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2017-02-16

GCC countries should brace up against threat of cyberattacks as part of their security and defence framework

BAE Systems is a global defence, aerospace and security company employing around 83,400 people worldwide. Its wide-ranging products and services cover air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology, and support services. BAE Systems has a strong presence worldwide including the US, UK, Australia as well as the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. In an exclusive interview with Nation Shield, Julian Donald, BAE Systems, Managing Director, Middle East and Asia spoke about his company’s operations with special focus on cyber security.

BAE Systems develops advanced defence solutions, but you also offer top end cyber security solutions the world over. How important is the GCC market for you?

The GCC is one of our most important markets worldwide. That is driven by the security threat to governments and businesses in the region. It is also clear that criminal activity and the need for compliance in the fields of anti-money laundering and fraud also mean the commercial market is expanding.

You provide threat analytics solutions to help manage threat intelligence, detect and investigate unknown cyber threats. Why is this segment important to countries in the Middle East?

In addition to more traditional defence and security threats, GCC countries face concerted, advanced and well-resourced state cyber programmes from adversaries which find a way round traditional defences such as firewalls. Our experience is in helping to protect governments – particularly the UK Government – from the most sophisticated of threats. The usual signature-based detection packages don’t pick up on the ‘unknown unknowns’. Our approach is to look at patterns of activity across the whole data spectrum and identify behaviours that stand out.

BAE Systems provides the industry’s broadest set of services for cyber security and analytics. Do you provide training to professionals here to support your products?

Training is absolutely the most important aspect of attaining a successful solution. We empower GCC countries with their own local capabilities, which is not just unique to cyber security but is an approach we seek to take to all areas of BAE Systems business; this is something we have been committed to for many years. Knowledge transfer is key - this takes time with a clear, long-term view of developing local skills.

You protect financial institutions across the globe from financial and reputational harm. How great is the threat to the sector from cyber predators?

The threat is growing, particularly with the use of sophisticated cyber tools by criminals and terrorist groups. A lot of very powerful exploitative technologies can be bought online so we are seeing the barriers to entry for criminals becoming lower every day. That said, there is no doubt that the way in which regulations in the GCC are developing it is clear there is considerable effort being made to tackle this growing threat to national security.

BAE Systems is the expert provider of email security, information security solutions, protecting critical communications and infrastructure. Do you think email security is often ignored?

To quote a former Director of of the UK’s GCHQ, Iain Lobben, “Basic IT security practice can deal with 80 per cent of the threats”. This includes email security, using strong passwords, updating firewalls, people following IT advice and knowing what information needs to be protected. But this isn’t enough for the other 20 per cent of what we call “Advanced Persistent Threats”. That is where we come in.

Saudi Arabia is a major client for you in the region. What are the functions of BAE Systems Saudi Arabia?

Our business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is diverse and as such we have a number of important functions and roles. We are proud of almost 50 years of heritage in providing leading edge technology and training to the Saudi Armed Forces. We employ 5,800 in Saudi Arabia and 68% of them are Saudi Nationals, making BAE Systems one of the world’s leading private sector employers of Saudis.

What are the highlights of BAE Systems participation in the IDEX this year?

Our focus at IDEX 2017 is on providing advanced capability across air, land, sea and cyberspace, with technologies and solutions designed to meet the diverse requirements of regional governments and customers. There is a particular focus on delivering enhanced capability to address customer need for national defence, security and critical infrastructure protection.

How do you view your presence and business relationship with the UAE? What are the future plans on hand for the UAE and around the region?

We have been working with the UAE for many years and are currently discussing a number of opportunities with the UAE Armed Forces to support growth of its land, sea and air capability requirements. This is also the case around the region. In terms of areas of focus for us, we want bring the success to UAE that we and our customers elsewhere have experienced with several key products including the M777 contract in India and APKWS contracts in Iraq and Jordan. These, alongside our latest 40mm naval gun offering, the 40mk4, make up just some of the opportunities we are currently exploring around the region.

In addition to the product focus, we have been working to continue building and strengthening our local partnerships, which is something to which we have been committed for many years. Partnerships are a great way of developing offerings that are tailored to meeting local requirements. It is clear that working with local expertise helps us deliver technologies that provide more value to our customers on a long-term basis.

Linked to this is our on-going education initiatives which support the country’s national agenda. Our partnership with The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and Strata Manufacturing PJSC (Strata) to bring “The Make It Challenge” to the UAE has been very successful.

Our internship programme with Mubadala is also something of which we are very proud. The 18-week internship initiative plays a major part of our support of the UAE as we look to support the creation of a sustainable indigenous capability by using our intellectual property to aid knowledge and skills transfer.

The regional Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) programmes we deliver are also ongoing this year, as we continue to support the national agenda around education in the Gulf countries.

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