News

Riyadh’s Black Hat MEA Exhibition Will Be The Biggest Yet

The event is now 60% larger and will feature a new Black Hat Campus, Deep Dive Stage, Investor Program, CyberSeed Startup Competition, and more.

Published

1 year ago

October 24, 2023

Nour Nasir

Black Hat MEA

Black Hat Middle East and Africa (MEA), is the cybersecurity industry’s fastest-growing cybersecurity expo, and will soon open its doors in a three-day event at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Convention Center, November 14-16.

Black Hat MEA 2023 is the world’s largest cyber security event, with 40,000 attendees. The expo will feature 300 exhibitors and 100 speakers, all connected by the “Infosec on the Edge” theme. The conference has attracted many industry heavy-hitters, including Cisco, Huawei, Ali Baba Cloud, Palo Alto, Kaspersky, and Zscaler, whose Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer Sam Curry explained the importance of the event:

“The rapid pace of innovation among attackers demands innovation and application of new approaches to cybersecurity like ZeroTrust and applied Artificial Intelligence. That starts with a cultural nexus like Black Hat MEA in Riyadh, where we bring together the global cyber community and open the doors to the next generation because, in cyber, diversity and inclusion aren’t just the right thing to do; they are a competitive advantage and the key to the future of the digital world”.

black hat middle east and africa 2023

Highlights for 2023 include a Black Hat Campus and Deep Dive Stage, where cyber experts explore prevailing cybersecurity threats, and an Investor Program, where 80 potential backers will hunt for promising startups to fund.

Meanwhile, developers will showcase open-source tools and products in a section of the center called The Arsenal. Finally, an ethical hacking Capture The Flag tournament will take place in the Activities Zone, with 1,000 participants in 250 teams using their forensic, crypto, and reverse engineering skills to grab a portion of the USD 187,000 prize fund.

Also Read: The Largest Data Breaches In The Middle East

As cyberattacks become increasingly sophisticated, public and private companies in the MEA region and beyond are coming together to search for meaningful technologies and solutions to combat them. Black Hat MEA will act as a key conduit and meeting place for world-renowned experts to share ideas and develop defensive measures.

Exhibitor and attendee registrations for the Black Hat MEA event are open now at BlackHatMEA.com.

News

UAE Prepares To Launch Two Satellites: Thuraya-2 And MBZ-SAT

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum chaired the first meeting of the Supreme Space Council yesterday.

Published

5 days ago

December 17, 2024

Nour Nasir

uae prepares to launch two satellites thuraya-2 and mbz-sat

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, chaired the first meeting of the Supreme Space Council in Dubai on December 16, 2024. The session highlighted the UAE’s ambitious space plans and took stock of the sector’s economic progress.

The council emphasized the growing role of private companies in advancing space technologies, noting that their contributions are now equal to that of the public sector. Members also praised initiatives like the Space Economic Zones Programme, which are designed to fuel innovation and investment in the space industry.

خلال ترؤسنا الاجتماع الأول للمجلس الأعلى للفضاء، بحثنا الاستثمارات الوطنية والمشاريع المقبلة في قطاع الفضاء والذي يشهد تطوراً مستمراً… وجددنا التزامنا بدعم ومواصلة تنفيذ برامج طموحة لاستكشاف الفضاء الخارجي حيث وصل حجم الاستثمارات في هذا القطاع إلى 40 مليار درهم خلال السنوات… pic.twitter.com/etJ33OnuSu

— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) December 16, 2024

Discussing the UAE’s space journey, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum remarked, “The national space sector continues to grow and advance, and we take immense pride in the remarkable achievements we have accomplished over the years”.

Sheikh Hamdan also received updates on two upcoming satellite projects: Thuraya-2 and MBZ-SAT. Thuraya-2, developed by Space42, is slated for launch this December. Meanwhile, the MBZ-SAT, created by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), will soon follow. MBRSC, a major driver of the UAE National Space Programme, continues to lead the nation’s space-related developments.

Space42 took the opportunity to showcase its advancements, including ongoing collaborations between public and private entities. The company also outlined strategies to promote innovation, boost revenue streams, and create new opportunities for growth in the sector.

Also Read: IBM Opens New Doha Office To Support Qatar’s Digital Growth

The UAE’s current projects build on a growing legacy of space exploration. Back in 2020, the nation made headlines with its Mars mission, successfully sending a probe into the planet’s orbit in 2021. This mission, which is now in its second phase as of June 2024, has been collecting critical data to develop a comprehensive diurnal image of Mars.

The UAE also ventured into lunar exploration with an unmanned mission aimed at studying untouched regions of the Moon’s surface. While the probe ultimately crashed during its landing attempt after communication was lost seconds before touchdown, the effort represented a significant step in the country’s exploration ambitions.