Tech News

RACE Model: Building Cyber Resiliency and Mitigating Network Risks by Going Back to Basics

Published

1 year ago

February 11, 2025

By H.E. Dr. Mohamad Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity, UAE Government, and Dr. Aloysius Cheang, Chief Security Officer, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia

Jim Rohn once famously said, “Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.” Resilience is key to surviving in today’s world full of emerging technologies and hot-button buzzwords. It is a race towards all that is good, towards cyber survivability, a race of the utmost urgency and importance. As such, cybersecurity and, in particular, cyber resiliency is more than just having an incident response plan or a computer security policy. It is about ensuring that your entire security posture can withstand a wide range of threats, which includes hybrid, blended attack vectors that can transcend time and space through the interplay of physical, cyber, and virtual planes that take apart traditional brick-and-mortar aspects of any organizations and cross-borders jurisdiction.

Hence, we need to design a more holistic security framework by integrating cyber and physical security measures, hardening critical systems, and creating cross-functional teams and multi-disciplinary teams that will involve team members not only from our own organization but also from other stakeholders in our ecosystem that can address risks from multiple angles. Indeed, designing an auto-adaptable, self-evolving security framework that will evolve alongside the volatile and rapidly evolving threat landscape will be crucial to maintaining cyber resiliency and, therefore, safeguarding the business in the new intelligent era. But, without a doubt, there’s an urgent need to prioritize building cyber resiliency above all other matters.

Leonardo Da Vinci said, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough. We must apply. Being willing is not enough. We must do.” To build resilience, having a lofty mission statement with an ambitious plan is definitely not enough; the efforts must be grounded in the practicality of getting our hands dirty and being able to paddle in and out of the mudflats regardless of how much the mud will engulf you.

Figure 1 shows our proposed RACE model as a simple four-part process to look at how organizations can build cyber-resiliency with a feasible and actionable plan to achieve our objective of securing any organization by going back to basics. By going back to basics and doing them well, it will at least address 90% of the problems that most organizations are facing today. The solution needs not to be complex nor flamboyant; it just needs to be practical, and if one can cut through the levels of complexity and zero in on the crux of the problem and put in place basic security controls that are effective and efficient, it will lay the groundwork for success.

Borrowing the analogy of racing, would you be driving a race car that has a manual gearbox for full control and is tuned for the race track, or would you just take any car straight from the garage untuned for the conditions of the race track and relying on the car’s automatic gearbox to take care of the driving? Thus, it is clear that returning to basics and tuning your security measures for accuracy and precision is a much better bet than pouring huge investments into advanced systems and mechanics, building layers and layers of security indiscriminately.

Being accurate and precise will enable us to build quantifiability into our cybersecurity program. Accuracy and precision are both ways to measure results. Accuracy measures how close results are to the true or known value, while precision, on the other hand, measures how close results are to one another or, in other words, how well our defenses are designed and executed. This is our motivation behind the development of the RACE model. The subsequent paragraph will describe each key component of the model in greater detail.

Figure 1: The RACE model, a simple 4-part plan for building cyber resilience

Firstly, resiliency in modern cybersecurity speaks to the capability to provide value for the customer. In simplistic terms, it is to provide robustness and survivability of the organization’s cyber footprint in the face of adversaries and threats, meet compliance needs for business governance while excelling and providing a competitive advantage, using whatever security capabilities are based on established best practices, processes, and frameworks that achieve repeatable results. Figure 2 below summarizes what it takes to build cyber resilience and the value it brings to the table, taking into consideration the interplay between being compliance and building capabilities to support the resiliency of the entire information infrastructure that supports the business of an organization.

Figure 2: Building trust, enhancing cyber resilience, and mitigating risks in action

Next, awareness refers not only to imbuing a culture of cybersecurity among all the staff in an organization to the extent that basic cyber hygiene can be practiced but also to targeting the team focusing on delivery and maintaining ICT and security services within the organization so that they pay attention to cementing their core competencies and fundamentals. Hereby, it is recommended that harnessing risks and hedging your bet against the barrage of threats based on a risk-based approach is the best way, given that resources on hand are always scarce, limited, and, to some extent, expensive. Given that is the case, we have identified five basic core fundamentals that every cybersecurity team in any organization needs to build up on their basics (and manage them well) based on common cybersecurity issues faced, as depicted in Figure 3. While it may seem simple, the devil is always in the details to ensure a job is done well.

Figure 3: Managing five common risks (end-to-end) comprehensively as a basis for building cyber resilience

One man, organization, or country cannot resolve cybersecurity issues alone. It takes an entire village to address cybersecurity issues as they affect everyone if anything goes awry. Cybersecurity is a team sport, and all the stakeholders within the ecosystem must contribute towards addressing the elephant in the room, as shown in Figure 4. We always find strength in numbers because “united we stand, divided we fall.” We see the Blackhat community is doing that exactly, and that is why they are always a step ahead of the good guys every time, thereby summarizing the urgency to Collaborate as a key differentiating measure.

Figure 4: Cybersecurity is a team sport. So, who is on the team?

Last but not least, we need to bring everything together to build or Engineer the process, putting the cogwheels into their rightful places to drive the engine forward. We have identified five key fundamental security measures that, if done diligently, will be key to building an end-to-end resilient system and reducing network risks.

As shown in Figure 3, the five key fundamental security measures are 1) software integrity protection, 2) security configuration, 3) digital certification management, 4) vulnerability remediation, and 5) product lifecycle management. Take “Security configuration” as an example. To engineer and address the risk brought about by system misconfiguration, we need to break it down into its elements or identify its Work Breakdown Structure or WBS, which is a key step for planning project tasks and allocating resources.

Figure 5: Security Configuration Example: Optimize the Security Configuration Baseline based on Service Scenarios

Figure 5 summarizes typical work done to break down “security configuration” into its WBS. While this figure does not depict the complete picture, it does show a deep dive into each piece of work. One should keep working on breaking it down until the project scope and all the tasks required to complete the project can be visualized in one snapshot.

In conclusion, we have distilled the entire RACE model in detail in this paper. Achieving RACE is key to building resiliency for any organization. The important thing to note is to keep it simple and go back to basics. Build an auto-evolving, adaptable security framework based on the strategy that is designed to shape-shift alongside emerging blended, hybrid threats by leveraging on actionable intelligence, building resilience, and fostering collaboration so that individuals, organizations, and nations. Establishing public-private partnerships (PPP) with governmental entities and authorities enables public sector players, such as the UAE Cyber Security Council, to act as the fulcrum for coordinating and pooling resources and intelligence. This will enable our modern society to defend against today’s threat and safeguard one’s digital journey by addressing the challenges of tomorrow’s Age of Intelligence.

Tech News

HISENSE EXPANDS PRESENCE IN THE UAE WITH NEW BRAND SHOWROOM AND CARE HUB OPENINGS

Published

16 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Integrator Web-Admin

Hisense, a leading brand in global consumer electronics and home appliances, continues to strengthen its footprint in the UAE market with the opening of two new strategic locations in Dubai: the new Hisense – Avatar Trading brand showroom in Bur Dubai and the new Hisense Care Hub and showroom near Dubai Airport. These openings mark a significant milestone in Hisense’s regional expansion strategy, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to delivering premium technology experiences and enhanced customer support across the UAE.

The newly launched Hisense and Avatar Trading brand showroom in Bur Dubai offers consumers a dedicated destination to experience the latest innovations from Hisense across home entertainment and home appliances. The showroom showcases Hisense’s newest premium technologies, including large-screen MiniLED TVs powered by advanced AI capabilities, flagship PureView and PureFlat refrigerators, premium washing machines, dishwashers, small kitchen appliances, and a wide range of smart and eco-friendly air conditioning solutions.

The showroom also highlights the Hisense smart ecosystem through the ConnectLife platform, enabling consumers to experience how connected living and AI-powered technologies can seamlessly integrate across multiple product categories.

Ashish Kapur, Managing Director of Avatar Trading, said: “We are proud to strengthen our partnership with Hisense through the opening of this new premium showroom in Bur Dubai. This space is designed to provide customers with a hands-on experience of Hisense’s latest innovations and technologies, while supporting the growing demand for premium consumer electronics and home appliances in the UAE market.”

In parallel, Hisense also announced the opening of its new Care Hub and showroom near Dubai Airport, further reinforcing the company’s investment in after-sales excellence and customer experience in the UAE. The dedicated facility is designed to enhance after-sales services and provide customers with a seamless support experience, while also offering a modern showroom environment where visitors can explore and experience the latest Hisense technologies and products firsthand.

During the launch, Jason Ou, President, Hisense Middle East, Africa, and India, emphasized the strategic importance of the UAE market to the company’s regional growth plans. “The UAE remains one of our key strategic markets in the region, and these openings reflect our continued commitment to strengthening our presence and accessibility across the country. Through our strong partnership with Avatar Trading and the launch of our new Care Hub and showroom, we aim to deliver a more premium, connected, and customer-focused experience for consumers in the UAE,” he said.

He added: “These investments reinforce our confidence in the long-term potential of the UAE market and support our vision of expanding both our product accessibility and after-sales capabilities, while continuing to elevate the consumer experience across the region.”

The openings also reflect Hisense’s broader vision of driving innovation and smart living experiences in the region, while continuing to strengthen its premium positioning and long-term investment in the UAE market.

Tech News

EXPERIENCE THE FUTURE OF CLOUD ANYWHERE AT CLOUDERA EVOLVE26 DUBAI

Published

17 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Integrator Web-Admin

Cloudera, the only company bringing AI to data anywhere, today announced it will host its annual global data and AI conference, EVOLVE26, in Dubai on 05 November 2026.

With a focus on attracting global talent, investing in innovation, and building a strong digital economy, the UAE has positioned itself at the forefront of artificial intelligence adoption through its National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031. The country aims to become a global hub for AI by integrating advanced technologies across key sectors and strengthening government performance. According to PwC, AI is expected to contribute 13.6% of the UAE’s GDP, compared to 12.4 % in Saudi Arabia and 8.2% in the rest of the GCC.

Supporting this regional vision, Cloudera’s EVOLVE26 conference will bring together industry visionaries, customers, and partners to explore how enterprises can unlock the full value of AI by accessing data anywhere, and with a consistent cloud experience that enables organizations to run AI anywhere across public clouds, on-prem data centers, and the edge.

It will focus on reducing risk, strengthening security and governance, controlling costs, and unlocking data to drive measurable business outcomes for organizations, especially those in regulated industries operating in hybrid environments.

Through visionary keynotes, industry-focused sessions, interactive hands-on labs, and exclusive ‘Meet the Experts’ meetings, attendees will gain actionable insights into leveraging AI for transformative impact. The conference will also feature breakout sessions and technical talks centered on three core themes:

Operationalizing AI Across Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Environments: Discover proven strategies from pioneers successfully moving Agentic AI from pilot to production. Hear global thought leaders unpack the Era of Convergence and address real-world challenges, such as data gravity and sovereignty, equipping organizations with a clear roadmap for smarter decision-making across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Building Enterprise Expertise and Ecosystem Advantage: Engage with a global community of data architects, partners, and AI experts through curated networking opportunities and collaborative, hands-on experiences. Advance your career through expert-led training, certifications, and candid customer case studies highlighting what worked, what didn’t, and how technology was transformed into a competitive advantage.
Designing High-Performance Data Strategies for Measurable Impact: Meet one-on-one with executives and technical specialists to shape a tailored, high-performance data strategy. Leave with fresh perspectives, practical next steps, and lasting relationships that empower you to scale innovation and deliver measurable business results.

There will also be an expo zone showcasing some of the industry’s most ground-breaking solutions for scalable and secure data management, enabling business-critical AI applications and real-time analytics at scale.

Cloudera’s Data Impact Awards will also be announced at EVOLVE26. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding data-driven projects that have made a significant business impact within their organizations, across industries, and globally.

Learn more about EVOLVE26 events. The schedule is as follows:

Dubai: November 05
Singapore: August 20
Sao Paulo: September 10
New York: October 14

“AI is only as powerful as the data strategy behind it,” said Charles Sansbury, CEO of Cloudera. “At this year’s EVOLVE26, we’re focused on helping enterprises move from experimentation to real results, unlocking the value of AI, no matter where the data lives, without compromise. By bringing together customers, partners, and industry leaders, we’re creating a space to share why a ‘data anywhere approach’ is vital for accelerating measurable business impact.”

Tech News

SYNOLOGY UNDERSCORES NEED FOR CYBER RESILIENCE AND AI-READY INFRASTRUCTURE IN MIDDLE EAST

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Integrator Web-Admin

Synology, a global technology company that enables businesses to manage, secure, and protect their data, highlighted the accelerating shift from traditional backup methods to integrated, resilience‑driven strategies among Middle Eastern enterprises during a successful online media briefing it recently hosted.

The company emphasized the urgent need for businesses to modernize their data protection strategies as rising cyber risks, accelerating AI adoption, and evolving data sovereignty requirements continue to redefine the region’s digital landscape. Recent reports indicate that cyberattacks across the GCC have surged by nearly 40 percent year on year, with the UAE alone experiencing more than 200,000 attempted intrusions per day. This points to the critical need for more robust, adaptive, and forward-looking data protection strategies.

During the session, Synology underscored a significant shift among regional enterprises towards comprehensive approaches for continuous data protection, enhanced recovery readiness, and secure infrastructure designed to support AI-driven innovation. Mike Chen, Senior Sales Manager at Synology, emphasized that modern organizations require integrated solutions that not only safeguard critical data but also enable operational agility and scalable growth in an increasingly digital economy.

“Data security today is no longer just about backups—it is about building continuous resilience, ensuring rapid recovery, and maintaining full control over critical assets,” said Mike Chen, Senior Sales Manager at Synology. “As AI adoption accelerates, organizations need secure, scalable infrastructure that not only protects against evolving threats but also enables them to innovate with confidence.”

Synology highlighted two priority areas for enterprises in the UAE and wider region. The first is unlocking value from fragmented and unstructured data through integrated storage, hybrid cloud architectures, and AI-driven capabilities such as semantic search and intelligent workflows. The second is strengthening digital sovereignty by enabling organizations to retain full control over their data while meeting evolving regulatory and operational requirements.

The company also pointed to real-world applications of its solutions, citing the Museum of the Future as a case in point. The landmark institution has leveraged Synology’s technologies to support scalable storage, real-time collaboration, and reliable media backup in a high-demand, data-intensive environment.

With more than 14 million installations across over 120 markets, Synology continues to support organizations in building secure, resilient, and AI-ready data ecosystems as digital transformation accelerates across the Middle East.