Trend Micro addresses financial technology leaders on challenges to security strategy

Under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Khalfan bin Khirbash, State Minister of Finance and Industry, leading technologists from across the banking and financial services sectors will discuss the ways that technology and information systems can contribute to the growth and development of the enterprises they represent.

During the summit, Trend Micro aims to draw attention to the bandits or "Modern Highway Men" who practice identity theft, to the detriment of corporate and private internet users alike. Such challenges have a real impact on the finance sector, which is duty bound to provide high levels of security for their customer data.

The presentation was created by drawing on real experience of battling the known threats in this area, coupled with close scrutiny of international criminal cases showing the immense profits gained and personal and corporate destruction caused by these modern-day highway men. It also draws upon new threats and techniques for maximizing criminal gain at the expense of ordinary users of the Internet.

Cyber-crime today does not consist of the old-style anti-social programmers who wrote computer viruses for fun. Instead there are millions of dollars at stake, with sophisticated fraudsters taking advantage of the way the internet has altered economies and countries, stripping away boundaries and bringing widespread access to detailed information.

Today the internet's "threat landscape" is populated by botnets, zombie armies and pod slurpers. If these terms seem unfamiliar, it demonstrates the need for greater awareness of these challenges and for inventive and flexible security measures to deal with them.

During the summit Trend Micro showed the necessity of making security central to the technology policies adopted within the financial sector. Successful banking organisations are built on trust and customer confidence. Many routine transactions and other activities have moved online in recent years, increasing exposure and vulnerability.

"The development of malware across the Middle East and the increasing susceptibility of regional businesses to content security breaches are a growing problem - people need to know their money is secure," said Justin Doo, Managing Director of Trend Micro in the Middle East and Africa region.

"Network security will need to address both the technology and human sides of protecting an enterprise. By addressing these issues, the FT summit arms technologists within the financial sector with the ideas to combat this growing threat to revenue and reputations,"

he added.

In addition to presenting at the event, Trend Micro is involved in a number of high-level meetings with leading banks and financial institutions from across the region. Trend Micro's client base currently hosts a number of major companies from across the Middle East.