Cisco announced the findings of its AI Readiness Index in Saudi Arabia. The Index, which surveyed over 8,000 companies across 30 countries, was developed in response to the accelerated adoption of AI. The survey shows that 93% of organizations in KSA have an AI strategy in place or under development, while only 8% consider themselves fully prepared to deploy and leverage AI.Improving the efficiency of and increasing productivity was ranked among the top outcomes that companies are looking to drive through adoption of AI, with 47% of respondents in KSA placing it on top of gains they expect from AI. Opening new revenue streams was the lowest on the list of expectations, as ranked by 30% of respondents.On talent development, 31% of KSA respondents ranked comprehension and proficiency of AI tools and technologies as the primary skill gap. The good news is that organizations are taking steps to address this gap. Among the organizations surveyed in Kingdom, 82% say they are investing in training employees in this area.On infrastructure readiness, the survey shows that a mere 12% of local organizations in KSA have networks that are fully flexible to handle the complexity of AI workloads. Cybersecurity also needs increased focus, as 70% of respondents fall short of being “fully equipped” to detect and prevent adversarial attacks on AI models.?Commenting on the results of the study, Salman Faqeeh, Managing Director, Cisco Saudi Arabia said: “Saudi Arabia has made significant strides in recent years to establish itself as a leading player in the field of AI. The Kingdom recognizes the transformative potential of AI and has placed it at the center of its Vision 2030”. He concluded: “At Cisco, we believe in the critical role of AI to revolutionize industries and drive innovation, and it has been an important element across our portfolio for over a decade. As the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) is working to implement the National Strategy for Data and AI, the insights from the index can help inform the prioritization across important pillars including strategy, infrastructure, data, governance, talent, and culture.”Cisco AI Readiness Index The new Cisco AI Readiness Index is based on a double-blind survey of 8,161 private sector business and IT leaders across 30 markets, conducted by an independent third-party surveying respondents from companies with 500 or more employees. The Index assessed respondents’ AI readiness across six key pillars: strategy, infrastructure, data, talent, governance, and culture.Companies were examined on 49 different metrics across these six pillars to determine a readiness score for each, as well as an overall readiness score for the respondents’ organization. Each indicator was assigned an individual weightage based on its relative importance to achieving readiness for the applicable pillar. Based on their overall score, Cisco has identified four groups at different levels of organizational readiness – Pacesetters (fully prepared), Chasers (moderately prepared), Followers (limited preparedness), and Laggards (unprepared). 

Developments in Artificial intelligence (AI) have been impacting businesses, governments, and economies across the world, and the Middle East is no expection. Advancements in AI, especially generative AI (GenAI), are leading to a once-in-a-generation shift. This is opening vast new opportunities and transforming industries, modes of operation, and career paths.The Cisco AI Readiness Index has revealed that 95% of respondents have an AI strategy in place or under development, but only 14% are fully ready to integrate AI into their business. In the UAE, the Index indicated that strategy readiness stands out as the most developed aspect, with 73% of organizations deemed “fully prepared”.Cisco’s AI predictions for 2024 focus on what organizations can do to adopt and integrate AI while adopting trust and security measures and regulations, and how innovators can leverage that technology to remain competitive. Reem Asaad, Vice President, Cisco Middle East and Africa, commented: “The immense potential of AI and data analytics is expected to generate monumental benefits for the Middle East. The region is continuously pioneering technology adoption, and we are seeing companies exploring new ways to harness the power of AI for operational efficiency, revenue and market share growth, and harnessing innovation to adapt to customer needs.”She added: “This year's AI trends reflect a deepening sophistication and caution in AI development and deployment strategies, with an eye to ethics, safety and the evolving regulatory landscape. Trust between people and the AI systems and tools they use is fundamental and non-negotiable. That means providing clarity on what AI can and cannot do with new data transparency and responsibility frameworks, new efforts to educate people and businesses about how disruption might happen, teaching the skills that will be needed for new AI-enabling and -enabled jobs, and new ways to collaborate with the best interests of people at heart.At Cisco, we are already integrating differentiated AI capabilities into our portfolio — and doing it responsibly. We see a future with AI that’s innovative, efficient, and trustworthy, not to mention more sustainable and equitable.”1. GenAI will fast expand into the business world with GenAI-powered NLIs, customized LLMs, tailored B2B applications and business context.Natural language interfaces (NLIs) powered by GenAI will be expected for new products and more than half will have this by default by the end of 2024. GenAI will also be leveraged in B2B interactions with users demanding more contextualized, personalized, and integrated solutions. As a result, observability for AI will grow.2. A movement for responsible, ethical use of AI will begin with clear AI governance frameworks that respect human rights and values.Adoption of AI is sitting at the intersection of innovation and trust. Yet, 76% of organizations don’t have comprehensive AI policies in place. There is mostly general agreement that we need regulations/policy and industry self-policing and governance to mitigate the risks from GenAI.We must also ensure that consumers have access to and control over their data.With the rising importance of AI systems, available public data will soon hit a ceiling and high-quality language data will likely be exhausted before 2026. Organizations need to shift to private and/or synthetic data which opens the possibility for unintended access and usage.3. Consumers and companies will face increased risks from AI-generated disinformation, scams, and fraud, prompting tech companies and governments to work together for solutions.In 2024, AI-enabled disinformation, scams, and fraud will continue to grow as a threat to businesses, people, and even candidates and elections. In response, we’ll see more investments in detection and risk mitigation.We’ll also see more collaboration between the private sector and governments to raise threat awareness and implement verification and security measures. Businesses must prioritize advanced threat detection and data protection, regular vulnerability assessments, updating security systems, and thorough audits of network infrastructures. For consumers, vigilance will be key to protecting identities, savings, and credit.4.  Unleashing the future of AI-driven customization, enterprises will embrace the power and potential of API abstraction.In the year ahead, businesses will seek innovative ways to leverage the immense power and benefits of AI without the complexity and cost of building their own platforms. Application programming interfaces (APIs) will play a pivotal role. With access to a vast array of AI capabilities through APIs, teams will automate repetitive tasks, gain deeper insights from data, and enhance decision making.This year will also mark the beginning of a race to API-driven customization where organizations can choose and combine APIs from various providers, easily tailoring AI solutions to meet unique and novel requirements.5.  Continued modernization will yield collaboration, modern converged platforms, and a little help from AI, to reveal a new programming experience – and better software.As organizations continue to modernize, software development will change with novel tools, approaches, and technologies. Programmers will leverage platforms and collaboration – and even a little help from AI – to centralize toolkits and unlock newfound efficiency so they can focus on delivering exceptional digital experiences.Some will continue struggling with disparate point solutions, leaving security gaps and software supply chain issues. Innovators will use AI to speed up delivery and handle tedious tasks like testing for defects and errors. Along the way, collaboration tools and AI assistants will be trusted companions as teams tackle the intricacies of security, observability, and infrastructure. Humans checks and balances must ensure AI-based decisions are fair, unbiased, and aligned with ethical and moral values. We believe AI should augment human decision making, not replace it entirely.

etisalat by e& and Cisco, two of the leading giants in the telecommunications and technology sectors, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on advanced connectivity solutions and services for businesses in the UAE.The MoU outlines the principles by which the companies intend to collaborate on go-to-market activities, serving enterprises and SMB business customers by enhancing engagement, co-developing innovative products, and strengthening managed services capabilities.Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, CEO, etisalat by e& UAE said, "This MoU marks an important step in our vision to create a more connected and sustainable UAE. The agreement is driven by a mutual desire to develop new value propositions and enhance existing solutions. Through our collaboration with Cisco, we endeavor to deliver pioneering connectivity and managed services solutions that enable our clients' digital transformation journeys, and contribute to the success of their business objectives." Reem Asaad, Vice President Middle East and Africa at Cisco said, "Our collaboration with etisalat by e& underscores Cisco's dedication to delivering innovative solutions to businesses in the UAE. Together with etisalat by e&, we aim to enable digital transformation while helping our customers achieve their sustainability objectives. By combining our expertise, we will provide the advanced foundation for businesses to accelerate their journey towards a digitally advanced operations in UAE."This strategic alliance leverages the strengths of both organizations, combining etisalat by e&’s extensive reach and robust infrastructure with Cisco's innovative technology solutions. The collaboration is set to deliver more efficient and effective advanced connectivity solutions, which shall ultimately enhance customer experience while enabling their growth and transformation.In addition, the collaboration will see the companies working together to develop a broad range of consultancy services for various commercial segments, such as business continuity, disaster recovery, tech-refresh framework, and sustainable tech-enabled solutions. Mahmood added: "We firmly believe that advanced connectivity is vital for enduring business success. With such partnerships, we're poised to help our customers reach their business objectives as well as remain committed to sustainability and digital transformation. This will pave the way for operational efficiency, and growth of various companies, along with a positive impact on the UAE economy and society."

With the holiday season in full motion and retailers gearing up to attract shoppers with last-minute deals, managing a surge in traffic and an increasing volume of cyberattacks can present a myriad of challenges. As criminals target vulnerabilities in the infrastructure of both physical and digital stores, Cisco reveals the top technology investments designed to help retailers maintain consumer trust and ensure a successful commercial period.Brands need to quickly prioritize the protection of consumer information – particularly given the detrimental impact a data leak can have on both consumer and employee trust. In a physical store, retailers face pressure to identify and reduce inventory shrinkage and other losses caused by theft, fraud and clerical errors, whilst also providing a safe environment for their staff and customers.Leveraging Advancements in Space Monitoring and Artificial IntelligenceMany retailers are deploying space monitoring and tracking technologies, while others are also implementing AI-based behavior detection. These technologies can be useful tools for both security and personalization.Retailers are often looking for ways to achieve the seamless experience of e-commerce in their stores. By using smart cameras that incorporate AI models, they can identify congestion hot spots or cold spots where products are less popular, as well as understand behavior to improve the customer journey. Alongside this, they can optimize stock levels based on past or predicted demand and map a customer’s in-store browsing either through in-store video or smart devices.Addressing the Skills GapAs retailers look to manage cybersecurity needs and mitigate risk, upskilling and retraining staff with key skills is essential. Whether working in merchandising, compliance, operations, information security, digital, or data – it is paramount that employees across all departments adapt to the constantly changing market through education. By delivering the right training content for both physical client-facing staff and back-office employees, a range of issues from theft in store to phishing attacks can be reduced or ideally avoided altogether.Security Strategy and ManagementFaced with a complex and highly adaptive threat landscape, retailers are increasingly opting for outsourced security strategy and management. This is understandable, given the complex nature of data protection.Many retailers globally are concerned about the data governance and security implications of moving highly sensitive data to a cloud security system. Data leakage and reputational damage are also high on the list of concerns, showing that protecting customer data is an imperative for retailers. Competitive advantage is hard fought and data breaches and leaks can see retailers lose the trust they carefully build with their customers.Across the board, but particularly at this peak time of year for retailers, an integrated, cloud-based platform should be sought out to prevent these types of incidents by managing distributed workforces at scale. It can keep data safe on-premises, in the cloud, and in hybrid environments across the company’s entire ecosystem, while detecting threats quickly throughout an organization.Physical and online retail environments need to focus in on an ongoing, scalable strategy; one that can bend and flex under pressure – not a collection of solutions that are applied and removed depending on the time of year. Too many disparate ideas and solutions will end up being confusing for staff and could play into the hands of the very people retailers want to stop.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates:— Cisco today launched the latest report in its App Attention Index research series, revealing escalating consumer expectations for digital experience and increased pressure on brand owners to optimize application performance and security. The global study, which examined the digital behaviors of more than 15,000 global consumers — including 1,005 in the UAE — also revealed the emergence of a new breed of application user that is more empowered, sophisticated, and demanding in its use of digital services.UAE Consumer Expectations Continue to Soar — but Remain UnmetWhile the use of digital services and applications reached new heights during the pandemic, consumer demand for applications has only continued to increase. As consumers enjoy ever more intuitive and personalized digital experiences, their demands on applications have reached an all-time high, with 71% in the UAE reporting that their expectations for digital experiences are far higher now than they were two years ago (the height of the pandemic), while 74% state they now expect brands to deliver an exceptional digital experience as standard.But the needs of UAE consumers are not being met, with nearly all (97%) respondents experiencing performance issues when using applications over the past 12 months. Today application users in the Emirates have zero tolerance for poor digital performance and when things don’t work as they should, their reactions have become extreme.65% indicate they feel disrespected by brands whose applications don’t meet their expectations.71% are less forgiving of brands when problems occur.80% have stopped using or deleted applications because of performance issues over the last 12 months.Globally, Cisco’s study has found UAE consumers to be the most selective about the applications they use, and the most conscious about the time they spend engaging with digital services. Compared to their global peers, the nation’s consumers think harder before installing new applications, evaluating current providers, and ridding themselves of a sense of ‘application clutter’ by culling applications that fail to meet the grade.77% (compared to global average of 68%) are keen to get rid of application clutter (applications they don’t use enough or value anymore).80% (a whole 18 percentage points higher than global average) are looking to control or limit the number of applications they are using or that they have on their device.64% (globally 54%) have deleted more applications than they have installed over the last 12 months.“It's a critical time for brands — invest in your application experience, or risk losing customers,” said Ronak Desai, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Full-Stack Observability and AppDynamics. “Good performance is no longer enough; consumers expect only the best from their applications, and any single issue could be a reputation and revenue killer. At Cisco, we're well aware of this, and we're committed to helping organizations stay ahead by proactively optimizing their digital experiences and keep their customers happy."The Rise of The Application GenerationThese shifts in behavior and attitudes towards application experience are even more prevalent in a new cohort of application users: ‘The Application Generation.’ Aged 18-34, this group has relied on applications like no generation before, having used them to navigate the pandemic and today, to live and thrive in a hybrid world.In addition to being heavier users of applications across every area of their lives (globally on average consumers under 35 years of age use 41 different applications each month, compared to 30 amongst people aged 35 and above), The Application Generation are far more discerning about the quality of the applications they use, with 77% claiming to be more mindful about the applications they install on their devices and 64% stating that they only want to use the very best applications and digital services. They are constantly evaluating the relevance and value — or otherwise — of the brands they engage with and the digital services they provide.This unique group report being tired of poorly performing applications and frustrating digital experiences. A worrying trend for application owners, The Application Generation are voting with their thumbs — ditching applications that let them down and walking away from brands that don’t meet their digital experience expectations. What’s more, they are not shy about sharing their frustrations. 70% are more likely to tell others or warn people off applications that don’t perform than they were 12 months ago.

Dubai: Cisco (CSCO) announced it is reimagining the way people work with new, powerful generative AI technology. Cisco will harness large language models (LLMs) across its Collaboration and Security portfolios to help organizations drive productivity and simplicity for their workforce.Expectations are at an all-time high – organizations are grappling with how to deliver unrivaled experiences for hybrid workers, while safeguarding their businesses from sophisticated cyber threats.According to Cisco's 2023 State of Global Innovation Study, IT professionals rank generative AI as the technology most likely to have a significant impact on their business, with 85% of those saying they're prepared for its impact. Cisco recognizes the important role generative AI will play in advancing the future of work and is committed to providing hybrid workers with an efficient, safer, and more productive, work experience."Generative AI will quickly become pervasive as we see businesses and workers embrace the technology to become materially more productive," said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Security and Collaboration, Cisco. "At Cisco, we've been using AI for years. Now we're unveiling how we're incorporating generative AI into our existing products, helping customers drive real value to unlock the most secure, unrivaled work experiences possible."New Summarization Capabilities in Webex by CiscoWith every work interaction being hybrid, employees, and customers need collaboration experiences that empower them to do their best work. Within the Webex Suite, new summarization capabilities that help people get up to speed in seconds will include:"Catch Me Up" will allow users to quickly catch up on missed interactions, including meetings, calling, chats and more.Intelligent meeting summaries with key points and action items. Users can opt in to automatically generate the most important elements of a Webex meeting, extract the key points, and capture action items with owners. This will be a huge time-saver for attendees and people unable to join a meeting – eliminating the need to listen to a recording or read through transcripts.Summaries in Vidcast, the company's video messaging tool. This capability will produce highlights and chapters so viewers can navigate to the most important parts of the video quickly.New conversation summaries in Webex Contact Center will provide agents with a fast, automated way to consume long-form text from digital chats with customers as well as facilitating post-call wrap-up and resolution with customers. For example, if a customer is escalated to a call with a human agent, they expect that agent to be informed and not have to repeat their frustrations. Chat summaries provides the agent with a clear summarization of issues and resolutions already explored via self-service and a summary of the call to both the agent and customer once it ends. Moving Security from Complex to Conversational Cisco is investing in cutting-edge innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning that will augment security staff by simplifying operations and increasing efficacy. Further delivering on its Security Cloud vision (link to Day 1 release), Cisco is previewing new generative AI capabilities to simplify policy management and improve threat response.Effective security policy creation and management is an oftentimes extremely complex but critical function of cybersecurity hygiene. There is little room for error and the process of making simple edits that won't interfere with or override previous rules is extremely time consuming and technically challenging. The volume, inconsistency, and complexity of maintaining all of these policies across all of these systems creates a significant risk that opens the door for attacks.The Cisco Security Cloud will leverage a generative AI Policy Assistant to address this problem by enabling security and IT administrators to describe granular security policies and evaluate how to best implement them across different aspects of their security infrastructure. This week's preview showed how the Cisco Policy Assistant can reason with the existing firewall policy set to implement and simplify rules within the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center. It is the first of many examples of how generative AI can reimagine policy management across the Cisco Security Cloud.Augmenting Analysts with Machine Speed and ScaleThreat detection and response is another complex and high stakes responsibility of the security operations where time is of the essence and analysts must rapidly gain understanding of complex systems at machine scale.Cisco's security operations center (SOC) Assistant will augment security analysts with the context to make the right decisions at the right time. The SOC Assistant will provide a comprehensive situation analysis for analysts, correlating intel across the Cisco Security Cloud platform solutions, relaying potential impacts, and providing recommended actions. Significantly reducing the time needed for SOC teams to respond to potential threats.Cisco previewed its generative AI solution for Webex and Security Cloud onstage at Cisco LIVE 2023. Webex summarization, policy management and SOC Assistant Summaries will be available by the end of calendar year 2023. The additional SOC Assistant features will be available in the first half of calendar 2024.

Zain KSA, the leading digital service provider, announced signing a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with Cisco to collaborate on the development of network automation and service orchestration to improve network service outcomes. The MoU was signed during its participation at Mobile World Congress (MWC23), which was held in Barcelona from February 27 until March 3.Through this MoU, Zain KSA and Cisco plan to work together to develop an automation blueprint that is aimed at simplifying day-to-day network operations, including maintaining, monitoring, and optimizing the system, with sophisticated automation tools, with the aim of supporting the Kingdom’s digital transformation, and enabling the community to enjoy a smarter mobile lifestyle, using advanced technologies so that Zain KSA will be the preferred digital partner for its clients, including individuals, and the business sector.Commenting on the MoU, Zain KSA’s Chief Technology Officer, Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Mufadda, said: “The expansion of the use of 5G technologies, the significant increase in networked devices, and the increasing consumption of content services have led to increasing pressure on networks, and our cooperation with Cisco is an important step to keep pace with this development and accelerate the digital transformation journey.” He added: “This MoU is in line with our strategy to innovate, deliver integrated digital experiences to our customers, and enhance their experiences across the Kingdom, accelerating the realization of Saudi Vision 2030’ goals.”Adam MacHale, Vice President, Service Provider EMEA, at Cisco, commented: “Cisco's model-driven approach to network automation with open API’s and service orchestration will help Zain KSA simplify operations and deliver services more quickly across the entire lifecycle. This will enable Zain KSA to improve the quality of its services and continue to deliver a superior customer experience over broadband through reliable and high-speed connectivity.”

Ooredoo business, the trusted technology partner for all business solutions, in collaboration with Cisco held an interactive workshop to shed light on the latest trends and practices related to SMB solutions and how to benefit from them. The workshop was held in Regency Hotel in presence of Ooredoo business customers.These workshops comes as part of Ooredoo’s business efforts to assist it’s small and medium enterprise customers to increase their awareness and knowledge which will contribute to achieving the company goals and lead to building loyalty and trust from their customers. During the workshop, attendees were able to ask questions and exchange their knowledge across.Commenting on this workshop, Sulaiman AlHumoud, Director, Enterprise Planning & Demand at Ooredoo Kuwait, said: “The partnership between Ooredoo and Cisco provides our customers with networking solutions, Internet of Things (IoT), data center, cloud and computing, and security solutions to meet the needs of businesses in Kuwait market”. He added, “We at Ooredoo business will continue on organizing such effective workshops for our customers to enable them achieve their goals in the market”.It is worth mentioning that Ooredoo business has achieved recently the “Security Partner of the Year” award from Cisco which indicates that Ooredoo Kuwait is providing the best and distinguished solutions to protect its customer’s information.

 In 2023, the economic climate will continue to be shaped by reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Many companies are therefore looking to the future for innovative technologies that can help here. Today, Cisco outlines the seven technology trends for 2023 in the areas of security, increasing network efficiency, sustainability, and AI.Reem Asaad, Vice President, Cisco Middle East and Africa said: “The dominant theme throughout these trends is the pace of technological evolution that is continuing to accelerate. These technology trends are on the rise in our region and are shaping the future of every business across all industries, driven by ambitious national visions that are putting technology at the heart of governments’ initiatives in the Middle East and Africa. Today we are at the intersection of a vast potential such technologies hold, and the challenges that should be mitigated through robust security measures.” “One of the key highlights we’re witnessing today more than ever is that businesses need to consider the social context of their actions. Increasingly, we see a focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in the region. Whilst we realize that achieving sustainability is complex and multifaceted, what’s certain is that technology continues to play a pivotal role in driving ESG agendas for governments and enterprises,” she added. Sustainability and AISustainabilityNet Zero will drive common standards to meet sustainability goals with advancements in Power Over Ethernet (PoE) design and hardware to transform data centers for a more sustainable future. Networking and APIs will become more advanced within data center platform management to monitor, track, and change the use of energy. IT vendors and equipment partners will be more transparent in their reuse of hardware (circularity) to move the needle with the sustainability processes.Responsible AI In 2023, we will see multiple, highly publicized instances of artificial intelligence used by some individuals and organizations to achieve unethical and socially destructive objectives. Industry, governments, academia, and NGOs will come together to begin hammering out a framework for governing AI in an ethical and responsible manner to mitigate potential harm. This framework will be based on principles such as Transparency, Fairness, Accountability, Privacy, Security, and Reliability and will ultimately be applied to model creation and the selection of training data as defining principles of AI systems.IT Security TrendsQuantum CryptographyTransmitting keys is a fundamental risk to security, as they can be harvested and decrypted later. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is poised to be particularly impactful because it avoids any distribution of the keys over an insecure channel. In 2023, in preparation for a post-quantum world, we will see a macrotrend emerge with adoption of QKD in datacenters, IoT, autonomous systems, and 6G.Application and API SecurityAs modern cloud-native applications are becoming drivers of business, protecting the underlying application environment is critical. In 2023, developers will get more and more support from various development tools that speed up development cycles and allow them to manage and secure distributed application architectures with an emphasis on delivering exceptional, secure digital experiences. We will also see continued movement toward tools that allow security experts to collaborate seamlessly on these outcomes.Business Efficiency and ResilienceOptimizing Multi-cloud ArchitecturesAs deglobalization and issues around data sovereignty accelerate, in the year ahead we will see a noticeable shift in how companies leverage multi-cloud architectures. While 89% of enterprises are adopting a multi-cloud strategy for a variety of reasons (geopolitical, technical, provider diversification), the benefits come additional complexity in connecting, securing, and observing a multi-cloud environment. We will see a big move toward new multi-cloud frameworks such as Sovereign Clouds, Local Zone Clouds, Zero-Carbon Clouds, and other novel cloud offerings. This will create a path toward more private and edge cloud applications and services ushering in a new multi-cloud operating model.Full-Stack Observability tied to Business OutcomesThe problem with monitoring has always been too much data with too little context and business correlation. The evolution of application monitoring toward full stack observability will increasingly provide a view relative to business context. When applied systematically, this will drastically speed up response and optimize business operations in real time. In 2023, business context will become widely recognized as an integral part of monitoring and visibility outcomes.Internet of Things (IoT) makes supply chains more resilient??Enterprises and logistics providers will increasingly utilize IoT to bring full visibility into their supply chains in 2023. IoT and other technologies will not only play a larger role in bringing resiliency and efficiency into supply chains but will also improve cybersecurity and IT/OT network management. As a result, enterprises and logistics providers will reconfigure supply chains around predictive and prescriptive models including smart contracts and distributed ledgers. This is a major transition toward more sustainable business practices and circular supply chains.

Cisco Talos, one of the world’s largest private threat intelligence teams released its latest quarterly report that examines incident response trends and global cyber threats.Key findings:For the first time since compiling these reports, Cisco Talos Incident Response saw an equal number of ransomware and pre-ransomware engagements, making up nearly 40 percent of threats this quarter.The education sector was the most targeted by attackers this quarter, closely followed by the financial services, government, and energy sectors, respectively. For the first time since Quarter 4 2021, the telecommunications sector was not the top-targeted vertical. While the reason for the education sector being more frequently targeted this quarter is unknown, this is a popular time of year for adversaries to target education institutions as students and teachers have returned to school.Q3 was also characterized by previously seen high-profile ransomware variants such as Hive and Vice Society and a new ransomware family (Black Basta) that first emerged in April 2022 and had yet to be observed in incident response engagements.Cisco Talos also continued to observe threats that have been consistently present in previous quarters, including phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC), attempts to exploit weaknesses or vulnerabilities in public-facing applications, and insider threats.Within enterprises, the lack of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) remains one of the biggest obstacles to corporate security, according to the report. Nearly 18% of engagements either had no MFA or only had it enabled on a handful of accounts and critical services, allowing the cybercriminal to log in and authenticate.Commenting on the report’s findings, Fady Younes, Cybersecurity Director, EMEA Service Providers and MEA, Cisco, said: “Today, more than ever, in an increasingly connected and digital age, cybersecurity is of the utmost importance. As enterprises and governments across the region seek to safeguard their data and businesses, Cisco continues to support our customers, helping drive rapid detection and protection against cyber risks.”He added: ‘Security is a game of data. The more insights we have into the threat landscape, the better our telemetry is, the higher the likelihood of being able to prevent security incidents. When a breach occurs, our capabilities can detect, respond and remediate threats as fast as possible.”More information is available on Cisco Talos' Quarterly Report: Incident Response Trends in Q3 2022 blog.