Ahead of Black Hat MEA in Riyadh, 14-16 November 2023, Cisco is sharing insights
into key cybersecurity trends that emerged throughout Q3 2023 (July -
September). The findings are based on analysis from Cisco
Talos, one of the most trusted threat
intelligence research teams on the globe, and show a notable increase in attacks against web
applications, and a slight decrease in ransomware attacks.
Threats to web applications accounted for 30
percent of the engagements Cisco Talos Incident Response (Talos IR) responded
to in the third quarter of 2023, marking a significant increase compared to Q2,
where web application attacks accounted for only 8% of engagements.
Representing a slight decrease from Q2,
ransomware accounted for only 10% of engagements (down from 17 percent, while Cisco's Talos Incident
Response team also observed the emergence of the BlackByte ransomware group's
new variant for the first time this quarter, alongside the previously
encountered LockBit ransomware.
Telecommunications and education were the
most targeted verticals, each accounting for 20% of the total number of
incident response engagements, closely followed by public administration and
manufacturing.
Under the
theme of “If it's connected, you're protected” Cisco is participating at Black Hat MEA 2023 as a strategic sponsor, showcasing its latest security innovations.
Salman Faqeeh, Managing Director, Cisco Saudi
Arabia, commented: "The cyberthreat landscape is
evolving rapidly, yet by being laser-focused on the latest research and
innovations created to address today’s risks, we can shape the future of
cybersecurity. At Cisco, we believe that a modern security approach requires a
combination of industry partnerships, intelligence sharing and collaborations. Black Hat MEA is
strategically offering the right platform for industry leaders to align and
discuss the way to boost security resilience in Saudi Arabia and beyond.”
This year at Black
Hat MEA, visitors will be able to engage with subject matter experts at Cisco’s
stand and discover demos for the latest range of security innovations, empowering businesses to defend themselves against cyber threats.
Salman added: “Security has
never been more critical for our customers, and we have lately announced our
plans to establish a data center for cloud-delivered security in Saudi Arabia,
to help customers protect their users, infrastructure, and investments against
threat actors.”
Cisco will
demonstrate its latest security technologies, including Secure Connectivity
with SASE, Zero Trust with Duo, Cisco Multicloud Defense, Extended Detection
and Response (XDR), Network Security and Cisco Security Services. Additionally,
Cisco’s experts will share insights on topics including threat intelligence,
recent trends in cyber risks, responding to attacks, and how to enable secure
access for a remote workforce.
As part of
Cisco’s program of events at Black Hat MEA, Jeff Scheaffer, the Vice-President
for Product Management for Security at Cisco, will deliver a keynote speech on
the company’s three-fold security strategy: simplify security, prevent attacks,
and ensure the secure use of large language models.
Cisco will be
present at booth H3. C50 at Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center, on
14-16 November 2023.
