The Middle East security market is growing. But that doesn’t mean the market is all smooth sailing as certain challenges still exist. This article looks at challenges facing the Middle East security market and what’s being done to overcome them.
The Middle East security market is on a
growth trajectory driven by increased public and private sector spending as well as technological advancement. But that doesn’t mean the market is all smooth sailing as certain challenges still exist. This article looks at challenges facing the Middle East security market and what’s being done to overcome them.
Supply chain disruptions
Supply chain disruptions remain a major challenge in the Middle East security market, especially amidst ongoing regional conflict.
“Regional instability and the disruptive consequences of conflict are the most serious challenges we face currently. Aside from the countless human tragedies involved, deteriorating relations between countries can have many negative consequences, and these are often hard to predict, from delayed projects to new import restrictions and supply chain disruptions. As businesses, we have to do our best to deal with this unpredictability and hope that conflicts are resolved quickly and do not spread,” said Dennis Choi, GM for Middle East and Africa at IDIS.
In spite of recent progress, in which Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire, it’s unlikely the conflict in the region will end anytime soon. Against this backdrop, security players are adopting various strategies to cope.
“Navigating regional conflicts has required firms to enhance risk management and contingency planning. Companies are working closely with suppliers to streamline procurement cycles and are increasingly investing in local talent and resources to mitigate delays and improve service response times. Security providers are also building stronger partnerships within the region to maintain consistency and meet heightened demand,” said Nabeel Noorullah, GM of IDVision.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity, in this writer’s opinion, remains the most serious challenge facing the Middle East security market. Regional conflict may end one day. Different measures can be taken to avoid supply chain issues. Yet cyberattacks are here to stay and can wreak havoc on end user entities who are not prepared. And when this happens, they may have to pay a hefty price.
Already, the region is seeing increased cyberattacks. Among recent examples, Dark Reading
reports that in July, pro-Palestinian hacktivist group BlackMeta barraged a United Arab Emirates bank with denial-of-service attacks that lasted more than 100 hours over six days; and in April, Saudi Arabia was added to the list of organizations targeted by Solar Spider, which is allegedly linked to China. Meanwhile, a report by PwC Middle East further
suggests that 47 percent of respondents are concerned about cybersecurity, compared to 38 percent globally, and that 15 percent of regional organizations reported data breaches costing over US$100,000 over the past three years.
“Definitely there is significant growth in the security industry due to rapid advancements in AI and digital transformation technologies. But they bring increased threat especially on the cybersecurity side. Across sectors including corporate, government, and private companies, end users are increasing their spending in security to mitigate this risks,” said Shabeer A.M., MD of JAS Business Systems.
These attacks and threats have forced regional end user organizations to respond by implementing comprehensive security measures to secure assets and stay ahead of threat actors.
“To overcome these challenges the option is providing multiple solutions from multiple vendors; this will decrease risk and eliminate any single point of failure. Regular updates, employee trainings and assigning some professional security companies can also reduce this risk,” Shabeer said, adding that advanced cyber-defense products and solutions should be deployed to counter cyber-threats.
"Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT), endpoint security solution, firewalls and intrusion prevention systems, and SOC (security operation centers) and SIEM (security information and event management) are some of the most in-demand solutions one should implement. And regular employee awareness sessions are required to mitigate risks like phishing and malware,” he said.
Technology integration
Security systems integration has been identified as a major trend in the Middle East market as users increasingly realize the benefits of unified security platforms (we’ll explore this further in an upcoming article). Yet such integration faces various challenges. These include 1) lack of standardization, where a lack of standardized protocols and practices across the region can complicate the integration process; 2) high cost of integration, where substantial financial investments required for integrating different security systems may cause budget-constrained end users to avoid such integration; and 3) insufficient human resources and expertise, where integrating different security systems into a seamless whole requires skilled personnel, which is lacking in many parts of the region.
That said, efforts have been made to address these integration challenges. “Integrating new security technologies with existing systems can be complex. Companies are overcoming this by offering modular and scalable solutions that ensure seamless integration,” said Uri Guterman, VP of Product Management and Marketing at Senstar.
In a recent example of such integration,
TRASSIR and Suprema joined forces to announce an integration between TRASSIR’s video management system (VMS) and Suprema’s biometric access control solutions targeting specifically the Middle East market. According to TRASSIR, the solution delivers a unified security platform that is both scalable and customizable and provides a seamless approach to security management.
Meanwhile, global and regional standards ensuring interoperability between different security devices – for example ONVIF – are being promoted in the Middle East. Further, security players are investing in training and skilled workforce development to make sure local personnel can handle complex integrations.