Al-Falak and Testhouse Become Partners

Al-Falak Electronic Equipment & Supplies has signed a partnership agreement with the London-based supplier of IT risk mitigation services, Testhouse Limited, to jointly tap business opportunities in the Middle East markets.

“The coming together of two leading players in the IT industry promises a host of benefits to the customers in the Middle East region in the form of high quality IT solutions and services,” said Ahmed Ali Ashadawi, CEO, Al-Falak. “Al-Falak has been known to forge business partnerships with some of the world’s foremost IT solution and service providers, and this new alliance further underlines this approach.”

Peter Shave, Global Alliances Manager of Testhouse added, “The increasing number of assignments we have undertaken in the Middle East confirms that the requirement for local cost-effective IT Risk Mitigation Consultancy is a priority for both banks and corporations. We are therefore delighted to announce that we have now opened our second office in the region in Alkhobar to complement our existing presence in Dubai.”

Suicide Bomber Detection Unit

Sago Systems has unveiled its ST 150 system specifically designed to detect suicide bombs carried on people. The patented imager is radiation-free, portable and produces high-quality imagery revealing the exact location of the weapon and its size. Sago’s ST150 unit “sees” through clothing, providing authorities instant information critical in helping to prevent terrorist attacks. The system images only the objects blocking the body’s natural heat.

The ST150 is a stand-alone passive millimeter-wave imager designed for outdoor perimeter and check-point security. The unit can be camouflaged to provide covert screening at a distance or it can be located at a checkpoint. Security personnel can be situated at a safe distance immediately viewing the images from a command center over a standard wi-fi interface to a laptop computer. Customers can enhance their ST150 units with the option of infrared fusion.

Teen Summit on Internet Safety

In June in observance of the US National Internet Safety Month, high school students and their parents and guardians traveled to Washington, D.C., for a Teen Summit addressing the ways that teens use the Internet. The program explored issues including teens’ use of popular social networking sites, as well as ways to help improve communication between parents and guardians and their children to encourage safer use of the Internet. Co-sponsors of the summit, Cox Communications and the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) began working together in 2004 to help educate families on how to be safer online. Recently Cox, in partnership with NCMEC, conducted research that revealed the risky behavior some teens engage in over the Internet. For instance, 14 percent of teens surveyed said they have met face-to-face with someone they’d first met online, while one-third said they were considering such an encounter. However, the survey also indicated a direct correlation between parents’ involvement in their children’s Internet use and safer surfing among teens.

During and after the Summit, the teens blogged about their experience at Cox’s web log, www.DigitalStraightTalk.com. Now back at home, the teens are charged with helping to educate their classmates, parents/guardians and communities about making smarter choices on the Internet.

Skybox Security and ISS Form Alliance

Skybox Security and Internet Security Solution (ISS) have formed a technology alliance to bring clarity to customers’ network security postures and create more efficient risk management processes. The technology alliance encompasses three distinct components: product integration between the Skybox View suite and the ISS Proventia Network Enterprise Scanner, ISS Proventia Management SiteProtector and ISS Proventia Network Intrusion Prevention System (IPS); sales referrals and joint marketing cooperation.

Over the past two years, IT Security Risk Management (IT SRM) has emerged as the complete process of understanding threats, quantifying risk, prioritizing vulnerabilities, auditing security controls and reducing unnecessary patches through a continuously refreshed security risk profile. According to IDC estimates, the IT SRM market is expected to grow from $328 million in 2005 to $500 million in 2007.

20-Percent Overall Increase in Spam

According to CipherTrust, research findings confirmed a 21-percent increase in the number of new zombie computers — bringing the total number of daily new zombies to almost 300,000 — and a 20-percent increase in overall unwanted e-mail traffic over the past month. Additionally, CipherTrust concluded that of all spam servers — servers used to relay spam and phishing e-mails through zombie PCs — 64 percent are located in Taiwan; 23 percent are located in the United States; and three percent are located in China.

CipherTrust found that spam volumes continue to increase, coinciding with the significant spike in the number of new zombies. This increase also may coincide with the sharp rise in the use of randomized image-based stock spam in which spammers use graphics-based messages to avert traditional anti-spam deployments.

Al-Jeraisy Signs Deal With Russian Firm

Al-Jeraisy Computer and Communication Services signed a deal with Russian IT company Kaspersky Lab yesterday to launch its services in the Kingdom. Chairman of Al-Jeraisy Group Abdulrahman Al-Jeraisy and Second Economic Secretary of the Russian Embassy Pavel P. Demin attended the ceremony.

Abdulrahman Al-Jeraisy said he was happy to see the fruits of Saudi-Russian partnership in economic ventures pay off. He said he was among the first group of Saudi businessmen to visit Russia 35 years ago and witnessed the economic changes that have happened there over the years.

“Many Russian investors would like to invest in the Kingdom in the fields of industry and services,” he said.

He also said the Kingdom was seeking to promote better relations with Russia in all fields, noting the latest visit of King Abdullah to Russia when he was crown prince and the visit of Governor of Riyadh Prince Salman there last month.

Kaspersky Lab is an IT company that provides security and management solutions. It also provides customers with solutions in the area of enterprise, telecommunications, and Internet services.

“The mission of our company is to protect the computer society from malicious software,” said Maxim Shirokov, Business Development Manager, Kaspersky Lab. He said the company’s collaboration with Al-Jeraisy was to strengthen their position in the Middle East.

“Our collaboration with Al Jeraisy is our first major step in expanding our services in the region,” he added.

Asked why the company had not entered the Saudi market earlier, Shirokov said the company was in its early stages and it chose to first approach European, US, and the Japanese market before coming to the Middle East.

The Russian official attending the ceremony on behalf of the Russian Embassy said the signing was a good example that Russia could provide the world with high standard technology in the field of information. He also said it was a sign of improving bilateral economic relations between the Kingdom and Russia.

Al-Jeraisy and Kaspersky Lab claim to have already secured a few significant contracts with clients in enterprise, as well as government and educational sectors as a result of their mutual collaboration. (Raid Qusti & Ali Al-Zahrani)