Speakers

H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity, United Arab Emirates Government

Dr. Al Kuwaiti was appointed by the Cabinet as the Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government since 2020. As the Head of Cyber Security, his mandate includes responsibilities as the Chairman of the UAE Cyber Security Council as well as Managing Director of the National Data Centre under the Supreme Council for National Security. As the Head of Cyber Security for... the UAE Government by investiture, Dr. Al Kuwaiti has legal authority over all aspects pertaining to securing the cyberspace for the entire Nation. In his current role, Dr. Al Kuwaiti is tasked with the responsibility of charting the cyber security strategy for the Nation that not only equips the UAE to enter the digital era with capabilities to deal with the new threat landscape exacerbated by the pandemic, but also ensures UAE’s leadership in cyber security globally; towards establishing the UAE as the world’s leading trusted digital hub and supporting the Nation’s digital transformation agenda and the digital future of all residents who made UAE their home. Towards that end, he leads the Council to outline an implementation plan to protect the UAE cyberspace through emerging technologies such as Cloud, Big Data and AI in a whole-of-government approach coordinating and orchestrating efforts between Emirates and government entities via a unified platform built and managed by the Council. Under Dr. Al Kuwaiti’s leadership, the UAE has advanced 42 positions in the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index, rising to the 5th place globally from 47th in the previous assessment. Dr. Al Kuwaiti has also led UAE to many firsts, including Guinness World Records for having the most users in a cyber capture the flag (CTF) competition, the largest bug bounty competition and the largest cyber drill; all initiatives that aim at capacity building in cyber security and improving the technical competencies of cyber security professionals and enthusiasts. More importantly, he has been instrumental in advocating for realizing the value of cyber security by demonstrating cyber security as a critical business enabler. Since 2021, Dr. Al Kuwaiti plays the role of an ambassador for collaboration between the government and cyber agencies, helping to bridge the discussion between the two major stakeholders in the digital economy. Under his chaperone, key public-private partnerships were established between the UAE Cyber Security Council and leading local and international cyber security organizations with the goal of making a positive contribution to the UAE cyber agenda and be a major force that will benefit the global cyber security industry. Additionally, bilateral agreements established with countries both within the region and across the world contributed towards mutual information sharing, capacity development and legal assistance aid treaties, all key outcomes as a result of the National Cyber Security Strategy that he has put in place to realize the vision of the UAE for the next 50 years. Underscoring the UAE’s leadership in cyber security on a global stage under Dr. Kuwaiti’s tutelage, UAE plays a pivotal role in the Arab Regional Cybersecurity Centre with UAE being elected as the Vice Chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Computer Emergency Response Team to respond to cyber emergencies during the 10th Regional Cybersecurity Week for Arab Countries and OIC Member States in 2022. UAE also co-chairs the Information Sharing Committee in the White House Counter Ransomware Initiative, a coalition of 37 international partners. His contributions to accelerate the cyber security maturity of the Nation and fostering a vibrant cyber security ecosystem in the UAE have been recognized in multiple forums, including the (ISC)² Government Professional Award for EMEA. Dr. Al Kuwaiti also sits on the Boards of the UAE Council for Digital Wellbeing, Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), Federal Geographic Information Center and is on the Advisory Committees of the College of Information Technology under United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC) under Khalifa University. Additionally, he is an Adjunct Professor under the Homeland Security Program at Rabdan Academy and a visiting lecturer on Cyber Security at universities such as Khalifa University and National Defense College in Abu Dhabi. Prior to his current appointments, Dr. Al Kuwaiti was with the National Electronic Security Authority in various appointments and capacity since 2013 where he was most recently the Executive Director of Government Operations managing National and International government relations. He had served as the Chief Technical Analyst at the Ministry of Interior where he had held other positions, such as Operations Director and CTO of the Counter Terrorism Center. Dr. Al Kuwaiti started his 20 year-long career as a Defense, Air, and Naval Military Attaché with the Embassy of The United Arab Emirates based in Washington, D.C. Dr. Al Kuwaiti has published numerous papers and keynoted at many conferences such as IEEE, RSA, Cyber Warfare Europe, Tele Strategies, ISS World MEA, IDEX, International Anti-Cyber Crimes Conference and Future War Summit. He is a highly sought after speaker internationally and has provided the main keynote address for more than 50 international, regional, and national cybersecurity events such as GITEX, GISEC and the World Government Summit, and has presented the UAE Cyber Security Framework at INTERPOL Global Cyberspace and Cybercrime Complex located in Singapore. Dr. Al Kuwaiti holds a Doctorate in Computer Engineering and Network Security from George Washington University in the U.S. and a master’s degree in Telecommunications and Computer Networks. He also holds a M.A. degree in International and Civil Security. Dr. Al Kuwaiti is an honorable member of the Society of Engineers, IEEE Society, Golden Key National Honor Society and Computer Society. His research interests are detecting, monitoring and responding to cyber warfare, network forensics, corporate governance & processes, and national cyber policy. more

Abdulla Al Dhaheri, Cybersecurity Specialist, UAE Government

Abdulla Al Dhaheri is a cybersecurity specialist and red team penetration tester. Holding certifications in his fields include OSCP (offensive security certified professional), CEH (certified ethical hacker), eJPT, CBD (certified blockchain developer), Author of “Cybersecurity Fundamentals in Web 3”. The first person to have a revolutionary idea of blockchain... technology in 2013 to have the tokenization of IDs, Passports, Birth certificates, etc. All withheld in the blockchain. Patent holder.  more

Rajesh Yadla, Head of Information Security, Al Hilal Bank

Rajesh has almost 15 years of experience in information security and technology risk management. He heads the information security function at Al Hilal bank and is responsible for protecting information assets in on-premises and cloud from external and internal threats. Before joining Al Hilal, he worked in Group42 to establish the information security function... in the organisation. Prior to this, he worked as Head of International Information Security at First Abu Dhabi Bank and was responsible for managing information security for FAB’s 12 international branches. He holds a dual EMBA degree from the University of California Los Angeles & the National University of Singapore, and carries several industry-recognised certifications on cyber and information security like CISSP, CISA, ISO27001(LA) and CDPSE. Outside work, he enjoys travel, playing cricket and chess. "Cyber Security is like the brakes in the car. It slows you down, but it also makes it possible for you to go lot faster" – Dr. Gary Hinson more

Jeevan Badigari, Director of Information Security and Governance, DAMAC Properties

Jeevan is currently working as Director of Information Security and Governance at DAMAC Properties Dubai. Having over 16 years of experience in Information Security, Governance, Project Management, Risk Management, and Technology Management combined. Jeevan brings the expertise of delivering global security and compliance standards such as ISO27001 and PCI-DSS and... NESA standards to organizations. Jeevan holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix, USA with a concentration in Technology Management and has number of International Certifications including CISSP from ISC2 in good standing. more

Hussein Hassan Shafik, Group CISO and Privacy Officer, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Hussein is an Information and Cybersecurity professional with more than 25 years of experience. He has recently been appointed Group Chief Information Security and Privacy Officer at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and was formerly at Standard Chartered Bank as the Global Head of Special Engagements, Fintech & Partnerships and Chief Information Security Risk Officer for... Africa, Middle East. He has managed information security in multiple financial organisations where he has assisted to develop information security improvement programs around security standards such as PCI-DSS, ISO27001, NIST, NESA IA and COBIT. Hussein is a member of many financial industry collaboration groups, formal banking committees and associations around the region that are focused on cyber security intelligence, regulatory development and cybersecurity maturity. He is a passionate cybercrime fighter who believes in fighting cybercrime through transparency and collaboration within the banking industry and is one of the founding members of the UAE Cyber Intelligence sharing platform TASHARUK. Hussein graduated from Solvay Brussels School in Belgium. more

Zaheer Shaikh, Chief Information Security Officer, Al Maryah Community Bank LLC

Zaheer Shaikh is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of Al Maryah Community Bank LLC, with 22 years of experience as an Information Technology (IT) professional with strong expertise in IT management, Information, Cyber Security, and IT enterprise architecture. Being a founding team member of the bank Mr. Shaikh has been demonstrating expertise in establishing... and implementing large information security and cybersecurity programs. Has designed and implemented an automated tool-based vulnerability management framework that continuously monitors and detects Cyber threats and vulnerabilities. He has also performed evaluations and selection of IT security tools and successfully implemented IT security systems to protect the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of critical business information and assets. Mr. Shaikh is a multi-certified C-suite IT security and operations leader and is an alumnus of the Great Lakes Institute of Management and Harvard University. In past, he has worked with multinational banks like Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Mashreq and has successfully delivered critical digital transformation and security programs. more

Vikalp Shrivastava, Global CISO, Kerzner International

Vikalp Shrivastava carries over 22 years of experience into different technology leadership roles and currently holds the Global CISO role for Kerzner International, based in Dubai, UAE. Vikalp worked for multibillion dollar casino resort organisations... in Macau, such as Wynn Resorts and Melco Entertainment Ltd, as Group Head of information security, where he lead large teams of security professionals, He drove the initiative of ISO27001 in this organization and turned the organization the first ever ISO27001 certified casino resort organization in the world in 2009, it was a role of CISO and helped him to understand many different areas of information security challenges from internal and external risk factors. Vikalp also led large cyber-attack protection companies and vendors as head for APAC in his past and worked with several different industries such as news media, banks, telecoms, oil & gas, technology and critical infrastructure companies etc. Vikalp is a well-known name in the information and cybersecurity world as leading thought leader. more

Hussain AlKhalsan, Chief Information Security Officer, ZAND

Hussain Al Khalsan joined Zand as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in June 2019. In his role, he oversees and manages the Cyber Security Programme of Zand. He is a seasoned professional with 15 years of experience in IT Security, Information Security and Cyber Security purely in the banking and financial services industry.

Aus Alzubaidi, Director of IT, Cybersecurity & Management, MBC Group

Aus Alzubaidi is a seasoned IT leader with over 19 years of experience in the media and entertainment, video production, information technology, and cybersecurity industries across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and North America. He has a proven track record of leading over 300 successful projects worth more than USD 200 million, making him widely recognized... as an expert in digital and cloud transformation, cyber security and utilizing cutting-edge technology to drive business growth. Currently, Aus heads a team of 80 architects and managers, along with offshore teams. He has a deep understanding of change management, business continuity, and the challenges of creating a modern secure and hybrid work environment in the public cloud era. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an innovative mindset, driven by the pursuit of continuous improvement, and a mastery of complex organizational systems, cultures, and processes. Aus has a proven record of delivering operational excellence and cost-saving solutions through agility, creative thinking, and tactical optimization. His expertise in cloud technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and real-time data-driven decision-making has contributed significantly to revenue growth for his organizations. In addition to his impressive portfolio, Aus has received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to the industry. He was named a CXO50 2023 Visionary and exceptional CIO, and won 2023’s Cyber Strategists Award. He was also a winner of IDC’s Future of Operations in Cybersecurity 2022, and was a CIO50 2021 & 2020 awardee. He is an active member of CIOMajlis, EliteCISOs, Global CISO Forum & CIO Association Klub. He serves as an advisory board member of the American University of Sharjah, as well as a member of Palo Alto Networks Executive Advisory Council. more

Philippe Lopez, Head of Security, Cigna International Health

Philippe Lopez is currently the Head of Security for Cigna International Health based in Dubai - UAE, with a primary focus on protecting health ecosystem critical information and technology assets across the MEA and APAC regions. Cigna Health is a Global leading health benefits provider guiding patients and customers through the healthcare system for more than 190... million customer relationships in more than 30 countries and jurisdictions. Prior to this, Philippe led security functions of global technology, payments and premier global banking multinational companies, to achieve proven persistence through unprecedented disruption events – including geopolitical crises, widespread social unrest and the COVID-19 global pandemic. In his 20+ year career in cybersecurity, spanning the Defence, Intelligence, Government and high assurance industry sectors, Philippe’s many career highlights include the greenfields build-out and licensing of South Africa's first Digital Bank - Tyme Bank – helping many unbanked families in Southern Africa gain access to digital transactions and payments platforms. Philippe's strong experience is set on a rock-bed of professional qualifications and technology certifications, examples include a Bachelor of Engineering (USyd), CS50B Computer Science (Harvard), Computer Forensics (Rochester Institute of Technology), CISSP, CRISC and GWAPT. Additionally, Philippe holds United Nation’s certifications in security, and advanced diplomas in Intelligence & Security.  He is a keen advocate for cyber evangelism and community education, working to educate and provide awareness to students, recent graduates, and new joiners to the workforce. Philippe welcomes proactive collaboration from across Government and Industry for Public-Private-Partnership in the cyber domain, to enable our smart societies to reach our collective digital aspirations safely and securely in the future   more

Steve Kinghan, Head of Cyber Operations, Hiscox

Steve Kinghan is the Head of Cyber Operations within Hiscox Insurance’s information security team. Steve has been at Hiscox for two years, with his life prior being within military intelligence and offensive cyber operation

Khalid Abubaker, Regional Sales Manager, Gatewatcher

Khalid Abubaker in Cybersecurity specialist for over 12 years, with over 24 years in Information Technologies. Khalid is holding Engineering Bachelor degree major in Electronics and Telecommunications from Jordan University of Science and Technology. Khalid started his career as technical engineer, then product manager, into the business in the middle east region.... He spent the last 12 years in various Cybersecurity vendors dedicated to help the enterprises awareness and protection of the increasing threats in the region and help the IT professionals in their corporate roadmaps. more

Theshan Mudaly, Solutions Engineer, BeyondTrust

Theshan Mudaly is a Solutions Engineer at BeyondTrust. Before that, Theshan has handled various consulting, analyst and engineering functions in relation to pre and post-sales roles in the cybersecurity industry. Thanks to his diverse and 15 years plus experience, Theshan is able to understand and anticipate organisations’ challenges related to access and endpoints... security, while having a 360° view and leveraging their whole IT security ecosystem. In his current role at BeyondTrust, Theshan supports and streamlines organisations’ journey towards Privileged Access Management, Endpoint Privilege Management and Secure Remote Access. more

Khaldoon Al-dalabih, Enterprise Account Manager, BeyondTrust

Khaldoon is an Enterprise Account Manager at BeyondTrust, with a decade of experience in Cybersecurity and ICT End User Sales. His proficiency in the IT security ecosystem has enabled him to establish and maintain trusted, long-term partnerships with strategic accounts in verticals such as Banking, Government, and Oil & Gas. Leveraging his expertise,... Khaldoon has streamlined customers' journey towards Privileged Access Management, Endpoint Privilege Management, and Secure Remote Access by developing cybersecurity strategies that help businesses stay secure and competitive to drive better and more efficient outcomes. more

John Smith, CTO EMEA, Veracode

John Smith is the Chief Technology Officer in EMEA. John has worked in Information Security for more than 20 years, and in Application Security specifically since 2004. He helped drive the evolution of AppSec, from ad-hoc testing using a range of technologies such as Dynamic Analysis through to the comprehensive and programmatic approaches seen in mature organisations... today, where integrated and automated testing is supported by strong policy and governance. At Veracode, John leads the solution architecture team in EMEA and is responsible for helping customers and prospects understand the ways we can help them be more effective and efficient in identifying and reducing their software security risks. Prior to joining Veracode in 2012, John was a Senior Solution Architect at IBM.more

Renze Jongman, Manager, Mandiant Intelligence

Renze Jongman is a Principal Consultant for Mandiant’s Intelligence Capability Development Team. He brings decades of experience in the government and financial sector to the Middle-East, Europe and Asia, where he guides organizations through the process of developing a Cyber Threat Intelligence Program.
Renze started his career in Law Enforcement: his work... at the High Tech Crime Unit of the National Police of the Netherlands led to the arrest and conviction of dozens of cybercriminals and online child abusers. After taking the fight against cybercrime to the international stage at Europol, he then transitioned to the Financial Sector in London, where he managed a team of Cyber Threat Intelligence Experts at one of the largest Global Financial Institutions. Since his relocation to the UAE in 2018, he focuses on supporting governments and businesses in transforming their Security Program to be truly Intelligence Led. The Cybersecurity field in the Middle-East faces its unique set of challenges, and empowering organizations to navigate the threat landscape successfully is a challenge he enjoys every single day. more

Ahmet Öztoprak, Sales Director META, Binalyze

Ahmet Öztoprak is a seasoned sales manager with more than 15 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry. He has worked for several multinational cybersecurity companies and has a strong technical background, enabling him to provide customized solutions to clients rather than just products. Currently, he serves as the Senior... Sales Director (META) at Binalyze, where he manages channel partners and sales. Ahmet holds an MSc in Computer Engineering and is a Transformative Sales Leader and Cybersecurity Enthusiast. more

James Sherlow, Systems Engineering Manager, EMEA Cequence Security

James Sherlow has extensive application security engineering experience gained in both the private and public sectors. Through many years of practical engineering experience and research, he has become an acknowledged expert in cyber security, threat intelligence, secure application delivery of content and the heightened risks & threats associated with them. Prior... to Cequence Security, James was a leading cyber security specialist at Palo Alto Networks, a role he moved to after leading and building up their Security Systems Engineering team in Western Europe. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, he led the Systems Engineering Team at ConSentry, a market-leading start-up focusing on application visibility, control, and security in wired and wireless Local Area Networks. Previously, he helped pioneer the Next Generation of cloud-native application delivery at Avi Networks, which VMware acquired. James brings his considerable experience in fast-moving cyber security environments to Cequence Security, augmenting its technical presence and adding further capability to deliver API Security Strategies and services to its customers and channel partners. more

Abhijit Tannu, Data Security Expert, Seclore

Abhijit Tannu is a highly accomplished entrepreneur and Data Security Expert with over 15 years of experience in leading technology and product management. He is passionate about building products in the cyber security space that solve real life customer problem most effectively.  Abhijit has built many innovative products and technologies for enterprise applications... and is an inventor of one of the technology products - IntelliPush - that received an award from Standford University in a global competition way back in 2002. He specializes in building scalable business models, leading technology/product organizations, and building customer success organizations. Abhijit has worked with many large enterprise customers and government agencies across the continents to help them solve their data security challenges effectively. In the process he has gained a deep understanding of the space and the challenges related to data centric security. more

Mamdouh Al-Gendy, Digital Security Centre of Excellence, Entrust

Cybersecurity professional with 14+ years of experiences, specialized in Digital Transformation, Strategy and Governance, Cyber Defense and Response & Cryptography. 

Raghul Mohan, Lead - Technical Consultant, ManageEngine

Raghul Mohan is a customer-centric professional with 9+ years of experience in B2B and IT industries. As a team lead at ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation, he provides technology consulting and ensures customer success across India and various international markets, including the USA, the UK, the middle-east and south east Asia. As a part of his ever-growing... enthusiasm to help customers safeguard their IT infrastructure, Raghul handles a number of implementation projects and customer training activities, keeping his commitment through a streamlined communication with them. Being a cybersecurity expert, and an identity and access management evangelist, he presents in webinars and seminars, and represents ManageEngine at international events, sharing his insights, use-cases, and experiences wherever possible. more

Melih Berk Ekşioğlu, Threat and Vulnerability Management Group Manager, Cyberwise / Securrent ME

Berk has been working as an ethical hacker / penetration for the past 10 years mainly focusing on web, API, mobile application penetration testing. He also enjoys conducting internal and external network tests with growing interest on cloud and container security. He also enjoys bypassing antiviruses and other security measurement including physical locks. His expertise... goes deeper on financial institutes and e-commerce vulnerabilities. Berk also holds several certificates and disclosed several zero-day vulnerabilities. On his free time, he likes to play Pokémon, try to master using the force, and do cyber security research and training more