Over 80% of enterprises surveyed in UAE said the network security solutions they plan to deploy in the next 2-3 years are cloud-based functions (e.g. CASB, UEBA, Proxy)

Infoblox Inc., the leader in Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services, today announced new research that exposes the significant threat posed by shadow IoT devices on enterprise networks. The report, titled “What’s Lurking in the Shadows 2020” surveyed 2,650 IT professionals across the US, UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and UAEto understand the state of shadow IoT in modern enterprises.  

Shadow IT devices are defined as IoT devices or sensors in active use within an organisation without IT’s knowledge. Shadow IoT devices can be any number of connected technologies including laptops, mobile phones, tablets, fitness trackers or smart home gadgets like voice assistants that are managed outside of the IT department. The survey found that over the past 12 months, a staggering 80% of IT professionals discovered shadow IoT devices connected to their network, and nearly one third (29%) found more than 20.

Interesting findings from the UAE include:

• Over 86% of enterprises in UAE have more than 1,000 devices connected to their corporate networks. Nearly a third of enterprises (30%) have between 5,001 – 10,000 connected devices on their corporate network
• Nearly 70% of respondents in UAE said that on an average day over 1000 non-business provisioned IoT devices like smart watches, voice assistants, tablets, Fitbits etc. connect to the business network
• 92% of enterprises in UAE have a security policy in place for personal IoT devices connected to the corporate network. However only half (50%) of the enterprises surveyed feel their security policy for personal IoT devices is ‘very effective’. 
• 90% of enterprises in UAE have varying degrees of concern about shadow IoT devices lurking on remote or branch locations. 
• Over a third of respondents in the UAE (34%) mirror the security solution at their branches that they deploy centrally at their headquarters. 
• Over a third of respondents in the UAE (35%) said they see OT devices (e.g. HVAC, Video Cameras, MRI machines) as their biggest security concern when it comes to their network security. 
• Over 4 in 5 respondents in the UAE (81%) said the network security solutions they plan to deploy in the next 2-3 years are cloud-based functions (e.g. CASB, UEBA, Proxy).

The global report revealed that, in addition to the devices deployed by the IT team, organisations around the world have countless personal devices, such as personal laptops, mobile phones and fitness trackers, connecting to their network. The majority of enterprises (78%) have more than 1,000 devices connected to their corporate networks. 

“The amount of shadow IoT devices lurking on networks has reached pandemic proportions, and IT leaders need to act now before the security of their business is seriously compromised,” said Malcolm Murphy, technical director, EMEA at Infoblox. 

“Personal IoT devices are easily discoverable by cybercriminals, presenting a weak entry point into the network and posing a serious security risk to the organisation,” he added. “Without a full view of the security policies of the devices connected to their network, IT teams are fighting a losing battle to keep the ever-expanding network perimeter safe.”

Nearly nine in ten IT leaders (89%) were particularly concerned about shadow IoT devices connected to remote or branch locations of the business. 

“As workforces evolve to include more remote and branch offices and enterprises continue to go through digital transformations, organisations need to focus on protecting their cloud-hosted services the same way in which they do at their main offices,” the report recommends. “If not, enterprise IT teams will be left in the dark and unable to have visibility over what’s lurking on their networks.” 

To manage the security threat posed by shadow IoT devices to the network, 89% of organisations have introduced a security policy for personal IoT devices. While most respondents believe these policies to be effective, levels of confidence range significantly across regions. For example, 58%of IT professionals in the Netherlands feel their security policy for personal IoT devices is very effective, compared to just over a third (34%) of respondents in Spain. 

“Whilst it’s great to see many organisations have IoT security policies in place, there’s no point in implementing policies for their own sake if you don’t know what’s really happening on your network,” Murphy said. “Gaining full visibility into connected devices, whether on premises or while roaming, as well as using intelligent systems to detect anomalous and potentially malicious communications to and from the network, can help security teams detect and stop cybercriminals in their tracks.” 

Ashraf Sheet, Regional Director Middle East & Africa at Infoblox said, “In the Middle East, awareness of the risk of shadow IoT devices has grown significantly, yet IoT devices remain an open portal for cybercriminals looking to attack a network. It’s clear that regional businesses are prioritizing safety, but they are still bogged down by a lack of skilled staff and the increasing number of shadow devices connecting to their infrastructure. Because of this, network and security professionals must actively manage the threat introduced by shadow devices and integrate new network security solutions.”

Public departments see tripling of concurrent-user capacities as cloud benefits take root and service delivery is streamlined across the country

Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), a leader in enterprise cloud software, today announced that Jordan’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE) has successfully completed its migration to the Nutanix enterprise cloud software as part of its ongoing efforts to accelerate digital transformation across the Kingdom.

MoDEE’s mandate is to deliver and maintain the Government of Jordan’s digital transformation apparatus for all the country’s public entities, facilitating the delivery of end-user services to citizens and businesses. Like many countries in the Middle East, Jordan is making strides in digital technology usage as a means to invigorate the economy, promote entrepreneurship and innovation, and create jobs. Jordan has long set a pace for regional peers to follow, as it has established best practices for digital migration and enhanced its e-government services by leveraging emerging technologies such as cloud computing.

“We don’t like to call it e-government anymore; it’s a digital transformation for Jordan, where we move to a digital economy – where we allow each and every service to be provided digitally and paid for digitally,” said HE Mothanna Gharaibeh, Jordan’s Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship. “And this cannot happen without having everything on the cloud – quick and efficient. So Nutanix has indeed been a good partner in helping us to deliver this mandate.”

MoDEE is also responsible for hosting ICT services for all of Jordan’s government entities. Previously, the ministry used a managed-service model to deliver ICT facilities from its own data centre, through its own servers and storage devices. However, in trying to support a nation with economic growth ambitions rooted in digital prowess, MoDEE found the legacy setup limiting.

“We had problems with updates, upgrades and expansions,” explained Abdallah Al-Farrayih, MoDEE’s Operations Manager. “After moving to the Nutanix Cloud, we could manage all of our infrastructure from a single location – storage, network, virtual machines, everything from a single dashboard.”

MoDEE’s new control comes from Nutanix’s one-click infrastructure management console Prism that allows admins to seamlessly and easily monitor all virtual environments running on AOS. The dashboard is designed to simplify and streamline common workflows, and to make hypervisor and VM management as easy as checking email.

“With Nutanix, we can easily integrate with many platforms,” Mr. Al-Farrayih added. “And we can use the built-in features in Nutanix related to security and backup.”

The Nutanix enterprise cloud software has also helped MoDEE increase capacity for handling large volumes of digital traffic, thereby streamlining services across e-government branches.

“The relationship between MoDEE and Nutanix is strategic because our private cloud serves critical workloads and applications for government entities,” said Yosef Khamees, Senior Systems Engineer, MoDEE.

The Nutanix enterprise cloud software will form the foundation of future expansions, Khamees explained, adding that a planned centralisation of applications and e-services was in the works for MoDEE’s private cloud.

“We started with Nutanix on a small number of boxes, but now we have greatly increased our capacity,” he said. “Our lives are made much easier, because one application, one system can be configured to serve many entities and users.”

After migrating to Nutanix enterprise cloud software the ministry noticed an appreciable difference in performance and capacity. One government agency that was able to handle approximately 1,000 concurrent users on the legacy infrastructure can now accommodate approximately 3,000.

“Nutanix started working with us two years ago and now we’re putting all our servers on the cloud, meaning we are centralising everything that we have,” said Mr. Gharaibeh. “No governmental entity will be allowed to have their own service. They will always go to the cloud and Nutanix is one of our most successful partners so far.”

“So, I would like to thank them for the great work they’re doing in Jordan and for supporting us in transforming Jordan tremendously, so quickly and so efficiently. I look forward to having more Nutanix investments in Jordan, as we are ideally placed to serve the entire Middle East. Other companies have done it and seen the value; so yes, I would very much appreciate having more investment from Nutanix in Jordan.”

Digital Health Middle East 2020, held at the Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa on the 24th of February reveals partners and experts to speak at the event and highlight new approaches to healthcare is set to reform the industry with preventive information and new care solutions.

Partners on board include PwC, Iqvia, Evoteq, du, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, PTC, Cigna, Anker Innovations, Haltian, Thuraya, Business Finland and Business Sweden.

Blending Nordic experience with local excellence, experts at the conference hail from Finland, Sweden, Norway and GCC. Experts include Dr. Sven Korner, NLP/AI/Deep Learning Researcher from Germany, Anni Iso-Mustajarvi,Head of Business Developmentat Mehilainen from Finland, Live Bøe Johannessen from the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Magnus Clarin, Dean – School of Information Science at Halmstad Universityin Swedenand Ben Furneaux, Global Head of Affordability at Cigna.

Regional speakers include Amit Sadana, General Manager & SVPAMESAat IQVIA, Atif Albraiki, CEO at Malaffi, Lina H Shahid, Healthcare Practice Leadat PwC, Dr. Osama El Hassan, Head of eHealthat Dubai Health Authority, Nadine de Clercq, Rehabilitation Leadat Amana Healthcare and Haytham El Sahat, surgical oncologist and Medical director at Mediclinic.

The event will address intelligentdesign, pioneering technologies, advance clinical services and personalised care to improve outcomes, reduce costs with a focus on prevention while using information and technology to drive integration across the healthcare ecosystem.

“The events has been held in Scandinavia over the past 5 years and gathers for the first time in Dubai to blend key learnings from the Scandinavia sharing their experience in using digital to improve quality of care, patient journeys and population health,” said Johan Ehrstrom, CEO of Digital Health Middle East 2020.

“We are delighted to feature experts highlighting how exponential technologies will increase access, improve how care will be delivered with the highest levels of safety and patient experience with the lowest cost in the future,” said Johan Ehrstrom, CEO of Digital Health Middle East 2020.

The event gathers 250+ peers from across the ecosystem, and 20+ speakers for a dialogue, vital insights and networking as this C-level hub facilitates knowledge exchange and game-changing strategies. Digital Health Middle East brings C-level attendees including executives and CXO’s, governmental department heads, hospital leaders, nurse leaders, regulators, technologists, futurists and entrepreneurs.

Private sector participants can register on www.digital-health.me for USD 795 including materials, case examples, food & beverage and valet. Public sector attendees can register for USD 495.

Gift innovative practical gadgets that eases the life of your loved ones this year

Dubai, UAE:This year, celebrate Valentine’s Day with Anker with a perfect gift that lasts a lot longer than flowers and chocolates and brings music and entertainment into the lives of your loved ones. 

Gifting gadgets from Anker for special occasions satisfies different personalities with different tastes as products range from Bluetooth speakers, headphones, security cameras to power banks but we suggest two products on this special day that enhances the entertainment element in any relationship with romantic songs during the day and heartwarming movies during the evening.

Soundcore Liberty Air 2

Spend all day listening to romantic songs with Soundcore Liberty Air 2 in preparation for a romantic evening. The true wireless in-ear headphones come with two built-in microphones with noise cancellation and filters out ambient noises.

Environmental noises are reduced by 60% to 95% to ensure crystal-clear diamond enhanced sound with twice the amount of bass. The HearID technology maps hearing sensitivity at multiple frequencies and intelligently analyzes results for a truly personalized listening experience. 

For convenience, the one-Step Pairing ensures automatic connection to your device. The earbuds allow for 7 hours of playtime but the charging case provides a longer battery life of 28 hours on the go. Liberty Air 2 can also recharge its power through wireless chargers. 

Nebula Apollo Pocket Projector

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Nebula Apollo Smart Pocket Projector is a new generation pocket cinema in a compact, mobile and soda-can size design. Hosting capabilities such as Google Assistant, remarkable clarity with Sharp 200 ANSI lumen image and improved audio, it is the perfect entertainment partner for a night in with romantic movies.

Nebula Apollo is perfect for consumers who want to enjoy their favorite video apps and movie streaming apps on the go on a bigger screen powered by Android 7.1 which brings great content to you, so you spend less time browsing and more time watching movies with loved ones. 

Nebula Apollo provides 4-hours of video playtime with single full charge and offers big 360^o sound with a 6W speaker. Nebula Apollo offers an advanced entertainment experience, anytime, anywhere with your loved ones.