DarkMatter launches secure mobile suite

BARCELONA // Governments and companies need to take an increasingly holistic approach to information security in the face of rising cyber-attacks, said Faisal Al Bannai, the chief executive of UAE-based cybersecurity company DarkMatter.

"More and more bad actors are entering this space, whether it's hackers, organised crime and so on," Mr Al Bannai told The National following the launch of the company's Katim secure communications suite at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

“The connected world makes all our lives easier, but if that connection is not done in a sec­ure way it creates opportunities for people to steal your information in seconds.”

Saudi Arabia’s labour ministry was last month hit by a large cyber-attack with a variation of the Shamoon virus that crippled 35,000 computers at Saudi Aramco in 2012.

DarkMatter’s Katim suite includes a secure mobile device with its own “hardened” Android operating system, together with a secure communications application suite and cyber command centre.

The company will start shipping the product to qualified customers in the fourth ­quarter.

The integration between the Katim phone and its operating system is particularly key, said Mr Al Bannai. “If you buy all the best products but if you don’t integrate them in a secure way, it’s all useless,” he said.

“People will often think that downloading a secure app will make my communications sec­ure. But if your phone is compromised it’s like pouring clean water into a dirty cup. If the cup is contaminated, the water is going to get contaminated no matter how clean it was.”

DarkMatter’s Katim suite is aimed at the company’s core market of governments and large corporates around the Arabian Gulf, said Mr Al Bannai. He said the company would increasingly target business outside the region from 2018.

“Customers are already coming to us from other markets and if it’s a strong enough proposition for a large enough client we’d always look at exploring such opportunities.”

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Mobile World Congress coverage

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jeverington@thenational.ae

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