Group-IB, a global threat hunting and adversary-centric cyber intelligence company specialising in investigating and preventing hi-tech cybercrimes, has officially announced the opening of its Middle East and Africa (MEA) Threat Intelligence and Research Centre in Dubai. The grand opening, held at the Habtoor Palace Dubai, was attended by representatives of the local financial organisations, government institutions and the guest of honour, Craig Jones, Cybercrime Director, INTERPOL. Group-IB’s leadership views the opening of its MEA Threat Intelligence and Research Centre as a critical milestone toward achieving the strategic goal of building the first ever decentralised global cybersecurity company with fully operational research and development (R&D) centres in the key financial hubs.
Group-IB’s office would not only operate just as a sales hub but also as a full-scale regional headquarters, offering all core technological competencies and bringing with it the top skills that are found across its global headquarters in Singapore and other offices. The new centre is located at the Dubai Internet City and will accommodate 18 employees from key Group-IB units namely: Hi-tech Crime Investigations, Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) lab, Threat Intelligence, Security Assessment, Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GIB), Threat and Fraud Hunting teams, Digital Risk Protection Department, and other major divisions.
“The threat of cybercrime is global, with regions being impacted differently,” noted Jones. “By understanding first-hand how the threats are evolving and what impact and harm they are causing in the region, I know that together we can mitigate those far-reaching threats and reduce harm more effectively. Encompassing a wide range of expertise, experience and skills, this HQ will play a pivotal role for Group IB’s research into the regional threat landscape and on-the-ground support for their customers and partners. INTERPOL’s Global Cybercrime Programme looks forward to further strengthening our partnership with Group-IB and increasing operational activities against cybercrime in the region in collaboration with this office.”
Dubai is one of the regional strongholds for the co-ordination of cross-border efforts against cybercrime and research into threat actors and their techniques. The brand-new Threat Intelligence and Research Centre enables local community to leverage Group-IB’s in-depth knowledge of criminal schemes and close collaboration with international law enforcement and cyber police forces worldwide.
“Zero tolerance to cybercriminals has brought us to the forefront of the global fight against online crime,” said Ilya Sachkov, Group-IB CEO and Founder. “Dubai is a perfect place to carry on this mission together with local institutions and international law enforcement. As part of our contribution to building a vibrant cybersecurity ecosystem in the UAE, we plan to develop world-class research, monitoring, incident detection and response capabilities here in Dubai and adapt them to the needs of the market.”
Group-IB’s newly inaugurated Threat Intelligence and Research Centre will serve the company’s existing customer base, which includes over 30 clients in the MEA region within the banking, government, insurance and energy sectors. More local businesses will now be able to benefit from Group-IB’s distinctive organisational structure and technology ecosystem that includes equally strong product and service arms.
To that end, Group-IB brings to the region a product and service portfolio that includes a first-ever all in one solution Threat Hunting Framework for the protection of both IT and OT segments.
Ashraf Koheil, an industry veteran, is the most recent addition to the Group-IB team in the UAE. Koheil brings over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience in IT&ICT security. He will lead Group-IB’s regional business development team.
“The UAE is one of the most progressive and demanding markets striving for continuous improvement in all aspects including government, services, banking with cybersecurity at the forefront,” commented Koheil. “This makes Group-IB a perfect fit as our mission is all about eliminating all facets of cybercrime, be it financially motivated, nation state activity, or social engineering scams. We expect a lot of our growth to come from the true partner friendly ecosystem that we’ve been creating in the region. We are also planning joint research & development with key government institutions in the financial sector and law enforcement to bring more localised solutions and develop local expertise.”
Koheil noted that Group-IB’s investment plan in the MEA region also includes a stronghold in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where the company has already built its MSSP hub.
