Tech News
DDoS Attacks Surge in the Middle East, Critical Infrastructure at Risk
By Emad Fahmy, Director of Systems Engineering, NETSCOUT
The recent NETSCOUT 1H2024 Threat Intelligence Report reveals alarming trends in Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks: a dramatic 43% rise in application-layer attacks and a 30% increase in volumetric attacks globally. Across Europe and the Middle East and Africa, attacks are up 25% from last year and Saudi Arabia is listed as one of the top five countries in EMEA targeted by hackers. This surge particularly impacts critical sectors such as banking, government, and utilities, posing significant threats to vital services that underpin the stability of society.
In the Middle East, while attacks are brief in duration – in Saudi Arabia, for example, the average attack lasts for just over 12 minutes and attacks in the UAE last an average of 18.53 minutes – these short-lived disruptions can have lasting consequences, crippling essential services and causing widespread economic impacts. The frequency and intensity of these assaults suggest a growing sophistication among attackers, who are employing increasingly coordinated multi-vector strategies.
The Hacktivist Landscape and their Evolving Tactics
Among the notable trends highlighted in the report is the rise of hacktivist groups, particularly NoName057(16), which has shifted its focus toward more sophisticated application-layer attacks. The group has notably utilised HTTP/S GET and POST floods to amplify its impact, underscoring a shift towards more targeted strategies that challenge traditional defences.
The emergence of new botnets, such as Zergeca, alongside the continued evolution of existing networks like DDoSia, illustrates the growing complexity of the threat landscape. These botnets employ advanced technologies, including DNS over HTTPS (DoH), complicating detection and mitigation efforts. This evolution of tactics reflects a wider trend where attackers leverage decentralised infrastructures to launch more resilient and robust assaults on critical networks.
Implications for Network Security
The findings indicate that over 75% of newly established networks are implicated in DDoS activities within a mere 42 days of coming online. This alarming statistic emphasises the need for proactive security measures as organisations expand their digital infrastructure. Companies must rethink their approach to DDoS protection, recognising that new networks do not automatically come equipped with the necessary defences.
As attackers exploit vulnerable networks and utilise “bulletproof” hosting providers, organisations must adopt comprehensive strategies that include advanced detection and rapid response capabilities. Failure to adapt could leave vital sectors exposed to damaging disruptions.
The implications of these findings are clear: as threat actors become increasingly adept at exploiting weaknesses in network architecture, the necessity for enhanced cybersecurity measures becomes paramount. In a global landscape where economies are heavily reliant on digital infrastructures, the cost of complacency could be catastrophic.
The 1H2024 Threat Intelligence Report serves as a vital resource for network operations teams, offering insights that can inform and refine their security strategies. It is imperative that organisations worldwide take heed of these trends and act decisively to bolster their defences against the evolving landscape of DDoS threats.
Tech News
OPTRO LAUNCHES AI-POWERED GRC CAPABILITIES FOR THE MODERN ENTERPRISE WITH AI GOVERNANCE, CYBER RISK, AND CONTINUOUS CONTROL MONITORING

Optro, the leading AI-powered GRC platform empowering enterprises to transform risk into opportunity, has announced several product capabilities to boost the effectiveness of customers’ risk management programs and enable them to innovate with AI confidently and responsibly. These capabilities follow shortly after the company changed its name to reflect what its AI-powered GRC platform enables: a single, coherent view across infosec, compliance, risk, and audit.
“Cyber risk now moves at machine speed, and legacy GRC tools can no longer keep up,” said Happy Wang, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Optro. “By leveraging AI to predict cyber risk, surface real-time insights, and accelerate mitigation, we help organizations shift from reactive reporting to proactive risk defense—building a true system of action that is ready for the AI era.”
Optro’s latest Risk Intelligence report found that AI governance program maturity is advancing, but unevenly. AI adoption continues to outpace AI governance, with 85 percent of organizations reporting they have integrated AI into their core operations or deployed it across multiple functions, while only a quarter report comprehensive visibility into employee AI use. At the same time, only 34 percent of organizations report their AI governance program is strategic and continuously improving. As these challenges become increasingly prevalent across industries, Optro has released the following product capabilities to help customers turn clarity into action:
- Unified AI Governance: Serves as the essential orchestration layer for AI governance. By bridging the gap between policies & frameworks, your AI tech stack, and human oversight, this capability enables a unified, automated approach. We ensure that AI risks are visible, compliance is streamlined, and governance policies are enforceable across your entire organization.
- Cyber Risk: Vulnerability Risk Monitoring: Provides a clear narrative of how a specific vulnerability affects an organization’s security posture and bottom line. This AI-powered functionality enables customers to understand the true business impact of a vulnerability. Included with IT and Cyber Risk Management (formerly IT Risk Management), it’s a paradigm shift in how organizations defend their digital perimeter.
- Continuous Control Monitoring: With AI-driven recommendations for the controls best suited for automation, and a library of ready-to-use monitor templates, teams can bypass manual setup to start monitoring controls immediately. This capability helps customers reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and gain more timely visibility into control performance. By automating evidence collection and surfacing potential issues earlier, teams can address gaps more efficiently and move toward a more continuous approach to assurance.
Tech News
MAGNA AI AND CORVIT NETWORKS FORGE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TO ACCELERATE PAKISTAN’S NATIONAL AI DEVELOPMENT

Magna AI, Inc., the global integrated‑value‑chain sovereign AI transformation leader established through a partnership between Trend Micro and Wistron Digital Technology Holding Company (WDH) in strategic collaboration with NVIDIA, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Corvit Networks (Pvt.) Ltd., a leading technology training and digital services organization in Pakistan. The agreement establishes a strategic collaboration framework to advance sovereign AI infrastructure, platforms, and workforce capabilities aimed at accelerating Pakistan’s national AI transformation.
The partnership combines Magna’s expertise in AI engineering, infrastructure, and governance, with Corvit’s extensive nationwide reach across Pakistan’s government, enterprise, and academic ecosystems. Together, the organizations aim to support the development of scalable and secure AI capabilities designed to enable organizations across Pakistan to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) at national and enterprise scale.

This strategic initiative comes at a time when artificial intelligence is emerging as a critical driver of economic growth. According to a PwC report cited by the Saudi Data and AI Authority, AI could contribute up to 5.6% of GDP in economies comparable to Pakistan, potentially generating an AI-driven economic impact of $10–20 billion within Pakistan’s projected $60 billion digital economy by 2030. Globally, annual investment in AI-dedicated infrastructure is projected to reach $400 billion by 2030, underscoring the growing strategic importance of national AI infrastructure for economic competitiveness.
The collaboration will focus on developing the foundational building blocks required to support Pakistan’s AI ecosystem. This includes the joint development of sovereign AI data centers and AI factories designed to support government, public-sector, and enterprise workloads while meeting national data residency and regulatory requirements. Building on this foundation, the partnership will support the creation of next-generation AI applications tailored to priority sectors, including predictive intelligence, agentic AI systems, digital twins, and advanced operational analytics. Security and governance will remain central to the initiative, with enterprise-grade capabilities such as model protection, threat analytics, and AI-driven security operations aligned with national cybersecurity frameworks. Both organizations will also provide end-to-end AI transformation services to help institutions transition from readiness assessments to full-scale AI deployment, while investing in workforce development through AI academies, professional certification programs, and executive education initiatives designed to prepare Pakistan’s talent ecosystem for the AI economy.
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming foundational to economic competitiveness and national innovation” said, Dr. Moataz BinAli, CEO, Magna AI. Pakistan stands at a pivotal moment in its digital transformation journey. Through this partnership with Corvit Networks, Magna aims to support the development of sovereign AI infrastructure, platforms, and talent capabilities that can help organizations across the country unlock the full potential of AI.”
“Corvit Networks has spent decades building trusted relationships across Pakistan’s technology ecosystem,” said Kashif Ul Haq, CEO, Corvit Networks (Pvt.) Ltd. “Combining our nationwide reach in enterprise enablement and technology education with Magna AI’s global expertise in AI infrastructure and transformation, we are committed to helping strengthen Pakistan’s digital capabilities and prepare the next generation of AI-ready talent.”
Tech News
LIFERAY INTRODUCES HEADLESS CMS TO MODERNIZE DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT


Liferay, a leading provider of Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs), today announced the general availability of Liferay CMS, a fully headless content management system (CMS) designed to help marketing, development, and IT teams create, manage, and deliver digital content across multiple channels from a centralized repository.
Built on the core architecture of Liferay DXP, Liferay CMS combines the agility of a decoupled system with the stability and governance required by enterprise organizations. Whether powering a native mobile app, a customer portal, or a complex web ecosystem, Liferay CMS ensures content remains consistent, reusable, and easily distributable.
“Today’s organizations need agility without losing control of their content operations,” said Julia Molano, Director of Product Management at Liferay. “Liferay CMS builds on Liferay’s decades of DXP leadership to deliver a fully headless offering. It allows developers to work with stable, well-documented APIs while empowering marketers and content creators to manage global content without heavy reliance on IT.”
Liferay CMS introduces Spaces, the platform’s primary organizational units for headless content management, enabling teams to structure asset repositories, manage access, and collaborate more efficiently across departments or projects. Each Space provides a dedicated environment for content creation and management, including support for advanced localization with AI-powered translation tools, making it easier for global organizations to manage multi-language content.
“Across the Middle East, enterprises are moving away from fragmented content systems to unified, centralized architectures that can support scale and speed simultaneously. Headless CMS is becoming a critical enabler in this shift, allowing enterprises to deliver consistent digital experiences across channels while maintaining control and governance. With Liferay’s intuitive CMS, teams can manage content centrally, reduce operational complexity, and accelerate time-to-market and deeper customer engagement’’, noted Moussalam Dalati, General Manager of Liferay Middle East, Africa, and France.
Key features of Liferay CMS include:
- Global Content Visibility: A single view to search, review, and reuse content across regions and brands, eliminating disconnected repositories.
- Headless Architecture: Combines the flexibility of headless deployments with the governance and control of a centralized system.
- Embedded Analytics: Performance metrics like views and downloads are displayed directly within Liferay CMS, allowing teams to validate asset performance at the point of work.
- AI-Assisted Workflows: Accelerates translation, localization, and content review.
- Multi-Site Management: Ideal for franchises or organizations with multiple digital properties, allowing for centralized control while granting team-specific access.
- Unified Collaboration: Dedicated ‘Shared with Me’ areas and advanced access controls ensure all stakeholders work from a single source of truth.
The launch of Liferay CMS reflects a modular platform approach designed for organizations that prioritize an API-first strategy. Because it is built on the same core architecture as Liferay DXP, organizations can start with a streamlined headless CMS today and seamlessly activate integrated capabilities like advanced commerce, page building, or AI-driven personalization as their digital requirements expand.
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