will learn how to develop cybersecurity strategies.

A two-day conference will also take place during the Gisec, where global visionaries will offer IT solutions to help counteract an increasing incidence of cyberattacks in the region using world-leading practices.

Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice president at the DWTC, said: “In this era of a virtual world, the underlying impact of cyberwarfare is only the tip of the iceberg of internet catastrophe. The third edition of Gisec will highlight how organisations and individuals can grow the resilience of their networks to combat cyberthreats and attacks from sophisticated hackers.

“Due to the increasing cyberattacks such as phishing, hacking, fraud and cyberterrorism that Gisec serves as a critical information security knowledge event in the region. Gisec provides an interactive venue for sharing insights in combating progressive cyberthreats and to help improve businesses and individuals’ capability to deal with internet-based crimes,” LohMirmand said.

Gisec 2015 will also feature the all-new ‘Safe Cities Briefing Day’, a platform designed for the Middle East’s senior public sector officials to discuss ways of securing smart and connected cities using innovative technologies.

Co-located with Gisec this year is the First Gulf Enterprise Mobility Exhibition and Conference (Gemec), which will address the need of enterprises to embrace mobility.

At the event, senior executives will discuss ways to identify, evaluate and source technology and mobility solutions to meet their current and future mobile requirements.

“As mobile devices continue to overtake PCs as the preferred access point to information and data, machine to machine (M2M) connectivity continues to rise globally. Mobility is the way forward for organisations and GEMEC allows visitors the opportunity to tackle not only app development for businesses but also security and compliance in the adoption of enterprise mobility strategies,” said LohMirmand.

In addition, free-to-attend training sessions for IT professionals will be available and will include vendor-run educational presentations, product demonstrations and case studies to help secure their IT infrastructure.

Gisec will also host the second IT Security Awards recognising excellence in implementation of projects and applications by private enterprises and public-sector organisations.

The award categories include Best Endpoint and Mobile Device Security Implementation, Best Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Best Information Security Program Implementation, Best Data Loss Prevention and Best Cloud Security Implementation.

The nominations for the awards will be accepted through the application form available on the website until March 26. - TradeArabia News Service