Nota Bene

Ask any tourist what’s the most famous hotel in Singapore, and most will confidently answer Marina Bay Sands. And they’d be right! This iconic hotel, with its distinctive unique design, which towers over a small man-made patch of land by the Bay (here), is so dominant you literally can’t miss it – not that anyone would want too!…

And ask the same tourists what stands out the most for them regarding the Marina Bay Sands, and the answers will be unanimous: the rooftop! Of course! And it totally deserves the hype. So let’s head up there right now. Up we go to the top (57^th) floor – from where the views are absolutely mind-blowing:

Read on…

Hi folks!

Well, I’m back home from my month+ intercontinental business trip – but I’ve still got plenty to tell and show you from the trip. And that includes yet another key Middle Eastern cybersecurity event (expo + conference) – GISEC in Dubai. And since it was both a biggie and a goodie and in this most promising of regions, I just had to be there to speak, meet folks, have meetings, etc…

The expo is positioned as Middle East + Africa-focused, but in reality, the participants and visitors come from much further afield. Looks like the Emirates are aiming for something bigger than just a regional event. And good luck to them!

Read on…

Though it’s some three weeks since I was in Singapore for, among other things, GITEX Asia, and I’ve traveled thousands of miles (between three continents) in the meantime, herewith – another post on… Singapore. (Well, I did warn you: Singapore doesn’t let you go that easily!) For there are still some stories I need to tell you about some unbelievable Singapore wonders…

Let’s start with one of the most remarkable spots in this city-state – the Gardens by the Bay. This is how they look from the rooftop of that hotel – the one I stayed at (Marina Bay Sands). Check out those two big “shells” by the river: more on them a bit later…

Read on…

My previous post about Cairo turned out a bit gloomy, so let me lighten the mood with something upbeat! Today’s post is all about the Grand Egyptian Museum, aka the Giza Museum ->

This place is absolutely mind-blowing.

Read on…

Something important has happened – though you might have missed it…

The third version of our Research Sandbox has been released!

Hmm. Hardly jaw-dropping, right? But it still matters – big time. Let me tell you why…

What is it?

What’s a sandbox? Let me start with the very basics…

How can you tell if an object (file, web resource…) is malicious? The simplest way is to run it and see what happens. If it steals passwords and card data or encrypts files and demands a ransom – there you go: it’s malicious. But “sucking it and seeing” is hardly a great idea given the damage such infections/encryption can wreak.

To safely test a suspicious object in a controlled environment, we created a sandbox – a sort of virtual petri dish where malware can reveal its true malicious colors while we observe it under a microscope.

Read on…

“Busy, busy – as a bee: that’s me!”

Yes, I could have been a poet, but I’ll settle for… globetrotting (partner-)conference-bingeing CEO!…

For yes – you’ve guessed it – I was at yet another partner conference the other week. This came hot on the heels of a real busy schedule in Egypt, after which I was teleported over to the UAE (more precisely, to the small Emirate of Ajman, here) for our annual partner conference for the Middle East and Africa region.

This was our eighth regional conference in… the region (having started in 2017, but we had a few pandemic-related breaks). And how we’ve grown! This time we were joined 110 partners from 67 companies across 20 countries. For some the flight to get there took eight hours, while for others – the local partner – it was just five minutes in a taxi!

Anyway – welcome!…

// And thanks for making just the one typo in the welcome sign :-) ->

I wonder if they had typos over there? ->

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Hi folks!

Sitting here in Cairo airport with half-an-hour till boarding, I’ll take this opportunity to share some of my key impressions during my quick stay in the Egyptian capital – especially since they match the thoughts of my travel companion, NK, who’s here for the first time. Thus, there are three (agreed-upon!) main takeaways: one positive/encouraging, two – not so much…

The positive/encouraging? The huge number of construction sites in Cairo’s suburbs. There are new buildings going up everywhere in various stages of completion.

The “not so much”? First – how folks drive here: total bedlam and chaos. Second – the older buildings. I’ve written before about these high-rise brick ghettos, but now I can finally share my own pics; last time I was too taken aback to be able to snap such… abominations…

My snaps were taken while we were being driven along Cairo’s ring road, which in some places cuts straight through residential areas as an elevated second-level roadway. The views out the window look like this:

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It was somewhat sad saying goodbye to Singapore and its wonderful airport, but duty was calling so off we flew again…

So where next? Oh… that’s where! ->

Cairo – here we come!…

Read on…

Airports around the world come in all shapes and sizes. Some are huge, some are tiny; some are packed with folks, others are roomy and almost empty. Some are efficient and some – not so much. But the brightest, cleanest, most comfortable, and most luxurious airport in the world is the one in Singapore: Changi Airport.

Everything moves real fast here – even though the airport itself is gigantic. It’s spacious, comfy, and not crowded – even though it’s one of the top-20 busiest airports on the planet.

And it’s just plain beautiful:

(You can find tons more pics online)

And that’s exactly how it should be – for first impressions matter. Airports are the “front door” to a country. And Singapore clearly gets this perfectly: the welcome couldn’t be warmer, and when it’s time to leave – you don’t really want to.

Read on…

Last week, the first ever GITEX Asia was held in Singapore – and I just had to be there…

Not that the original GITEX, which has been running since… 1980 (!) in Dubai every year, is disappearing or anything. It’s just that it’s getting all the more global – or should that be more local, given that Dubai is also in Asia. Confused? Don’t be! The more GITEXs the better is all you need to know!…

So what can I say about this newbie expo? Overall it was pretty modest: the venue wasn’t huge, and it featured only several dozen companies – a hundred tops. Not many big-name players, either. And in our field, it was basically just us:

Read on…