AGT to transfer IT security technology to KSA banks

The seminar was designed in order to help transferring the latest know-how gained in Europe to the KSA banking sector

Managing Director of AGT, Mr. Anas Chbib, will lead a group of European solution providers and IT security experts in the full day meeting on Monday 23 February at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh that will start at 10:00am. "Globally, we are dealing with a seriously underestimated challenge." Mr. Chbib says, "The rate of cyber attacks on companies increased by 19% from the first half of 2002 to mid 2003 and the attacks have become more sophisticated yet, investment in IT security is still lagging."

The threats facing the banking industry include worms, viruses and in particular, hackers and intruders trying to gain access to account information, and other commercial intelligence, or attempting to illegally divert funds. In addition to the financial liability for a client's or their own monetary losses, with inadequate IT security, the banks risk losing consumer confidence and an erosion of its customer base. Banks exchange a large volume of a data in real time between the bank and its branches, its internet customers and ATM machines. This data must be fully secured using various technologies such as encryption, anti-viruses and firewalls.

German based AGT is a leading supplier of advanced security products and solutions in IT, telecommunications, physical security and border management and have carefully assessed the overall IT security situation in the Kingdom. The companies participating in the presentation with AGT are all European based, using security concepts such as open source based solutions against commercial software with a potential back door. When this globally proven solution is supplied by a European company, release of code to any third party is not required.

General Manager of ICS, Mr. Marwan Abu Shehab, says: "Security is a key business enabler that extends beyond traditional definitions. It is about allocating access rights, authentication, and managing/monitoring information networks, in addition to the more familiar forms like encryption, certificates, firewalls and virus protection. This is important for regional financial institutions to understand, as they strive to become more competitive."

As information infrastructures become more complex and information networks expand in scope, experience in Europe shows that financial institutions who get the security right will not only benefit from more secure systems, but will gain a key advantage over competitors.

Survey data show clear inconsistencies in the investments regional financial institutions make in security. This highlights the fact there is no common roadmap or consensus on what constitutes good security. More attention needs to be paid by senior management. Financial institutions must have a current and flexible security policy that is enforced at the highest levels. If not, then it might be time for a comprehensive review of existing policies and systems.

AGT's partners for the seminar are; the Finnish companies Stonesoft a leading provider of enterprise firewall solutions and F-Secure, a specialist in centrally managed security solutions for the mobile enterprise management, the German companies Secunet, one of Europe's leading service providers in the field of highly complex IT security systems and consultant to the German government, Kobil Systems, a top smart card IT security solution provider and APSEC, who specialize in Public Key Infrastructures (PKI) and encrypted data transfer solutions.

This group of companies has developed the super weapons that are necessary in the battle against data theft, misuse and corruption. The seminar will address specific problems and how they may be solved or contained using these tools and ensure a secure banking IT and network environment.