The combination of broader digital technology adoption, networked telecom services and a high standard of living makes Gulf states like Kuwait a very attractive target for cyber-criminals.
This is amplified by the fact that the implementation of an appropriate level of security has taken something of a back seat there, both on the state and private enterprise levels.
To give Internet users powerful and future-proof protection against these threats, NTEC, a fully owned company by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), signed an agency agreement through its fully owned subsidiary Impulse Int’l, with the German IT security provider Secucloud at the end of February.
The support from NTEC will enable the cloud security specialist to expand the adoption of its protection solution in the Gulf growth markets.
“In today’s digital age, smartphones and connected devices from the Internet of Things increasingly facilitate all areas of our private and professional lives.
"However, the huge amounts of data they collect about us also make them an extremely attractive target for cybercriminals – especially since an efficient protection of such devices is often difficult or even impossible to achieve,” says Anas Meerza, chairman of Impulse and NTEC Group CEO.
“We have already recognized this problem a while ago – and now with Secucloud we’ve found a technology to face this challenge. The Secucloud solution will provide telcos in our region with an innovative, highly scalable cloud technology to ensure a centralized protection of all their customers – and by that enable them today to face tomorrow’s threats.”
Within the scope of the agency agreement, Impulse will arrange contacts between Secucloud and the telecoms providers in the Gulf region and present Secucloud’s innovative security concept to them. Meetings are already planned with two well-known Kuwaiti telcos.
Gulf states as a growth market
“We see the Middle East, and the Gulf region in particular, as one of the largest growth markets for IT security,” says Dennis Monner, CEO of Secucloud.
“We agreed a strategic partnership just recently with the Qatari telecoms provider Ooredoo to enable us to leverage this significant market potential. Today, our cooperation with the technology arm of KIA, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, will open doors for us into new Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) markets.
"With Kuwait, this is an exclusive agreement that enables us to further establish ourselves in this region.”
Efficient security in the cloud
Secucloud specialises in providing security for the internet of things. It offers a comprehensive, completely cloud-based enterprise-class security system for telcos and mobile phone operators that they can install directly into their network infrastructure.
This enables them to protect their customers from all cyber-threats on the internet in a centralised way. Customers do not need to install any software on their devices, so no setup or maintenance is required. The Secucloud solution scales elastically and can protect over 100 million users effectively and in real time.
