OPSWAT, a global leader in Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) cybersecurity solutions, has officially opened its Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) regional office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The move by OPSWAT aims to answer the increasing demand across the region for zero-trust cybersecurity solutions capable of safeguarding critical infrastructure. The opening of the OPSWAT Dubai office closely follows a period of significant growth for the company in the region.
Over the past 12 months, its regional momentum has included a 60 per cent growth in revenue, 50 per cent growth in its customer base, a 50 per cent increase in the number of projects, and a substantial increase in the company’s operational resources.
OPSWAT’s regional customers include organisations in the manufacturing, nuclear, energy, oil and gas, government, and defence sectors. More than 50 GCC ministries selected OPSWAT in the past year and the company is also actively working with almost all the region’s oil and gas companies. In the financial services sector, OPSWAT has provided solutions and products to 43 regional banks – including eight central banks – since March 2022 and is in the POC stage with approximately 50 other FSI entities.
Sertan Selcuk, VP of sales, META and Pakistan at OPSWAT, explained: “This office opening is timely, as we will have an on-the-ground presence in a market where we are fast becoming the vendor of choice for government ministries and banks. Our expectation is to see at least 500 companies as our customers in the META region by the end of this year.”
Selcuk also explained that the ongoing merger between IT and OT has added many layers of complexity to securing critical infrastructure. IT cybersecurity solutions lack the tools to protect such infrastructure and very few security professionals have the skills to tackle the current threat landscape as it relates to OT.
Reliance on “outdated or legacy systems”
Selcuk also added: “Like elsewhere, many critical infrastructure networks in the Middle East rely on outdated or legacy systems that were not originally designed with robust security in mind. Most OT networks rely heavily on IT systems and this interconnectedness often increases the attack surface. Securing these interdependencies poses substantial challenges.”
OPSWAT’s growing reputation in the region has been built on its Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) technology, which addresses these challenges directly. In CDR, files ranging from PDFs and HTML to image and video assets are pulled apart, sanitised, and reconstructed in real time. From its new base in Dubai, the company will offer CDR and other technologies to an expanded market.
Apart from serving as a collaboration hub for customers and partners, OPSWAT’s Dubai office is home to a critical infrastructure protection (CIP) laboratory, where industry professionals, clients and channel organizations can see for themselves the power of OPSWAT products like Neuralyzer, MetaDefender Kiosk, MetaDefender Vault, NetWall, and much more. They will also be able to explore the advantages of OPSWAT Academy training, experience attack simulations, and discuss with the company’s experts how to combine these products and services to build the best possible OT security posture.
“Committed to the cyber fight”
Following two successful years where its business has more than doubled, OPSWAT is looking to a strong 2024, characterised by the same level of growth.
Selcuk concludes: “This investment builds on the foundation we’ve been laying in the region for years, and we’re excited to have a strong presence in this key market.
“We are fully committed to the cyber fight alongside our META customers and partners. We also see Saudi Arabia and the UAE as critical markets for cybersecurity awareness, and we see our growth in the region as continuing through our channel partners and look forward to working with them to bring our solutions to more customers in the months ahead.”
