Salesforce has officially inaugurated its new office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai Internet City. The company’s expansion in Dubai is part of its commitment to support AI innovation, customer success and growth in the UAE.

The opening ceremony was attended by His Excellency Omar Sultan AlOlama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, Malek Al Malek, Chairman of TECOM Group PJSC, and Abdulla Belhoul, CEO of TECOM Group, alongside Salesforce executives, other key customers and representatives from the company’s thriving partner ecosystem.

The launch of Salesforce’s new state-of-the-art office at Dubai Internet City, a leading technology hub, builds on the company’s ongoing investment in the UAE. Last year, Salesforce made Hyperforce, the company’s trusted cloud platform, generally available in the UAE in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This year the company achieved the Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) Cloud Service Provider (CSP) Security Standard for Salesforce Services on Hyperforce in the UAE to support government and public sector entities.

Salesforce is experiencing rapid growth in the UAE as more companies invest in AI-driven digital transformation and look to partner with Salesforce as a trusted AI partner. The new office, with its collaboration and innovation spaces, will enable Salesforce to showcase its latest AI technology innovations and better serve local customers.

At Dreamforce, Salesforce unveiled Agentforce, a groundbreaking suite of autonomous AI agents that augment employees and handle tasks in service, sales, marketing, and commerce, helping to drive unprecedented efficiency and customer satisfaction. These agents are integrated on Salesforce apps and leverage real-time data from Salesforce’s Data Cloud to deliver accurate, personalized, and automated responses. They can perform complex business processes autonomously, significantly reducing manual workload and enhancing productivity​.

“I am thrilled to introduce Salesforce’s latest transformative AI-driven solutions to the UAE, and the entire team is eager to collaborate with customers and showcase how these best-of-breed solutions unlock new possibilities,” said Srini Tallapragada, President and Chief Engineering Officer, Salesforce. “The Salesforce Platform, with Data Cloud at its center, enables Agentforce and every Salesforce app to deliver seamless, AI-powered experiences across every customer touchpoint.”

“Our new presence in Dubai Internet City further strengthens our dedication to serving customers in the UAE. We are especially excited to bring the AI innovations announced at Dreamforce empowering public and private sector organizations to thrive by leveraging AI and cloud-based solutions to optimize data use, enhance agility and truly prioritize customer centricity,” said Thierry Nicault, Area Vice President and General Manager, Salesforce Middle East. “Additionally, our participation in Gitex later this month further underscores this commitment, as we continue to engage with the region’s most forward-thinking enterprises to drive the next wave of digital transformation.”

“Salesforce’s launch strengthens our nations’ legacy of collaborative advancement and signifies a long-term investment in the digitally enabled knowledge economy, which Dubai Internet City has nurtured for more than two decades. Its expansion in our district is a profoundly positive move that will help unlock the UAE’s and Dubai’s vision for inclusive, sustainable progress and talent development, in line with the goals of Dubai Economic Agenda D33,” said Ammar Al Malik, Executive Vice President of Commercial at TECOM Group, and Managing Director of Dubai Internet City. “Technological collaboration is enriching the shared vision for collective prosperity that has underpinned the UAE-US economic corridor for more than 50 years. We are delighted to welcome Salesforce to our ecosystem, the region’s leading technology hub.”

Genetec will showcase the latest version of its flagship unified security platform Security Center, as well as a range of cloud-ready solutions at Intersec Saudi Arabia 2024.

Taking place from 1- 3 October 2024 at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, the sixth edition of the country’s premier security trade fair will see Genetec at the forefront of discussions on how advanced physical security systems and cutting-edge analytics are shaping the Kingdom’s smart city ambitions.

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with Genetec experts and explore how unified physical security solutions are unlocking new capabilities for businesses and government entities across the region.

Exhibiting at Hall 1, Stand E-12, Genetec will also provide insights into the latest advancements in hybrid cloud-based security. According to key findings from the 2024 State of Physical Security report, most organizations prefer a hybrid approach, combining both on-premises and cloud-based solutions. Close to 60% percent of end-user respondents revealed that their organizations aim for a security deployment strategy that combines both, with 12% of regional end-users stating that their organizations are currently storing video surveillance data both locally and in the cloud.

As Saudi Arabia continues its journey towards Vision 2030, security infrastructure has become a critical enabler in modernizing cities like Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah, and Madinah through smart city projects. Advanced physical security solutions play a pivotal role in supporting and safeguarding critical infrastructure, enhancing public safety, and enabling seamless urban development as the Kingdom moves toward attaining its goals.

“In a rapidly evolving security landscape, it is essential for physical security professionals in Saudi Arabia to remain agile, embracing new technologies that not only protect people and infrastructure but also deliver valuable operational insights that enable smarter decision-making,” said Firas Jadalla, Regional Director – Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META), Genetec Inc. “We are excited to return to Intersec Saudi Arabia and showcase how our cutting-edge solutions support the Kingdom’s ambitious smart city initiatives and Vision 2030 goals.”

Intersec Saudi Arabia 2024 will provide an ideal platform for Genetec to demonstrate its commitment to the Kingdom, following a series of strategic investments including the expansion of its Riyadh office and increased collaboration with local partners.  

NETSCOUT SYSTEMS recently released findings from its 1H2024 DDoS Threat Intelligence Report, citing a dramatic 43% increase in the number of application-layer attacks and a 30% increase in volumetric attacks, especially in Europe and the Middle East. Attack duration varied with 70% lasting less than 15 minutes. The escalation of attacks involves a range of threat actors, including hacktivists targeting critical infrastructure in the banking and financial services, government, and utilities sectors. These attacks pose significant threats by disrupting vital civilian services in countries that oppose hacktivists’ ideologies. Key industries, already facing frequent and intense multi-vector attacks, experienced a 55% increase over the past four years.

“Hacktivist activities continue to plague global organizations with more sophisticated and coordinated DDoS attacks against multiple targets simultaneously,” stated Richard Hummel, director, threat intelligence, NETSCOUT. “As adversaries use more resilient, take-down-resistant networks, detection and mitigation are more challenging. This report gives network operations teams insights to fine-tune their strategies to stay ahead of these evolving threats.”

Attack Sophistication Strains Networks Worldwide

DDoS attacks continue to evolve, using innovative technologies and approaches to disrupt networks. During the 1H2024, NETSCOUT observed several significant trends, including:

• NoName057(16), a pro-Russia hacktivist group, increased its focus on application-layer attacks, particularly HTTP/S GET and POST floods, leading to a 43% rise compared to 1H2023.
• Bot-infected devices increased by 50% with the emergence of the Zergeca botnet — and the continued evolution of the DDoSia botnet used by NoName057(16) — which uses advanced technologies like DNS over HTTPS (DoH) for command-and-control (C2).
• Distributed botnet C2 infrastructure leveraging bots as control nodes enabling more decentralized and resilient DDoS attack coordination.

These attacks have triggered widespread disruptions, affecting industries on a global scale. Service slowdowns or outages can cripple revenue streams, delay critical operations, hinder productivity, and significantly elevate organizational risks.

Attackers Targeting New Networks

NETSCOUT also found that the emergence of new networks and autonomous system numbers (ASNs) play a pivotal role in increased DDoS activity. Over 75% of newly established networks are involved with DDoS activities, both as targets or abused participants in furthering attacks on others, within the first 42 days of coming online, as adversaries launch attacks using resilient nuisance networks and bulletproof hosting providers. Organizations need to plan for DDoS protection when splitting off a portion of a network to a new ASN rather than assume automatic protections from upstream service providers.

NETSCOUT’s global internet visibility is backed by decades of experience working with the world’s largest service providers and enterprises. It collects, analyzes, prioritizes, and disseminates data on DDoS attacks from 216 countries and territories, 470 vertical industries, and over 14,000 ASNs. Powered by its ATLAS platform, the company gains insights from more than 500 terabits per second (Tbps) of internet peering network traffic.