Nota Bene

Another day – another continent!…

• Country: Brazil.
• City: Rio de Janeiro
• Main business: our regional (the Americas; these days mostly Latin American) partner conference
• Secondary activity: tourisms – of course!…

First up – the partner conference carnival. It wasn’t in Rio city itself, but a bit outside – in a beach suburb; still Rio though. I’d been here a couple of times before, but that was ages ago. The first time was in 2006; the second in 2010 – and on both occasions the reason I was here was for… you won’t will believe it: regional partner conferences!

Back then, I didn’t bother with detailed stories and lots photos (that got started properly in 2011), so I can’t compare today’s experience with that from 19 and 15 years ago, alas.

On the morning of our arrival, with a few hard days’ work ahead, we start out with breakfast looking out onto the South Atlantic Ocean – and a seemingly endless traffic jam:

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Hi folks!

Herewith – another rewind/catch-up post now I’ve had some time get it done!…

And so it’s back to the United Arab Emirates – this time the Emirate of Abu Dhabi – for… this! ->

But first – rewind. (“Again?!”)

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How many times have I been to Dubai? Based on both memory and my photo archives, I think it must be no less than 20 times. Some were long trips, others were lightning-fast one-day hops; all the same – you’d think I’d have seen all there is to see and snap there by now. But you’d be wrong. For they build new stuff here faster than I can keep up with; example: the Ain Dubai Ferris wheel ->

In keeping with Dubai’s shiny maximalism, it turns out it’s the tallest Ferris wheel in the world – a full 250 meters in height.

The closer we get – the more impressively grandiose the views get…

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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:

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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!

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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…

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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.

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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.

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“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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