Digital Transformation Sets the Agenda at IDC's 'IT Security Summit 2018' in Riyadh

RIYADH - International Data Corporation (IDC) hosted the 2018 installment of its annual IT Security Summit at Riyadh's Burj Rafal Hotel, with more than 180 of the Kingdom's most influential IT security decision makers in attendance. Running under the theme 'Delivering Pervasive Security for the Digital Era', the event provided attendees with expert insights into the security metrics, threat vectors, and solutions they should be considering as they strive to develop sustainable security roadmaps for their organizations, according to IDC.

Showcasing pioneering perspectives from respected industry thought leaders, the event explored the new complexities that are being introduced to the IT security ecosystem as organizations increasingly embrace innovative technologies such as cognitive systems, robotics, and the Internet of Things in a bid to streamline their operations and improve their customer experience.

"With digital transformation becoming increasingly mainstream, security incidents are now far more complex and persistent than ever before," says Hamza Naqshbandi, IDC's country manager for Saudi Arabia. "As such, there is a pressing need for security to become more pervasive; it needs to be embedded into the vision of the organization and treated as a core metric. In this era of digital transformation, organizations can no longer settle for standard security solutions; they must move forward by embracing a proactive approach to the issues of defense, protection, mitigation, compliance, trust, and risk."

With this in mind, presentations at the IDC IT Security Summit 2018 in Riyadh focused on topics such as the emerging security priorities of the digital era, the implementation of integrated cyber-defense strategies, the role of orchestration in incident response and security operations, the application of cognitive security operation centers, and the need to engage in comprehensive security transformation as part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative.

Supplementing these presentations were a series of individually themed track sessions that enabled attendees to tailor their IT Security Summit experience to meet their own unique needs. These sessions ran under titles such as 'Strategies for New-Age Cybercrime', 'Innovating While Staying Secure', 'Fostering a Security-Centric Work Culture', and 'Building Holistic Cyber-Defense Mechanisms', providing attendees with a broad range of insights into the critical security issues currently vying for their attention.

IDC's valued partners for the IT Security Summit 2018 in Riyadh included ISACA as Strategic Partner; HP Inc., Symantec, Westcon, IBM, and MIS as Platinum Partners; Oracle, ESET, Attivo Networks, SKYBOX Security, CA Technologies, Barracuda, Ivanti, and Cyberia as Gold Partners; Infoblox, Bitdefender, Juniper Networks, Cofense, MobileIron, Global Knowledge, AEC, and Fidelis CyberSecurity as Silver Partners; and Kingston Technology, Sonicwall, Malwarebytes, Tata Communications, Integrated Telecom, Lenovo as Exhibit Partners.