DarkMatter has been selected by EastNets to cooperate on boosting the company’s cyber resilience and offer additional protection to EastNets’ digital assets and that of its clients.
EastNets operates as a certified Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) service bureau, supporting hundreds of banking clients across the Middle East. EastNets offers facilities management and data processing services to SWIFT users, including operations of SWIFT interfaces for primary connection to the SWIFT network and Disaster Recovery on behalf of its clients.
Confidence in the system is of paramount importance, and given the widespread reliance on digital infrastructure and the transfer of digital information to process a high volume of transactions on a daily basis, cyber securing entities and their systems end-to-end is critical.
DarkMatter’s recognised specialists based in the UAE will work with EastNets to identify any cyber threats and vulnerabilities inside the company’s digital environments, and provide guidance and recommendations on mitigating and eliminating potential threats that may pose any risk to data – thus ensuring regulatory compliance and an improved security posture.
Commenting on the cooperation, Harshul Joshi, DarkMatter Senior Vice President of Cyber Advisory Services, said, “Helping customers protect their data and that of their customers is crucial. This is of even higher importance in financial transactions, and it is a positive development to be able to work with progressive organisations like EastNets. A clear requirement exists for entities to understand that the cyber threat landscape is changing rapidly, and it is prudent to engage experts who can help mitigate risks in a pro-active fashion.”
It is clear that the banking and financial services industries are among the most frequently targeted sectors by threat actors, and given the growth in the online interconnectivity of systems, it is critical that the highest levels of cyber security integrity are provided and maintained to protect digital assets.
Hazem Mulhim, CEO of EastNets, commented, “Innovative banking and financial institutions are leveraging digital transformation to a large degree, and engaging recognised cyber security experts such as DarkMatter offers us peace-of-mind. It is reassuring to have such expertise readily available in the UAE, and we hope that as a result of this cooperation we will be able to offer our banking clients greater assurances in the steps being taken to cyber secure their data.”
The estimated cost of cyber crime to the global economy in 2016 was US$450 billion in direct and indirect damages. Experts estimate that these costs could reach US$2 trillion by 2019, with the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2017 finding 53% of companies worldwide ill-prepared to deal with cyber attacks.
