THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING
× 
Enterprise Security Mag Weekly Brief
Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from Enterprise Security Mag
GISEC Global celebrates Women in Cybersecurity ahead of annual exhibition
Enterprise Security Magazine | Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Leading female figures in the global cybersecurity industry will unite at the regional super-connector to discuss the obstacles and opportunities shaping their careers
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: As the Middle East’s largest and most impactful cybersecurity event, GISEC Global continues to provide a solid platform and expand the opportunities for women in the field, fuelling the growth of a diverse industry that is set to transform the world’s digital behaviours.
This International Women’s Day, GISEC Global 2024 is spotlighting some of the most influential women in cybersecurity who will take centerstage at the Inspire conference, the most awaited annual programme gathering female leaders and industry experts, during the three-day cybersecurity showcase from 23-25 April 2024 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
As pioneers forging a complex and dynamic career path, seasoned security architect Alina Tan, esteemed cybersecurity advisor Judy Ngure, and cybersecurity influential digital creator Caitlin Sarian are among the headliners and stand as powerful symbols of female perseverance, talent, and advocacy.
Their unique contributions to the cybersecurity space have seen ground-breaking impact across the automotive industry, corporate landscape, and social media – while collectively, they continue to expand the industry’s understanding of inclusivity and the subsequent potential for even greater innovation.
From motorsport aspirations to an unprecedented career in auto cybersecurity
A prominent presence in Singapore’s automotive cybersecurity industry – and one of the Top 30 Women in Security in ASEAN – Alina Tan is a powerful representation of female success in a largely male-dominated field.
Her passion for cybersecurity stemmed from a personal interest in motorsport, which saw her leverage the synergy between the two to establish a specialised interest group, Car Security Quarter, dedicated to automotive security within her local community. She also spearheads the Singapore Chapter of the Automotive Security Research Group, a global non-profit that promotes knowledge sharing and the development of security solutions.
“I firmly believe in the power of representation and visibility,” said Tan. “Through my experiences, insights, and accomplishments, I aim to demonstrate that women can excel in cybersecurity and thrive in diverse roles within the industry. Notable initiatives in the Middle East, such as GISEC Global, feature dedicated stages for Women in Cybersecurity, providing a large-scale platform to showcase talent and inspire a new generation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).”
Leading female figures to take the GISEC Global 2024 stage
Tan will be joined in the Inspire conference at GISEC Global 2024 by Judy Ngure, the founder and CEO of Bug Bounty Box, a platform to help security leaders manage vulnerabilities. A cybersecurity practitioner for over five years, she sits on various advisory boards across Africa, supporting organisations in furthering diversity in the cybersecurity field.
Ngure also co-authored a book titled “African Women in Security: Remarkable Women Moving Cybersecurity in Africa”, which aims to celebrate women in the field, demonstrate their value and inspire other women to enter the industry.
Caitlin Sarian, also known as Cybersecurity Girl, is a dominant cybersecurity influencer with a comprehensive career history – including a decade of consulting experience at the likes of EY and a previous role at TikTok’s Global Cybersecurity Advocacy and Culture team.
As well as attending the Women in Cybersecurity roundtable, Caitlin will be leading a talk titled ‘The flawed path: debunking the efficacy of current cybersecurity training approaches and how we can improve our future,’ in which she hopes to relay the urgent need to overhaul outdated education methods in favour of training strategies that prioritise real-world application and critical thinking.
The challenge: women are underrepresented and overlooked
Tan, Ngure, and Sarian agree that for many young women, there may be a sense of not receiving the support, recognition, and validation they deserve for their contributions to cybersecurity. A lack of inclusive programmes and opportunities for professional growth often results in feelings of being side-lined, which can dampen enthusiasm for pursuing a career in the industry.
An especially significant barrier to upskilling women in cybersecurity is a pervasive lack of understanding around what the field entails. While many assume it is strictly about coding, it has proven to be a multifaceted profession that requires a variety of skills – from analytical expertise and problem-solving to communication and creativity.
An overwhelming number of available bootcamps and online courses can also make it difficult for beginners to start, with the information overload often leading to confusion and discouragement before women have even stepped foot into the industry.
“The biggest challenge is getting women excited about technical topics in cybersecurity because it looks like a very male-dominated environment - which it is,” said Ngure. “The other key challenge is retaining women in the cybersecurity field; I have seen many women move from technical cyber roles to non-technical jobs. I do encourage women to upskill compared to moving because we need more women active in the industry’s technical leadership positions.”
Sarian agreed saying: “Increased female participation in cybersecurity is not just a matter of equity – it’s a strategic necessity. The field of cybersecurity benefits immensely from diversity, as it brings different perspectives, ideas, and approaches to problem-solving. Women, with their unique experiences and viewpoints, can drive innovation and enhance the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures.”
She continued: “As the industry becomes more inclusive, we can expect a more holistic approach to security challenges – one that has the potential to result in more robust and comprehensive security strategies that strengthen our defence against cyber threats.”
The solution: awareness, accessibility, and advocacy
Addressing these challenges can be achieved through a variety of avenues, largely led by governments and enterprises, to create more opportunities for women in tech, cybersecurity, and defence.
On a corporate level, enterprises can adjust their recruitment and hiring processes to eliminate any unconscious biases, as well as partner with female-focused organisations to support with targeted outreach efforts.
Mentorship and development are also essential to ensure that women are receiving the senior support they need and are positioned to undertake ongoing training and development to fuel their career growth.
Awareness and advocacy remain top-of-mind and play a crucial role in championing female role models in the industry, highlighting their achievements and contributions to the wider cybersecurity community. Awards ceremonies, media campaigns, and conferences can stir conversations around female success and entrepreneurship in the industry.
Governments are able to further drive accessibility through education and training initiatives that encourage girls to pursue STEM education and careers, along with dedicated scholarships and grants to fund their academic journey.
At a higher level, policy and legislation can better equip businesses to deliver equal pay and opportunity – as well as flexible working policies to attract and retain top female talent – while cross-industry partnerships serve as a powerful tool for collaboration to foster a more diverse and inclusive tech workforce.
The Middle East’s largest and most impactful cybersecurity event
GISEC Global 2024 will welcome over 20,000 visitors, 750 of the world’s foremost exhibiting companies such as Huawei, Honeywell, du, Cloudflare, and Qualys, 350-plus leading cybersecurity speakers, and over 1,000 ethical hackers from more than 130 countries in the 13th edition of the annual three-day of the Middle East’s largest and most impactful cybersecurity event.
More in News
DNS has become harder to police as application traffic moves between corporate networks and cloud environments. Security teams may inspect internet-bound requests while retaining limited visibility into internal DNS activity, leaving lateral traffic harder to trace. That gap matters when malicious domains, DNS tunneling or compromised endpoints use ordinary name resolution as a path around controls. Executives evaluating DNS traffic security should look beyond external filtering and ask how much of the actual query path the security layer can see.
Visibility begins with knowing which device generated a query and where that request traveled. Internet-only inspection can miss traffic that remains inside the enterprise, particularly in distributed networks where applications depend on internal DNS records. Useful protection needs coverage at the point where queries originate, supported by searchable logging that gives security teams enough context to investigate suspicious behavior. DNS data should also feed existing security tools rather than create another isolated console. Integration with SIEM platforms and established security controls can shorten the path from detection to investigation.
Hybrid infrastructure creates a separate purchasing problem. Enterprises rarely operate on a clean network built around one architecture. Legacy DNS services may remain in place while workloads spread across data centers and public clouds. Replacing that infrastructure can introduce migration risk and delay security improvements. A practical DNS security platform should be able to sit over existing environments, centralize policy and extend control without forcing an immediate rebuild. API access also matters because repetitive DNS administration becomes costly when changes across large networks still depend on manual intervention.
“Access Quality layers centralized DNS control over existing infrastructure without forcing buyers into a wholesale replacement.”
Availability deserves equal scrutiny, as DNS protection cannot become another point of failure. Traffic surges and denial-of-service attacks can disrupt access even when the application infrastructure remains healthy. Buyers should examine how DNS security handles sudden demand, distributed environments and malicious traffic while preserving response availability. Policy enforcement also needs to remain consistent as applications move between locations. A security model that works only in one cloud or inside the corporate network leaves the enterprise managing different rules across the same service path.
Regional deployment adds another layer of complexity. Large organizations may need local technical support, training for internal teams and deployment choices that reflect existing network designs. The quality of implementation matters here as much as the underlying technology. Centralized control has limited value if internal teams cannot maintain policies or investigate events once the initial project ends.
Access Quality fits this buying logic through BlueCat-based DDI and DNS security deployments that combine DNS control with DHCP, IP address management and native protection. BlueCat DNS Edge can inspect internal and external DNS activity while forwarding logs into SIEM environments and working alongside Cisco Umbrella.
It layers centralized DNS control over existing infrastructure without forcing buyers into a wholesale replacement. Its use of BlueCat Micetro DDI and Integrity DDI also supports hybrid and multi-cloud management, while RESTful API integration helps reduce manual administration. For enterprises that need broader DNS visibility without rebuilding the network underneath it, that combination merits close consideration. ...Read more
Identity theft has shifted from isolated financial fraud to a broad digital risk affecting employees, families and institutions. Criminal networks now deploy AI-driven impersonation, automated payment scams and large-scale data harvesting to exploit individuals at speed. For executives responsible for selecting identity and privacy protection providers, the issue extends beyond offering a benefit. It involves safeguarding workforce well-being, reducing reputational exposure and reinforcing institutional trust. Boards increasingly expect leadership teams to demonstrate that identity protection programs are structured, measurable and aligned with broader risk management priorities.
The most credible providers demonstrate depth across the full lifecycle of identity risk. Protection must begin before a loss occurs, through continuous monitoring across credit activity, transactions, dark web sources and emerging scam channels such as email, text and device notifications. Effective programs extend beyond detection alerts. They guide individuals in interpreting threats, provide real-time assistance and assume responsibility for restoring identity when fraud occurs. Dedicated case management, clear ownership of recovery and coverage for eligible scam losses signal whether a provider can meaningfully reduce harm rather than simply notify users. Clear communication during incidents also strengthens confidence among employees and customers who expect immediate clarity rather than fragmented support.
Prevention requires education delivered before the moment of vulnerability. Fraud often succeeds by creating urgency and fear, prompting individuals to act without verification. Ongoing awareness initiatives, timely alerts and targeted guidance help shift behavior in advance. Tools that allow individuals to manage their digital footprint and request removal of exposed data from broker sources further reduce repeat targeting. Organizations also benefit from vendors that address disproportionate fraud exposure among seniors, families and vulnerable populations through focused knowledge centers and accessible resources. Prevention becomes more credible when it is continuous rather than episodic and when individuals receive practical next steps instead of abstract warnings.
Enterprise adoption depends on simplicity and adaptability. Employers and financial institutions face constraints around implementation, adoption and integration within existing platforms. Providers that streamline onboarding, offer configurable plans and embed protection directly into digital environments support higher engagement and clearer reporting. Large enterprises require evidence of scale, sustained innovation and the ability to anticipate shifts in identity itself as biometric authentication and device-based credentials become more prevalent. Vendors must demonstrate that their roadmap keeps pace with changes in how identity is defined and exploited.
Allstate Identity Protection aligns closely with these expectations. Built on its nearly two decades experience in the identity protection market and supported by a longstanding national brand associated with protection, it positions trust at the center of its approach. Its model spans education, detection, prevention and restoration, combining credit, transaction and scam monitoring with proactive device-level scam detection and personal data removal capabilities. The company assigns certified specialists to oversee each restoration case, ensuring continuity of support until resolution. It also provides eligible scam loss reimbursement beyond what many financial institutions offer and partners with established cybersecurity and family digital safety providers to strengthen its platform. Serving a significant share of Fortune 500 clients while remaining accessible as an employer benefit, it demonstrates both scale and adaptability. For organizations aiming to embed comprehensive identity and privacy protection within employee and customer ecosystems, it represents a disciplined and forward-looking choice. ...Read more
In an increasingly interconnected world, businesses face a growing number of cybersecurity threats that continue to evolve in complexity and scale. Traditional network defense systems, while effective to a certain extent, often struggle to keep pace with the sophisticated tactics employed by cybercriminals. In response to this, AI-powered firewall solutions are gaining traction as a cutting-edge method to enhance cybersecurity efforts.
These intelligent systems leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect, analyze, and mitigate threats in real-time. By automating threat detection and response, AI firewalls offer businesses a more dynamic, proactive approach to security, addressing some of the limitations inherent in traditional security frameworks.
The Power of AI in Firewall Technology
AI-driven firewalls set themselves apart from traditional ones by processing incoming network traffic through data analysis, predictive modeling, and advanced algorithms for decision-making. Traditional firewalls apply a set of rule-based patterns to detect malicious activity, often becoming unprotected against new, unknown threats.
AI firewalls, in contrast, continuously learn from historical data and establish correlations between user behaviors and network traffic patterns that can be used to identify suspicious, anomalous activities, which could either be deviations from the norm. It gives AI firewalls the ability to detect zero-day attacks, previously unknown vulnerabilities, and emerging threats that otherwise might have escaped scrutiny.
AI firewalls are enabled with real-time decision-making capabilities to counterattack potential threats immediately. Firewalls, based on the nature of the attack detected-whether it is a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, a malware injection, or an unauthorized access attempt- attempt to adjust their set of precautions dynamically. These properties serve to make AI firewalls correct and fast in their decision-making, which leads to a minimization of incidences of false positives and negatives.
Another key consideration in favor of AI firewalls is scalability. As an organization grows and the network becomes more complex, these firewalls can change and scale in response to the increased traffic, new endpoints, and added security roles. Meanwhile, the traditional firewall has a drawback of requiring manual updates to rules and configurations, which can become tedious and time-consuming as the actual network expands. The AI firewalls, on the other hand, are continually refining the rules and strategies through their own initiatives to ensure security is guaranteed as the organization matures.
The Efficiency and Reduced Costs of Operations
Aside from these advanced means of threat detection, operational efficiency is also where AI firewalls stand out. Traditional security measures require intensive human involvement to configure, monitor, and manage. Security teams need to update firewall rules regularly and check for potential incidents and possible unreported vulnerabilities, which exhaust human resources. AI firewalls reduce such work to a minimum because most are automated, therefore freeing up cybersecurity professionals to partake in high-level strategic work.
Conversely, AI firewalls greatly minimize operational costs through less manual intervention. They can automatically perform routine tasks, including filtering traffic and ranking threats, thereby cutting down on labor costs and human fallibility. Businesses mitigate some of the effects of security compromises by applying automated responses to some attacks; otherwise, the repercussions would result in costly downtimes, reputational degradation, and legal accountability.
AI firewalls greatly facilitate operational efficiency through the rapid identification and elimination of threats. This proactive approach to cybersecurity affords companies excellent network uptime and stability and, hence, productivity protection from operational interruptions. In the finance or healthcare industries, where data safeguarding is paramount, a proactive defensive mechanism guarantees compliance with regulations and protection for clients' sensitive information.
Integrating AI Firewalls within Existing Security Infrastructure
Integration of AI firewall solutions into the existing structure of an organization’s security infrastructure poses several challenges in terms of due diligence and feasibility. Such concern requires an extra look at how these AI systems will work in concert alongside traditional firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and other extant measures. Ideally, AI firewalls will complement already existing solutions by improving their capabilities instead of completely replacing them.
One of the significant issues surrounding the implementation of AI firewalls is the assurance of seamless communication between different security components. A good integration will allow the business to reap the full benefits of AI firewalls' learning capabilities without interrupting other established protocols. Most organizations adopt partial implementations of the AI firewall, essentially starting from the network's most critical parts and then expanding outwards.
For the successful deployment of AI firewalls, there must be a significant investment in further training of cybersecurity practitioners and experts. These will require the acquisition of skills in interpreting data provided by the AI, effective handling of alerts, and optimization of algorithm performance. This way, the company will be in a position to enjoy the full range of benefits afforded by such an advanced system.
In the long run, with the advancement of AI technology, AI firewalls will be a linchpin in comprehensive strategies for safeguarding against cyber threats by proactively predicting threats, managing networks dynamically, and cutting overall costs. As a result, companies adopting an AI firewall into their security infrastructure will build a more resilient and responsive countermeasure for the protection of data and assets in an arduous digital arena. ...Read more
Cybersecurity leaders no longer evaluate multifactor authentication as a narrow login control. It now sits at the center of trust because the network perimeter has been replaced by cloud applications, remote access, mobile users and third-party services. Attackers have adapted. Rather than defeating infrastructure directly, they target the human identity layer through phishing, fake websites, credential reuse, session interception and social engineering. AI has sharpened deception, weakening legacy assumptions about passwords, one-time codes and user vigilance.
Traditional MFA can reduce some exposure, but it often preserves the weakness it is meant to protect. A password remains in the path, a user still has to recognize a fraudulent prompt, a code may still be entered into a hostile session and the burden of correctness often sits with the individual. For executives, this is not just a security design problem. It becomes a cost, productivity and confidence problem. Help desks carry reset volume, employees navigate repeated prompts, customers abandon frustrating processes and fraud teams absorb losses when authentication stops at login but fails to control sensitive actions after access is granted.
The stronger path removes static credentials from daily use rather than hiding them behind more steps. It should make trust mutual, so the service proves itself to the user before the user approves the session. It should also extend beyond login, because access to payroll, funds transfer, privileged systems or sensitive records requires authorization tied to the verified person, not just an earlier sign-in. Biometric confirmation, device trust, cryptographic validation and context-aware checks matter most when they reduce the chance that a stolen credential, copied website or compromised session can become real damage.
Adoption depends just as much on usability. Security teams have spent years asking users to remember, rotate, reset and protect secrets while interpreting security cues under pressure. That model does not scale across banking customers, public-sector users, field employees, shared workstations, legacy applications and VPN access. The right approach should simplify the act of proving identity, accommodate users with different levels of digital confidence and integrate across environments that cannot all be rebuilt. Simplicity is not softness. It is the discipline of reducing unnecessary steps while preserving proof, control and auditability.
Executives should also look for coverage that matches enterprise reality. A solution that works only for new cloud applications can leave exposed systems behind. One that requires broad redesign can slow adoption. One that replaces a single password burden with multiple disconnected authentication paths can dilute governance. The benchmark is a consistent identity experience across cloud, desktop, VPN, legacy, shared and constrained environments, backed by implementation support that lets security leaders test, train and expand without disrupting users.
PasswordFree© emerges as the premier choice for organizations that want MFA to move from layered passwords toward true password elimination. Its differentiator is full duplex authentication, in which the service validates itself to the user before the user confirms identity through a matched image, short code and biometric approval. That design addresses phishing, imposter websites and one-way code entry. Its website scope reinforces the fit through passwordless authentication, Windows Hello extension and coverage across cloud, desktop, VPN, legacy, shared and airgapped systems. For buyers prioritizing trust, broad reach and user simplicity, PasswordFree© offers the clearest path forward. ...Read more
