‘Every third HDD in Kuwait has malware’

KUWAIT: Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, participated at the Arabic Conference for Information and Communications Security (ACICS), which was held in Kuwait from September 24- 26. In an interview with the Kuwait Times, Vladimir Zapolyansky, the Head of Technology Positioning of Kaspersky Lab, said that the seminar focused on Internet security with main spotlight on cyber threats and technology to improve protection for IT manufacturers.

He revealed that the most vulnerable people in the Arab world are the consumers and even companies aren’t spared by hackers who steal valuable information from them in order to make a quick buck from it. Zapolyansky said that Kaspersky Lab was the first company to detect the Flame virus in the Middle East and came up with an antivirus to tackle it. Kaspersky Lab is No. 3 on the list of top anti-virus companies in the world and detects 1,250 new threatening malware on a daily basis. They also cooperate with ITU research and the police to keep an eye on new and upcoming viruses. Zapolyansky spoke about “Default Deny” approach; approach wherein employees are allowed to run only programs known to be legitimate.

In order to make a Default Deny scenario possible, the security solution needs to access the high quality Whitelisting database, which contains complete, up-to-date information about the majority of legitimate programs in existence. Undertaking the Default Design approach significantly improves protection against unknown malware and targeted attacks. Zapolyansky mentioned during his presentation some Kuwaiti cyber security facts, including finding something malicious on each third hard drive or removable device like USB flashdrives.

This figure is higher than Western Europe where something malicious is detected on each fifth hard drive. In addition to that, most prevalent exploits targeting Kuwait are dedicated for Adobe Acrobat Reader (31 percent) and Android Root (33 percent). Khalid Abu Baker, Corporate Sales Manager, Kaspersky Lab Middle East and Turkey, shared Kaspersky Lab’s experience and learnings from the Middle East region, and discussed with the attendance of the conference how to build an efficient IT security environment, and the importance of having a secure IT infrastructure to establish a successful business.

Furthermore, how organizations can overcome the IT security challenges – especially with the increasingly complex endpoint environments comprised of various devices, platforms and operating systems. Commenting at the conference, Tarek Kuzbari, Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab Middle East and Turkey said, “The Central Agency for Information Technology is always in touch with leading companies about all aspects of technology, especially in the field of IT security. That is why we are witnessing one of the most important events happening in the Middle East Region today and we are very happy that Kaspersky Lab is being represented during this conference.” He continued saying, “This event will allow users, experts, and vendors to exchange ideas about information security and best business practices in this area.

Moreover, ACICS is aiming to improve the level of awareness in the importance of information security and the continued efforts to overcome the increasingly sophisticated methods of intruders and cyber criminals”. The event was under the sponsorship of the Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT), the government organization that is officially responsible for developing the e-government project in Kuwait which aims to bring Kuwait to an internationally advanced position of country automation.

By Islam Al-Sharaa

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