Obrela’s Nick Loumakis, Regional Managing Director MENA, describes the complex cyber attack landscape across the Middle East As the Middle East undergoes rapid economic growth and digital transformation across key sectors like finance, energy, and government, the region faces a surge in cybersecurity threats. The integration of cloud services, IoT devices, and digital financial systems has increased vulnerabilities, making it a focal point for sophisticated cyberattacks.

Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) in cybersecurity is a framework that is designed to help organizations align their security efforts with business objectives while also managing risks and adhering to legal and regulatory requirements. To implement GRC in Cyber security effectively, it is important to understand the purpose of each element and the part each has to play in improving an organization’s security posture.

Despite significant investments in cybersecurity technologies and services, many organizations remain vulnerable. One of the myriad reasons is the lack of alignment between cybersecurity strategies and specific risks each organization faces. This is where risk-aligned cybersecurity comes into play, ensuring that defenses are tailored to the unique challenges and threats an organization faces, ultimately building greater resilience.

Cloud security refers to the comprehensive set of measures and technologies designed to protect data, applications, and infrastructure within cloud environments. As more businesses migrate to cloud platforms, safeguarding these environments becomes critical. The shift to cloud brings efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, but given the rising trends of cyber-attacks, it also introduces new security challenges that must be addressed to ensure sensitive data remains protected.

In cybersecurity, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are often discussed together, but they serve distinct purposes in securing a network. Organizations looking to strengthen their cybersecurity defenses must understand the differences between the two, as well as when and how to use each. This blog explores the difference between vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, and why a combined approach can be essential in achieving the most robust security strategy.

The “Zero-Day” term highlights the critical nature of the threat, as the system remains exposed until the vulnerability is addressed. Attackers aim to exploit this gap before a fix can be implemented. Below are some terms to clarify.

As organizations are increasingly relying on web applications, securing them is vital. A Web Application Firewall (WAF) plays a critical role in protecting web apps by filtering and monitoring HTTP traffic between the application and the internet. Unlike traditional firewalls, which safeguard internal networks, a WAF focuses on protecting web applications from threats such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS) and other vulnerabilities.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a critical tool in modern cybersecurity, combining Security Information Management (SIM) and Security Event Management (SEM) to provide real-time monitoring, threat detection and incident response. Obrela’s SIEM solutions collect and analyse security data from various sources to provide a comprehensive view of the security landscape.

Increasingly sophisticated cyber security threats present significant challenges for businesses and individuals alike. And with increasing dependency on technology and digital platforms, understanding the various types of cyber security attacks and how they can impact an organization is crucial to maintain a secure business environment. From phishing scams to ransomware attacks, cyber security attacks are constantly evolving, becoming more targeted and difficult to detect.

A review of AI-generated malware, and how a SOC might deal with the ever-increasing threat… Theofanis Dimakis, SOC Officer, and Nikolaos Tsompanidis, Threat Detection & Response Expert at Obrela, speaking during the recent CRESTCon Europe event, shared insights from their perspective into detecting malware, including the rising tide of AI variants.