MANAMA: An Italian cybersecurity firm with international award-winning predictive technology has selected Bahrain as its base to foray into the GCC.
The company takes its name from Haruspex, a religious official who interpreted omens by inspecting the entrails of sacrificial animals in Roman mythology.
Akin to its namesake, Haruspex has developed mathematical models that enable it to identify possible lanes for cyberattacks and mitigate their effects and protect networks, instruments and on-board equipment.
It has chosen Bahrain-based Dinamica International as its local partner under an agreement which joins the core competencies of the two companies.
Haruspex aims to identify and develop pilot cases within major industries in the GCC and develop strategic partnerships with key partners for deploying its technology and solutions.
The company will focus on sectors such as oil and gas; power and water utilities – generation, smart grids and meters; desalination plants; healthcare; telecom; defence; logistics and transportation; financials and distributed ledgers or blockchain.
Dr Bijan Majidi, founder and chief executive of Dinamica, introduced the Haruspex team at a Press briefing in the Capital Club Bahrain, held under the patronage of Italian Ambassador Domenico Bellato.
The Haruspex team, led by its three founders, showcased its expertise in active cybersecurity and its suite of software solutions, designed and customised for critical and sensitive ICT infrastructure at public, private and military organisations.
Presenting unique aspects of the technology, Haruspex chief executive Dr Marcello Montecucco, a former senior IBM executive, said it has the capability to pre-emptively identify threats and develop the necessary mitigation strategies, allowing the ICT infrastructure to adapt itself.
“We probe the system, find the holes and plug them even before the threat materialises thereby proving that the best form of defence is to predict and engage,” he said.
Explaining how the company’s “Digital Twin” technology works, co-founder Fabrizio Baiardi, a professor of risk assessment and management at University of Pisa, Italy, said the company executes multiple simulated attacks on digital replicas of an organisation’s ICT infrastructure.
It is the result of many years of joint research and development with the University of Pisa, with which Haruspex maintains a continuing strategic partnership.
Also present at the briefing, in his role as head of institutional relationships with government, public and military authorities, was co-founder of Haruspex Dr Dino Nascetti, a retired admiral of the Italian Navy, and Dr Filippo Lubrano, business development manager at Haruspex.
The company officials said they spent most of last week talking to government agencies, and heads of private and public enterprises in Bahrain, with the planned hub in the country likely to be set up by March next year.
Dr Majidi stated Bahrain was selected for its strategic location, business-friendly policies, qualified human resources in ICT as well as entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“Dinamica’s expertise in digital transformation of industries and its portfolio of implementations also gave the country the edge over its neighbours,” he added. According to Gartner, worldwide spending on cybersecurity is forecast to reach $133.7 billion in 2022.
A survey by Cybint Solutions showed that as many as 62pc of businesses worldwide experienced phishing and social engineering attacks in 2018.
avinash@gdn.com.bh
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