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Cisco Highlights 2024 Cybersecurity Trends Ahead Of Black Hat MEA

The company has revealed a rise in identity-based and ransomware attacks during Q3, plus revealed its own AI-ready security solutions.

Published

2 years ago

November 19, 2024

Nour Nasir

cisco highlights 2024 cybersecurity trends ahead of black hat mea

In the lead-up to Black Hat MEA 2024 in Riyadh (November 26-28), Cisco, a global leader in networking and security, has unveiled the critical cybersecurity trends observed during the third quarter of 2024. The insights, drawn from the research of Cisco Talos (the firm’s renowned threat intelligence team) point to a significant surge in identity-based and ransomware attacks.

Between July and September 2024, identity-focused attacks (most notably those targeting credential theft), surged, representing 25% of Cisco’s incident response cases. These types of intrusions have become increasingly prevalent due to the accessibility of simple-to-use hacking tools.

Meanwhile, ransomware attacks continued to dominate the threat landscape, constituting approximately 40% of cases. The quarter saw the emergence of several new ransomware variants such as RansomHub, DragonForce and RCRU64, in addition to recurring threats like BlackByte and Cerber.

Education, financial services and the manufacturing industry faced the brunt of these attacks, collectively accounting for over 30% of reported breaches. This pattern mirrors trends identified in earlier quarters of 2024, suggesting hackers are consistently and deliberately targeting these industries.

Salman Faqeeh, Managing Director of Cisco Saudi Arabia, stated: “The rise in identity-based attacks and persistent ransomware threats reflect the evolving cyber landscape. At Cisco, our priority is equipping customers with advanced security solutions to bolster their digital resilience.” He added, “Black Hat MEA is an ideal forum to share threat insights and unveil our innovations that mitigate identity-based attacks, prevent breaches, and close exploit gaps”.

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At Black Hat MEA 2024, Cisco will serve as a Strategic Sponsor under the theme “Innovating a New Era of Security,” showcasing its latest advancements in cybersecurity. A particular focus will be on securing AI-powered data centers and distributed environments, ensuring robust protection across all devices and applications.

Splunk, a cybersecurity company which is now part of Cisco, will also exhibit its own cutting-edge solutions, including next-generation Security Operations Centres (SOC) and tools for Operational Technology (OT) environments. Finally, Lothar Renner, Managing Director of Cisco Security, EMEA, is set to deliver a keynote titled “Redefining Security in the Age of AI,” spotlighting Cisco’s forward-looking approach to security in the evolving threat landscape.

Attendees at Black Hat MEA 2024 can visit Cisco at booth H1-T20 at the Riyadh Exhibition & Conference Centre between November 26-28.

Related Topics:Black Hat Cisco Cybersecurity

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Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.