Gitex Global: Interview with Werno Gevers, regional manager, Mimecast

What is Mimecast showcasing at GITEX Global this year? 

We will be showcasing our security services during the show – advanced email and web security solutions, brand protection capabilities and awareness training and also introduce attendees to the new artificial intelligence offering, Mimecast CyberGraph.

CyberGraph is a new add-on for Mimecast Secure Email Gateway (SEG) that is engineered to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help detect sophisticated phishing and impersonation attacks. CyberGraph creates an identity graph which is built to store information about relationships between all senders and recipients. The graph is designed to detect anomalies and leverages machine learning technology to help organisations stay one step ahead of threat actors by alerting employees to potential cyber threats.

What is driving the growth of Mimecast in the Middle East region?

The growth of the global cybercrime industry is putting strain on organisations and their security teams. Mimecast’s latest State of Email Security Report 2021 found that 45 per cent of organisations in the UAE reported an increase in the sophistication of incoming cyberattacks, while 41 per cent cited a growing volume of attacks.

That most organisations are also dealing with the challenge of securing a hybrid workforce, as many staff members continue to work remotely part time, only adds to the challenge. The increasing reliance on email and other business productivity tools is creating new challenges. In fact, three-quarters (75 per cent) of organisations expect an email-borne attack will damage their business this year.

Hybrid work models offer a plethora of potential attack surfaces, with remote working employees especially vulnerable due to the generally lower levels of protection against cyberattacks on home networks and personal devices.

As hybrid work models are likely to remain for the foreseeable future, it is vital that organisations stay abreast of the new security risks and challenges created by hybrid work models. Security teams are therefore looking to deploy new tools and solutions to protect vulnerable users and systems. Mimecast’s solutions are therefore becoming increasingly relevant to organisations across the region. Mimecast helps protect organisations from malicious activity, human error and technology failure. We help customers tackle their biggest security challenges with a managed security solution engineered to secure the number one cyberattack vector – email. When integrating Mimecast’s brand protection, security awareness training, web security, compliance and other essential capabilities into their security infrastructure, customers have measures in place to prevent email compromise and improve their cyber resilience.

Which are your key markets in the region and how do you plan to expand your footprint?

Our regional headquarters are in Dubai and we have a strong presence in Saudi Arabia. But we work across all countries in the Middle East and are able to reach organisations in all territories because of our strong channel network. We will continue to work with our strategic partners to grow our presence across the region.

Being one of the leading security vendors, what sets you apart from the rest?

In addition to email protection, Mimecast partners with the security vendors to build a cyber resilience ecosystem, which now has more than 100 API partners, including CrowdStrike and Rapid7. Each integration is designed to allow organisations to gain greater insights into their threat landscape, reducing complexity, minimising risk, and improving threat detection and response times.

Mimecast also offers training and support. Mimecast Security Awareness Training (Mimecast AT) combines video content with tactical security tests to help organisations across all industries reduce security risks associated with employee human error, which causes 90 per cent + of breaches. Our research found that employees from companies not using Mimecast AT were more than 5x more likely to click on malicious links.

Where can we find you at GITEX Global?

Bulwark stand – stand H2-A2, hall 2