We live in a digital world where everyone is surrounded by technology; whether you’re at home, work, cafes, social gatherings – literally everywhere. But with the advancements and rapid increase in technology usage, comes a bigger responsibility. While the internet is an awesome place where you can store and share your information in (and share memes and cat gifs), it’s not entirely safe, as you can be prone to cybersecurity threats ranging from data loss and theft, hacking, impersonation, phishing and the list goes on. This is especially relevant to startups and big companies that have big data to store. But where do those companies turn to when they face some hazardous cybersecurity issues?
Today we bring you CTM360, a cyber threat management startup headquartered in Bahrain – your go to if your organization is ever under attack or will be attacked! (digitally speaking of course). CTM360 launched back in 2014, is a 24 x 7 cybersecurity team that exists in the cloud. Their preemptive approach enables them to pinpoint the weak spots in your organization even before an attack occurs, allowing you to be safe from the outside in. When a cyber attack does happen, their Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) remains ready to act. This startup can literally operate everywhere and anytime, an advantage it enjoys due to 100% of its operations based in the cloud. CTM360 has managed over 85,000 cyber incidents for its member base since its inception and remains one of the leading cybersecurity teams that serve a global audience from the Middle East.
CTM360 was founded by their CEO, Mr. Mirza Asrar Baig, who also founded IT Matrix, an Information Security Company based in Saudi Arabia. Mirza’s passion towards cyber security runs deep as he worked in the field of Information Security for over 20 years. In 2006, Mirza initiated the PCI compliance in Saudi’s financial sector which resulted with every acquirer being PCI-certified by the end of 2011.
Even though CTM360 initially faced some challenges with the market’s hesitation towards locally built technology services and products, the company still managed to offer world-class standards which enabled them to penetrate the market at a regional level. Within 3 years, the startup had reached its growth-stage with offices pipelined for the UK and Singapore. CTM360 plans to “follow the sun” by operating on various time zones in order to ensure round the clock security.
When asked about CTM360’s goal, Mirza said that they aim to make Bahrain recognized as the cyber hub of the Middle East, which falls in line with the country’s FinTech vision. The startup is also working towards ensuring that the next upcoming generations are trained and ready to face cybersecurity challenges.
Last but not least, Mirza adds that CTM360 is focused on spreading cybersecurity awareness across all stakeholders, including companies, individuals, institutions, educational bodies, vendors and more. Mirza takes pride raising awareness and training Bahraini youth; He believes that to truly change the society’s mindset on cybersecurity, we must start by educating the youth for a more cyber-ready generation.
Mirza is also a regular speaker at conferences and forums both regionally and internationally to spread awareness on the importance of cybersecurity in the new cyberage. As this is a new and trending topic that many might not understand completely, he has simplified the definition of cybersecurity by comparing it to real life security.
With Cybersecurity one of the hottest and trending topics in global technology today, we inevitably become more vulnerable to threats and are in need of digital protection. CTM360 is your organization’s go to cyber security department in the cloud, tackling any cyber threats through its preemptive and agile approach.
If you’d like to know more about CTM360, you can check out their website here.
You can also follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date with their future announcements.