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KEEPING A STEADY PACE
By R. Narayan
The rising number of cyber security threats keep driving demand for security solutions despite overall budgetary pressures. Keeping pace, manufacturers have been bringing to market appliances that incorporate enhanced features to tackle specialized threat prevention, distributed denial of service protection, and application control among other myriad threats.
“The market data seems to indicate that demand is starting to increase again after a long winter nap. We believe that some of this if not most of the increase in demand stems from the fact that Cyberwar and Espionage are prevalent in many CSO and CIO’s minds. Our lab data seems to indicate that botnet based attacks are on the rise along with increasingly more complex malware and viruses that are aimed at spyware and similar access obtaining methods,” says Michael Goedeker, Director Pre Sales ESG, CEEMEA at Sophos.
UTM products that consolidate multiple security technologies into a single network device have been one of the strongest growth segments in security, since these devices enable less TCO and feature centralized management and deeper integration between complementary security technologies. According to IDC, the Unified Threat Management (UTM) segment saw the largest year-over-year revenue increase at 29.2% and accounted for 39.4% of security appliance revenue in 3Q13 as multi-function appliances continue to drive growth in the overall market
Manufacturers are challenged to remain innovative as customers seek to adopt new technologies such as cloud computing, virtualization, and mobile devices. To keep up with a fast evolving security landscape in the region WatchGuard recently launched WatchGuard Dimension, a business intelligence and visibility solution.
Corey Nachreiner, Director of Security Strategy at Watchguard explains, “UTMs will log a lot of data as well as a lot of security events happening in the network. A lot of administrators were therefore suffering from a deluge of logs-they have a lot of network appliances that tell them a lot but are not able to get a lot of business intelligence out of all this information. Dimension is thus a zero install cloud-ready solution which is sold as a virtual platform so that a customer can run it in their own private virtualization network or in a public cloud and then point all WatchGuard appliances to it. All the log data will thus go to Dimension with users getting a visibility control switch.”
Dimension, Corey adds, will also allow users to see things like all the biggest trends happening in your network, what programs your users are using, the different domains they are going to, the biggest security events by region and by user among other features. “It’s a very useful visibility tool that is very easy to install as it’s already pre-packaged for you,” he adds.
With virtualization taking hold, WatchGuard’s virtual strategy is taking shape. The Fireware XTM V and XCS V, WatchGuard’s UTM and email and messaging security products respectively now have virtual versions that work on Hyper V and VMWare. “Many customers are adopting cloud services driven entirely by virtualization in the back-end so it helps secure their cloud environment by offering a virtual version of our UTM platform,” said Corey.
Earlier in the year, Sophos had announced the availability of Sophos UTM Connected, which introduces expanded UTM managed endpoint protection with unique Web in Endpoint functionality, broader wireless coverage for large scale wireless deployments and higher performance networking. The introduction of Web in Endpoint functionality lets Sophos UTM go a stage further and make security layers communicate and combine to deliver more effective protection. This approach simplifies user experience and delivers a higher level of overall protection on which customers can rely.
Michael says, “Web helps to minimize attacks that seek to reroute unsuspecting users to infected websites that then install malware. Web blocks this and adds another layer of security (in an easy way) to all customers that use our UTM products. Customers and partners alike love how we add important security layers in an easy way that just works.
Shahnawaz Sheikh, Regional Director at Dell Sonicwall says that the introduction of Next Generation Firewalls with Generation 6 appliances offered double the power and performance from its previous generation. As lower-midsize companies grow to become upper-midsize and enterprise size, their security needs will get more complex, and they will outgrow their UTM appliances and deploy enterprise network security platforms, such as next-generation firewalls and SWGs (secure web gateways).
He adds, “Today’s security needs are more precisely addressed by Next Generation Firewalls that can delicately balance between the business needs and user needs. The concept of Next Generation Firewall is an extension of UTM technology where it offers all the functionality of UTM from the perspective of threat protection and offers additional benefits like managing applications granularly and getting the visibility of traffic to better manage the security of the network by proactively monitoring the suspicious traffic.”
“Secondly considering the current trends of mobility, cloud computing and consolidation, the demand for BYOD is also the need of the hour for many organizations. Historically Email Security was offered on an appliance, as a software and virtual appliance, this year the launch of cloud based Email security offering has given multiple options to our customers who can choose between the premises deployed solutions from the likes of hardware, software or virtual appliance to cloud based solution that eliminates the need for local deployment and management taking away all the pain of hiring the needed expertise and capex based investment,” adds Sheikh.
Over the year, cyberoam enhanced its UTM product line offerings to meet the new-age risks that come with always on apps and usage of high speed internet on a plethora of devices that users bring into networks. Cyberoam launched its NG series UTM appliances and virtual UTMs in ealier part of this year to protect physical and virtual network environments. These solutions provide feature of next generation Firewalls including advanced Application Controls, granular Layer 8 identity-based controls, Web Application Firewall, Advanced Threat Protection, Flexi-Ports with flexible I/O slots complemented with ease of management.
“Cyberoam realizes that network security needs vary with the size of organizations and the industry they belong to. Cyberoam offers future-ready security to SOHO/ROBO, SMEs and Enterprises with its NG Series network security appliances, available as Next-Generation Firewalls and UTMs. Available as hardware and virtual security appliances, they offer next-generation security features to help organizations secure their networks against emerging security risks. Cyberoam Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) with Layer 8 Identity-based technology offer actionable intelligence and controls to enterprises that allow complete security controls over L2-L8 for their future-ready security,” says Ravinder Janotra , Regional Sales Manager – Middle East Cyberoam Technologies.
The SMB story
The threat perception from a cyber attack is always real for Businesses and individuals. SMB customers can be as vulnerable as enterprises but a sizeable minority at least of this segment may not always take proactive security measures. They have a need to be provided easy to install and use IT security solutions and are therefore a strong focus for the UTM manufacturers. Further, SMBs may also need to look at deploying the higher grade next generation firewalls than traditional UTMs since they bring application classification and control as an integral feature and will be able to see and filter the rising web application traffic in the age of thriving social media.
However, According to the Risk of an Uncertain Security Strategy study conducted by Ponemon Institute, many small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are potentially putting their organizations at risk because of uncertainty about the state of their security and threats faced from cyber attacks. The senior management is failing to prioritize cyber security, which is preventing them from establishing a strong IT security posture. The research, sponsored by Sophos, also identified that the more senior the position of the decision maker in the business, the more uncertainty there was surrounding the seriousness of the potential threat.
Michael says, “SMBs are being attacked more and are the target of spyware attacks that seek to steal company technology, secrets or interesting data. Other spam and social engineering attacks are targeting more and more SMB’s so that the symbiotic relationship between the company, partners and the end customers is very important. As attacks and their complexity increase, SMB’s need partners or when done by the customer themselves, a solution that is easy to manage, setup and rollout. Users expect transparency in regards to higher security and minimal disruptions in everyday tasks. This means that new solutions need to be implemented that are easy for the user so that acceptance is increased.”
Michael adds “Our solutions are made to be easy, work and get you protected with minimal setup and rollout times. We also make sure that it is easy to manage and use our solutions.”
Like all other regions, businesses in Middle East are highly aware of threat landscape and have evolved to see security as an issue related to business survival says Ravinder. It occupies top slot in their list of priorities. In fact according to IDC the Middle East IT security and appliance market is anticipated to grow at CAGR of more than 34% between 2010 and 2013.
Ravinder says, “Security awareness and sensitivity amongst SMBs has been increasing and they are willing to invest in security. SMBs can look at security solutions like UTM appliances, Next-Generation Firewalls offering integrated security over single platform to protect their networks which helps them reduce OpEx and CapEx in comparison with use of multiple point network security solutions.”
SMB organizations now have enough possible choices when it comes to choosing solutions that are enterprise class and scalable, opines Shahnawaz.
Dell Sonicwall’s Shahnawaz adds, “In my opinion the SMB segment is well served from a technology perspective as most technologies cater to SMB needs; even the new technologies targeted towards enterprise customers, in a matter of time gets available for SMB customers. BYOD is one of such good examples. Most SMB customers understand the importance of securing their assets from Internet threats and hence they look for security systems that can enable their businesses and offer business continuity during crises.”
Looking ahead
According to industry reports, customers are rapidly adopting the Next Gen Firewalls given the need for granular application intelligence and visualization.
“There is an ongoing approach to educate the customers about the benefits of the next best technology to what they invested few years ago and the growing demand for BYOD solutions keeps our focus on products and services that are needed by masses,” comments Shahnawaz.
As scenarios become more challenging, customers will need quick to deploy solutions and some will look for those arrangements from a new breed of Managed service providers. Cloud versions will find more adoption but shipments of appliances will also rise. Replacement of UTM by cloud options will remain at less than 5% through 2016 according to Gartner however, by then, most UTM devices will leverage cloud-assisted security and management features.
Michael says, “Proactive and intelligent systems that are easy to configure, manage and rollout will be key (and needed) in every security strategy to decrease disruptions and daily business. Partners continue to be a very important key to the successful security strategy and implementation of customers. MSP’s (Managed Security Providers) will become more important to SMB customers as attacks continue to increase in both complexity and damage to business by disruptions. MSPs will help smaller customers with no security staff budget to increase security posture and additional consulting and design help going forward.”
The security market is headed steadily towards high growth curve. Businesses in MEA will choose to invest wisely and enough invest in IT Security driven by dynamic cyber threat landscape and regulatory compliance needs. UTMs and Next generation Firewalls will therefore continue to be one of the focus areas of customers looking to invest in security solutions.
Advanced AI innovation, intelligent marketplace design, and trusted global infrastructure position Loylogic for continued leadership in rewards and loyalty commerce.
As the Middle East loyalty market is projected to reach $3.27 billion in 2025, expanding 16.3% year-on-year, and digital-first, personalized, and coalition-based models reshape the industry, brands face rising expectations around relevance and engagement. Against this evolving landscape, Loylogic, a leader in global loyalty rewards management, today shared its 2026 strategic outlook, outlining how the company is evolving its global rewards marketplace to support brands navigating rapidly changing loyalty expectations.
The company enters the year with a renewed focus on continued investment in AI-powered rewards marketplace intelligence, enhanced catalogue curation, and deeper integration capabilities designed to improve reward relevance, partner value, and member experience across industries and geographies. Rather than simply expanding choice, Loylogic’s approach centres on intelligent rewards marketplace design, aligning consumer relevance, operational efficiency, and long-term value creation within a single global platform.
To support enterprise scale deployment, Loylogic continues to operate under a robust compliance and security, compliance and governance framework. The company adheres to internationally recognised standards ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS, and AES-256 encryption, ensuring secure and trusted data handling across every layer of its technology while maintaining alignment with the European Accessibility Act 2025 and WCAG 2.0. All platforms remain adaptable to regional data residency and regulatory requirements.
“As loyalty programs mature, brands are looking beyond scale alone,” said Gabi Kool, CEO of Loylogic. “They want reward ecosystems that are smarter, more relevant, and commercially sound. Our focus for 2026 is about advancing how global rewards marketplaces are designed, governed, and experienced, combining intelligence, trust, and flexibility.”
Advanced AI innovation is central to Loylogic’s next phase of growth. Loylogic continues to enhance its use of advanced analytics and machine learning to support smarter reward discovery, improved marketplace performance, and deeper insights for loyalty operators, while maintaining strict standards for privacy, security, and compliance.
“Our innovation efforts are focused on making rewards marketplaces more intelligent and adaptive,” said Amit Bendre, COO of Loylogic. “This means better insight, better decision support, and better experiences, without compromising on trust, transparency, or regulatory rigor.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Loylogic plans to deepen collaboration with global partners, engage more actively with industry stakeholders, and selectively strengthen capabilities across commercial, product, and technology functions, supporting a growing pipeline of enterprise clients across financial services, travel, and consumer sectors. With a proven global infrastructure, deep marketplace expertise, and a clear strategic direction, Loylogic continues to help leading brands transform everyday engagement into meaningful, long-term loyalty.
About Loylogic
Loylogic is a leader in global rewards marketplaces for loyalty and incentives management, enabling brands to deliver scalable, flexible engagement experiences through a modern commerce platform. Its global catalog and redemption marketplace support meaningful engagement across B2C, B2E, and B2B programs worldwide. With deep expertise in sourcing, fulfilment, and patented points-plus-cash innovation, Loylogic has enabled over 200 billion points and miles transactions, delivered more than $1 billion in commerce, and shipped experiences spanning 100+ categories across 190 countries to more than 10 million loyalty members worldwide.
By Srijith KN, Senior Editor
Financial Integrator
StashAway’s journey began when Co-founder and CEO Michele Ferrario found himself frustrated and dissatisfied with the investment landscape marked by y high fees and a lack of transparency. By age 35, his corporate career had provided him with substantial savings — yet when he approached his banks to invest in a portfolio of ETFs, he was sold expensive products that didn’t fit his needs.
This frustration inspired him to create a platform that would simplify investing while providing access to sophisticated financial products. In July 2016, he, along with the other two co-founders, came together, and by July 2017, after navigating regulatory requirements, StashAway was launched in Singapore.
“Stash,” as the word suggests—meaning to store something safely for future use—perfectly reflected what he wanted to achieve for himself. Over the past nine years, that personal need has grown into a company of more than 200 professionals, operating across five regions through a single, centralized technology platform.
Today, StashAway stands out as a pioneer in digital wealth management. The company leverages technology and deep investment expertise to offer accessible, low-cost alternatives to traditional wealth management, with a particular focus on private markets. Its approach has resonated with clients and positions the firm to benefit from regional economic growth and an increasingly digitally savvy population.
In the UAE, StashAway operates from the DIFC and has extended its presence to Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong, with a chief investment officer based in Hong Kong overseeing investment strategies.
Democratizing Access to Investments
The company’s core strategy revolves around democratizing access to sophisticated investments. Private markets, which historically deliver higher returns at lower volatility, are central to this approach. By making private market products for a fraction of traditional minimums, StashAway removes the barriers that have long prevented high-net-worth individuals from participating in this fast-growing asset class. The platform also emphasizes transparency, with fees typically 50–75% lower than competitors, avoiding the hidden charges common in conventional wealth management products.
In public markets, StashAway offers an ETF-based, globally diversified portfolio called General Investing. The General Investing portfolio uses a proprietary investment strategy called ERAA (Economic Regime Asset Allocation). They have recently launched Sharia Global Portfolios, offering the same approach in a Sharia-compliant format. These Flexible Portfolios allow customers full control to create their own allocations using ETFs—either by using an existing template or building a portfolio entirely from scratch.
Capitalizing on the UAE Market
The UAE market presents a unique opportunity for StashAway. The region is home to a digitally engaged population with significant underinvested wealth. While 81% of financial wealth in the UAE is investable, nearly half remains in cash, losing value to inflation. StashAway’s platform appeals to a diverse range of clients, from seasoned executives to younger retail investors, aligning perfectly with regional growth initiatives like Dubai 2033, which targets strong GDP growth and population expansion.
A Comprehensive, Client-Focused Approach
What sets StashAway apart is its comprehensive, client-focused approach. Its offerings include globally diversified portfolios, flexible build-your-own options, Sharia-compliant solutions, thematic strategies, and access to private equity, infrastructure, and private credit for accredited investors. The platform’s investment philosophy is long-term, balancing risk and reward according to individual goals, while its high service standards ensure responsive client engagement. And thus far I have been having a frictionless digital experience and went through a quick onboarding process. Client acquisition is primarily driven online, with dedicated advisors for high-net-worth clients under StashAway Reserve. Other users can engage through the app and are supported by StashAway’s responsive client experience team through email, phone call, or WhatsApp.
Shaping the Future of Digital Investing
As the UAE continues to attract global wealth, its wealth management landscape is becoming increasingly digital, with affluent investors seeking alternative investment opportunities. In an industry often criticized for opacity and complexity, StashAway is redefining investing by making it more transparent, accessible, and tailored to the modern investor. By combining advanced technology, strategic insight, and personalized solutions, the company is not just managing wealth—it is shaping the future of digital investing in the UAE and across the region.
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The Brief:
StashAway is a digital investment platform that was launched in 2017 to empower people to build and protect wealth in the long term. Offering simple, intelligent, and cost-effective investment and cash management solutions, StashAway has led the way in transforming the way people invest and grow wealth. Today, StashAway operates in five markets, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Thailand, with billions of dollars in assets under management. The company was recognised by The World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer in 2020 and ranked among CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
It has been two years since the debut of the original HUAWEI FreeClip, Huawei’s first-ever open earbuds that took the market by storm. Its massive popularity proved that the world was ready for a new kind of listening experience. The new HUAWEI FreeClip 2 tackles the hard challenges of open-ear acoustics physics head-on, combining a powerful dual-diaphragm driver with computational audio. It delivers depth and clarity, which was once thought impossible with an open-ear design. Solving the acoustic limitations of open-ear audio alone would have been sufficient to make the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 our pick for best open-ear audio.
But it is way more than that!
Comfortable C-Bridge design
The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 earbuds weigh only 5.1 g per bud, a 9% reduction from the previous generation. This lightweight architecture ensures an effortless experience, perfect for long calls, workouts, and commutes, allowing you to wear them all day without fatigue. The comfort bean is 11% smaller than the previous model, yet the design provides a secure fit that prevents the earbuds from falling out, even during intense activity.
Constructed from a new skin-friendly liquid silicone and a shape-memory alloy, the C-bridge is 25% softer and significantly more flexible than its predecessor. Finished with a fine, textured surface, it ensures a comfortable, irritation-free wearing even after extended use.
Adaptive open-ear listening
The acoustic system has been significantly upgraded, featuring a dual-diaphragm driver and a multi-mic call noise cancellation system. This setup not only delivers powerful sound but also maximises space efficiency. That’s why, despite their small size, these earbuds can deliver substantial acoustic performance.
The Open-fit design of the earbuds demands high computing power to maintain sound quality and call clarity. The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 offers ten times the processing power of the previous generation, serving as Huawei’s first earbuds to feature an NPU AI processor for a truly adaptive experience. The new dual-diaphragm driver includes a single dynamic driver with two diaphragms, effectively doubling the sound output within a compact space to provide a significant boost in volume and bass response.
Furthermore, the earbuds dynamically detect surrounding noise and adjust volume and voice levels in real-time. If the environment is too noisy, the system uses adaptive voice enhancement to specifically boost human frequencies, ensuring you never miss a word of a podcast or audiobook. When you return to a quiet environment, the earbuds automatically settle back to a comfortable volume level.
Crystal clear calls
To ensure call quality in chaotic environments, the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 utilises a three-mic system combined with multi-channel DNN (Deep Neural Network) noise cancellation algorithms. This system intelligently identifies and filters out ambient noise. Thanks to the NPU AI processor, the earbuds automatically enhance voice clarity, ensuring your conversations remain crisp regardless of your surroundings.
Battery life and charging
With the charging case, the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 offers a total battery life of 38 hours, allowing users to enjoy music throughout a full week of commuting on a single charge. On their own, the earbuds last for 9 hours—enough for a full workday of uninterrupted calls. For those in a rush, just 10 minutes of fast charging in the case provides up to 3 hours of playback. For added convenience, they support wireless charging and are compatible with watch chargers.
Rated IP57, the earbuds are resistant to sweat and water. They can easily withstand intense workouts or even a downpour.
Connectivity
The earbuds support dual connections and seamless auto-switching across iOS, Android, and Windows. When connected to EMUI devices, you can even switch audio between more than two devices. Additionally, when connected to a PC, the earbuds allow you to answer an incoming call without disconnecting from or interrupting your conference setup.
It is, quite simply, a pair of earphones reliable enough for the gym, the office, and the commute.
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