'It's about local trust, data sovereignty, and meeting national compliance mandates'

Tahawul Tech

5 days ago

Hossam Hassan, Security Account Executive, Cisco Systems, Saudi Arabia and Sherif Azzam, Business Unit Manager, Comstor, Saudi Arabia discuss Cisco's global vision for data centre security and the benefits of their SMB solution portfolio in this exclusive interview.
Answered by Hossam Hassan, Security Account Executive, Cisco Systems, Saudi Arabia
As we recently heard about Cisco's major investment in Saudi Arabia with the launch of its first Security Data Centre in Jeddah — does this reflect a priority for the Saudi market?
Absolutely — the launch of our Security Data Centre in Jeddah is a clear testament to the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia in Cisco's regional and global vision. The Kingdom is undergoing a major digital transformation as part of Vision 2030, and cybersecurity is at the heart of that journey. Our investment is not just about infrastructure — it's about local trust, data sovereignty, and enabling customers to meet national compliance mandates like the NCA frameworks.
This data centre enables us to deliver cloud-delivered security services locally, such as Cisco Umbrella and XDR capabilities, with reduced latency and full alignment to local data residency requirements. It empowers both public and private sector organisations to accelerate secure cloud adoption while maintaining control and visibility over their data.
Saudi Arabia is also a hub for innovation and regional influence, and we see strong demand from sectors like energy, finance, and government. Our focus is long-term — investing in local talent, partnerships, and ecosystem development to help secure the digital future of the Kingdom.
In today's hybrid work environment, many organisations struggle with securely connecting remote users and branch offices to corporate resources, data centres, and cloud applications — often requiring complex infrastructure and significant investment. How do you recommend addressing this challenge, and why do you believe Cisco offers the best solution?
This is a challenge we're seeing across nearly every industry. As organisations embrace hybrid work, they're facing the reality that traditional perimeter-based security and legacy VPNs no longer scale — both in terms of user experience and security posture. At the same time, securely connecting branch offices to HQ data centres and to the cloud often demands expensive MPLS circuits, complex firewall stacks, and fragmented tools.
The best way to address this is through a converged, cloud-native architecture — specifically, by adopting SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), with SSE (Security Service Edge) as the security foundation. This approach enables organisations to:
Deliver secure, identity-driven access for remote users and branches
Replace legacy VPNs with Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)
Use cloud-delivered security services like SWG, CASB, and DLP
Improve performance by routing traffic directly to the internet and cloud
Reduce cost and complexity by consolidating point products
Now, why Cisco? Cisco offers a truly integrated and scalable SASE solution, combining our leadership in networking and security. With Cisco Secure Access, we deliver a unified SSE platform with ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and DLP — all backed by Cisco Talos threat intelligence. What really enhances the value is our built-in Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM), which gives IT teams real-time visibility into user experience across applications, networks, and devices — helping them troubleshoot issues faster and ensure optimal performance.
What sets Cisco apart is our ability to bring network, security, and user experience together, helping customers reduce operational overhead, improve security, and accelerate digital transformation — all with a cloud-native approach.
Many organisations have already made significant investments in individual security solutions — yet they are still being advised to adopt XDR. From your perspective, why is XDR still necessary in these environments? What security gaps does it address, and how does Cisco XDR uniquely add value in that context?
That's a very relevant point. It's true — many organisations have already invested heavily in point security solutions: firewalls, EDR, email gateways, SIEMs, etc. But the reality is, these tools often operate in isolation, and while they're valuable individually, they don't provide a unified, cross-domain view of threats. That's exactly where XDR comes in — not to replace those investments, but to enhance and connect them.
Why XDR is Still Necessary:
Most security tools generate a high volume of alerts, but they often lack the contextual linkage needed to identify multi-stage or coordinated attacks. XDR correlates signals across endpoints, network, cloud, identity, and more — allowing teams to see the full attack story, not just fragmented pieces. Even the best tools can overwhelm SOC teams with noise. XDR filters out false positives, prioritises high-fidelity incidents, and helps analysts focus on what truly matters — reducing dwell time and speeding up response. Without XDR, investigations often involve manually jumping between tools to connect data, take actions, or confirm findings. XDR centralises investigation and enables automated, orchestrated response — which is critical for reducing Mean Time to Respond (MTTR).
So, Cisco XDR Adds Unique Value as:
Cisco XDR seamlessly integrates both Cisco-native solutions and a wide range of third-party tools — like Microsoft, Palo Alto, SentinelOne, Splunk, and more — giving customers flexibility to protect existing investments instead of replacing them. Every detection in Cisco XDR is enriched with intelligence from Cisco Talos, one of the largest and most respected threat research teams globally — providing high-confidence alerts and proactive threat visibility. Cisco XDR focuses not just on detection, but on accelerating response. It generates correlated incidents, provides root cause analysis, and allows one-click response actions across multiple tools — all through a unified interface. What further differentiates Cisco XDR is the inclusion of embedded Network Detection and Response (NDR), which enables it to analyse network traffic patterns and behaviours in real-time. This gives customers deeper insight into lateral movement, command-and-control activity, and unknown threats that may not appear in endpoint or cloud telemetry alone.
In summary, Cisco XDR helps organisations maximize the value of their existing security stack, fill critical detection and response gaps, and unify operations — all through a platform that brings endpoint, network, cloud, and identity together under a single, intelligent lens.
Many organisations find it challenging to assess their security posture—especially when it comes to uncovering hidden threats like suspicious DNS queries or command-and-control communications. From your experience, is there a practical and cost-effective way for customers to gain visibility into these areas without deploying complex infrastructure?
Absolutely — this is a common challenge we see across many organisations. Gaining visibility into DNS activity and command-and-control (C2) traffic is critical, yet often overlooked, because traditional security tools don't always inspect or analyse DNS-layer traffic in depth.
The good news is that there are practical and low-friction ways to gain this visibility without heavy infrastructure investment.
One effective method is leveraging a cloud-delivered DNS-layer security solution like Cisco Umbrella. Cisco offers free trials and lightweight assessments that allow customers to redirect their DNS traffic to Umbrella resolvers — often just by updating a DNS forwarder or DHCP setting. This doesn't require agents or hardware.
Within minutes, customers get actionable insights, such as:
Which devices are reaching out to malicious or suspicious domains Shadow IT applications being accessed Potential C2 communications, phishing attempts, and malware call-backs
The best part? It's non-intrusive, quick to deploy, and provides a clear risk snapshot within days — often surfacing threats the customer didn't know existed.
So yes, you don't need to wait for a full deployment or spend heavily to understand where your gaps are. Tools like Cisco Umbrella make it easy to take that first step toward improving visibility and control — especially in areas like DNS and C2 activity.
Answered by Sherif Azzam, Business Unit Manager, Comstor, Saudi Arabia
Why should resellers partner with Comstor KSA to offer the Cisco SMB Solution Portfolio to their customers?
Partnering with Comstor KSA provides resellers with a unique advantage in the competitive SMB technology market. Here's why:
– Specialised Cisco Expertise: Comstor KSA is a dedicated Cisco distributor with deep technical knowledge and a focus on Cisco's SMB solutions. Our team provides tailored guidance on product selection, solution design, and deployment, ensuring resellers deliver optimal value to their customers.
– Comprehensive Enablement Programs: We offer exclusive training, certifications, and enablement resources designed to upskill reseller teams. This empowers partners to confidently position, sell, and support the entire Cisco SMB portfolio.
– Access to Exclusive Promotions and Incentives: Resellers can benefit from special pricing, rebates, and promotional programs only available through Comstor. These incentives help maximize profitability and competitiveness in the market.
– Robust Logistics and Local Support: With local inventory, fast delivery, and dedicated account management in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we ensure that our resellers can meet customer needs efficiently and reliably.
– Value-Added Services: Our portfolio includes pre-sales consultancy, post-sales support, and marketing assistance, helping resellers differentiate their offerings and build long-term customer relationships.
– Trusted Cisco Partnership: As an authorized Cisco distributor, Comstor KSA ensures resellers have access to genuine products, the latest innovations, and the backing of Cisco's global support infrastructure.
By partnering with Comstor KSA, resellers can gain a strategic ally committed to their growth, enabling them to deliver best-in-class Cisco SMB solutions that address the evolving needs of their customers.
Image Credit: Comstor & Cisco