GITEX 2021: Attivo Networks to Focus on Identity Detection and Response Solutions

Ray Kafity, the Vice President for Middle East Turkey and Africa (META) at Attivo Networks, speaks about his company’s plans for GITEX 2021

Are you participating in GITEX 2021? If yes, which products and solutions will you be showcasing at GITEX Technology Week?
Yes, we will be exhibiting at GITEX alongside our partner, CyberKnight. In the 2021 edition of the event, we will introduce a new category of solutions called Identity Detection and Response (IDR), an umbrella for identity-based attack prevention and detection. IDR is about protecting credentials, privileges, and the systems that manage them as opposed to authorization and authentication, which focuses on making sure the right people have access to what they need.

We’ll also be showcasing the five solutions we offer that fall under the IDR category, which are:

• The ADAssessor solution, which provides continuous visibility to Active Directory (AD) exposures that are vulnerable to attack and detects advanced Active Directory attacks in real-time.
• The ThreatStrike solution, an agentless technology that resides on the endpoint as the first line of defense against credential theft. Deception credentials lure attackers into engaging and revealing themselves. Through misdirection of the attack, organizations gain the advantage of the time to detect, analyze, and stop an attacker.
• The ThreatPath solution, which discovers hidden elements throughout the network that enable lateral movement that attackers could use to advance attacks.
• The ADSecure solution, which prevents attackers from accessing information from Active Directory by efficiently concealing the real objects and returning fake information when an attacker queries AD to access critical assets in the network.
• The IDEntitleX solution, a Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) solution designed to deliver visibility and reduce the attack surface for identities and entitlements in the cloud. IDEntitleX expands the company’s leadership position in providing unprecedented visibility and prevention of identity privilege escalation and lateral movement threat activity. With this product, Attivo becomes the only solution of its kind to provide end-to-end analysis of identity and entitlement exposures and risks on endpoints, Active Directory (AD), and the cloud.

What are your expectations from the event this year?
GITEX 2021 is an important event because it’s the first industry event where people have gathered in person since the pandemic broke out. The Attivo team is happy to participate in GITEX this year to have impactful conversations with our channel partners and customers.

This allows us to understand the market and its needs better while staying up to date with the latest trends and concerns within the cybersecurity field. Attending events where our stakeholders are present provides us insight into maintaining our position as the leader in identity detection and response, delivering a superior defense for preventing privilege escalation and lateral movement threat activity.

Do you hope for a business relief from the event?
Being in the UAE gave us a unique vantage point of witnessing organizations in the Middle East accelerate their digitalization timelines to overcome the challenges of the past year and a half. The pressures of the pandemic have only resulted in turning coal into diamonds.

GITEX 2021 is an important event to attend this year as it is in Dubai, a hub for the region’s digital transformation. It showcases many new technologies developed in the past year, thus displaying the breakthroughs in the field and encouraging the development of technology businesses beyond the pandemic.

What will be your theme of participation at GITEX?
Alongside joining the conversation on protecting the Active Directory, Attivo’s main message during this year’s show is introducing a new security category: Identity Detection and Response (IDR). A credential-based attack occurs when an attacker steals credentials, extends privileges, and compromises critical data. Credential theft is the first stage of a lateral movement attack and stopping the attack early in the process can significantly impact the attacker’s success and the damages they can cause.

According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigation Report, credentials remain among attackers’ most sought-after data types (60%). Stolen Credentials have been behind some of the largest and most costly data breaches. With identity-based attacks on the rise, organizations must detect when attackers exploit, misuse, or steal enterprise identities.

Identity Detection and Response (IDR) is a new security category adjacent to Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Extended Detection and Response (XDR), Network Detection and Response (NDR), and other detection solutions. While some might want to ask whether the industry needs yet another acronym amid cybersecurity’s seemingly endless alphabet soup, IDR fills a significant gap in the identity security landscape.

How have your regional strategies changed in recent months?
Our emphasis has been targeted toward identity-based security and securing the transition to the cloud. Attivo recently expanded its Identity Detection and Response portfolio with Credential Cloaking and Policy-based Application Access. With this new functionality, Attivo becomes the only solution of its kind to cloak real credentials from attackers.