Latest news with #Proofpoint
Khaleej Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
AI is blurring language barriers in email fraud, and cybercriminals are expanding their targets
Looking back a few years ago, cultural or language barriers were enough to deter cybercriminals from targeting Arabic-speaking regions. But today, threat actors are now using AI to tailor attacks more effectively to local audiences. According to the first volume of Proofpoint Inc's latest Human Factor 2025 report, language and culture are no longer the deterrent they once were for cybercriminals. As generative AI tools become more accessible, cybercriminals are now able to create personalised phishing and impersonation scams in multiple languages, including Arabic. Proofpoint's research shows that while most tracked email fraud remains in English, there is a growing wave of non-English attempts. For example, a scammer known as TA2900 sends French-language emails on rental payment themes to targets in France and Canada. This trend raises an important question for regional organisations — does the Arabic language still offer a barrier for cybercriminals in today's AI-driven threat landscape? What is enabling this shift is not just language flexibility, it is the fundamental transformation in how social engineering works. Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a tool; it has become the engine powering the next generation of cyber threats. Attackers can collect large volumes of conversation data from platforms like social media, messaging apps, and chat logs, and feeding it into natural language models. These models learn how to mimic tone and context, making the interaction feel even more human. The end goal is manipulation - convincing someone to make a call, click a link, or download a file without realising they have been targeted. And the more realistic the email, the higher the chance the victim will fall for it. Middle East is firmly in the crosshairs of fast-evolving social engineering A recent study revealed that this shift is already being felt in the region. 85 per cent of organisations in the UAE were targeted by Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, up from 66 per cent the year before. While global reports of email fraud dropped, the UAE saw a 29 per cent rise in attack volume. One reason for this could be that attackers are now using AI to overcome the language and cultural barriers that may have previously held them back. The truth is that the broader landscape of social engineering is evolving. In the past, cybercriminals had to choose between sending generic mass phishing emails or spending time crafting highly targeted messages. With automation and AI, that trade-off no longer exists. Today, attackers can launch complex, convincing attacks at scale, making the threat harder to contain and easier to miss. The tools used by cybercriminals are also now more varied. With many businesses using collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and WhatsApp alongside email, attackers are using multiple entry points. They may start with an email and follow up with a message through another channel. This multichannel approach increases the likelihood of success, especially when an employee lets their guard down outside their inbox. Proofpoint's research found that 84 per cent of CISOs in Saudi Arabia now see human error as their biggest cybersecurity risk, up from 48 per cent in 2023. Another growing tactic is the use of benign conversations to build trust. Attackers start with a friendly or neutral message, perhaps asking for a quote or following up on a simple task, to see if the target will respond. Once that trust is established, they introduce a malicious link or request. These softer tactics are harder to detect because they do not look dangerous at first glance, but over time, they open the door to more serious breaches. A proactive approach to cyber resilience is now non-negotiable Despite the challenges, there is strong momentum in the region when it comes to building cyber resilience. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are making visible investments in cybersecurity, smart infrastructure, and public education campaigns. These efforts are part of a broader push to futureproof digital ecosystems while continuing to drive digital transformation. To stay ahead of these threats, organisations will need to build more layered strategies. Security systems that use behavioral analytics, machine learning, and AI can help detect unusual communication patterns and flag potential threats early. Technology like sender authentication can also play a key role, blocking attacks that rely on identity spoofing or lookalike domains. But technology alone is not enough. Employees must also be part of the solution. Ongoing training and awareness initiatives will be crucial to help people recognise emerging threats and stay alert - not just on email, but across all the tools they use to communicate. As generative AI becomes more embedded in the threat landscape, it is clear that no region or language is off-limits. For the Middle East, this means moving beyond the assumption that linguistic or cultural nuances are enough to keep cyber threats at bay. A more proactive, people-focused approach will be essential to stay protected in an increasingly intelligent and personalised threat environment.
Zawya
25-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Proofpoint strengthens investment in the United Arab Emirates to meet customer demand for AI-powered, compliant data security solutions
Dubai, UAE - Proofpoint, Inc., a leading cybersecurity and compliance company, today announced the general availability of its Data Security and Governance Solutions, delivered through its local data center in the United Arab Emirates. This bolsters Proofpoint's commitment to the region, meeting customer demand for AI-powered, cloud-based security solutions that help our customers in the region comply with local data residency policies and meet regulatory compliance. The company's UAE data center was initially announced in February this year during Proofpoint's Protect Tour in Dubai, during a keynote delivered by Sumit Dhawan, CEO at Proofpoint and supported by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security at United Arab Emirates Government. Data loss is a widespread challenge in the region. Proofpoint research shows that 94% of organizations in the UAE experienced at least one data loss incident in the past year. As a result of this, 47% admitted to suffering regulatory sanctions and fines. While UAE organizations are investing in data security solutions, less than half (46%) say they have a mature Data Loss Prevention (DLP) program in place. The way people work today exacerbates this data security challenge for organizations. With the rapid proliferation of digital communication channels and increasingly disparate data sources - and employees working across multiple communications channels and applications - organizations are faced with the challenge of effectively securing a wide sprawl of data, while addressing compliance challenges in a fast and high-efficacy way. Due to this, 88% of UAE CISOs agree that information protection and data governance are a top priority for their organization in the next year. 'Data security is a challenge that is constantly evolving in the UAE, and our main objective is to continue to help organizations protect their data, with innovative, AI-powered solutions that address data loss risks, while ensuring local regulations and compliance,' said Kenan Abu Ltaif, Regional Director, Middle East and Turkey at Proofpoint. 'We will continue to enhance our offerings for UAE-based organizations in line with the threat landscape, enabling them to roll out multi-layered, cloud-native cybersecurity protection that safeguards people and data from today's biggest threats, while keeping their data in-country.' Customers in the UAE can now benefit from Proofpoint's portfolio of Data Security and Governance Solutions, including: Digital Communications Governance (DCG), Enterprise DLP, and Insider Threat Management. About Proofpoint Proofpoint, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity and compliance company that protects organizations' greatest assets and biggest risks: their people. With an integrated suite of cloud-based solutions, Proofpoint helps companies around the world stop targeted threats, safeguard their data, and make their users more resilient against cyber attacks. Leading organizations of all sizes, including 85 percent of the Fortune 100, rely on Proofpoint for people-centric security and compliance solutions that mitigate their most critical risks across email, the cloud, social media, and the web. More information is available at
Business Wire
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Syncro Announces Universal Billing to Eliminate Missed Invoices and Recover Lost Revenue
TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Syncro, a leading platform provider for growing Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and IT teams, today announced the launch of Universal Billing, a new feature that tackles one of the MSP industry's most persistent problems: missed billing for third-party licenses. New feature tackles one of the MSP industry's most persistent problems: missed billing for third-party licenses. This enhancement expands Syncro's already powerful recurring billing engine by incorporating license data from third-party tools and services offered through the Syncro Marketplace into recurring invoices. By eliminating the need for manual reconciliation between vendor reports and PSAs, Universal Billing helps MSPs streamline operations, reduce errors and capture previously lost revenue. 'If I were to ask a room full of MSPs how many have lost revenue to third-party licenses being missed or inaccurately billed, every single hand would go up — including mine,' said Andy Cormier, channel chief at Syncro and a former MSP owner. 'Universal Billing is our love letter to billing admins everywhere. We know how painful it is to manually reconcile licenses between vendors and your PSA. It's not just error-prone — it's a complete waste of time.' Universal Billing automatically pulls daily license counts from supported Syncro Marketplace vendors, maps them to customers and incorporates them into recurring invoices with pinpoint accuracy, even as usage fluctuates. At launch, the feature supports Proofpoint and will expand to all Marketplace offerings by year-end, including Microsoft licensing through Syncro's new XMM™ platform. Philip Semplice, president and CEO at SafSecur said, 'We moved our Proofpoint instance over to Syncro to take advantage of its new Universal Billing functionality, and this has completely eliminated the need to manually update our invoices each month. Best of all, it just works. With our previous syncing, it only updated once a month and was very unreliable. Also, the move had virtually no impact on us, and it was all on the backend. Moving our add-on business to Syncro was a wise decision.' Key Benefits of Universal Billing Eliminates Manual Reconciliation: Automatically tracks and invoices third-party licenses with no manual entry required. Ensures Accurate Invoicing: Uses daily usage data to maintain billing precision as license counts change. Reduces Billing Errors: Minimizes human error by removing manual billing processes. Scales Easily: Supports a growing list of Marketplace vendors, with more integrations coming in 2025. Delivers Immediate ROI: Helps MSPs recover lost revenue and free up admin time. Tom Bull, president and CEO of Two River Computer, commented, 'My company is thrilled with Syncro's new Universal Billing feature. During the initial setup, we discovered a few Proofpoint licenses we hadn't been billing for — an immediate win. Now we no longer have to spend time manually reconciling license counts each month. It's a huge time saver for us and has turned into a great way to capture missed revenue. Can't wait to see more integrations released for Universal Billing.' Supporting MSP Growth As MSPs expand their service offerings and manage more tools and vendors, accurate billing becomes increasingly complex. Universal Billing is part of Syncro's mission to help MSPs operate more efficiently, reduce administrative burden, and improve profitability without adding complexity. Availability Universal Billing is available now for all Syncro users. About Syncro Syncro offers the first Extended Monitoring and Management (XMM) platform purpose-built for midsized MSPs and internal IT teams. The unified platform integrates RMM (endpoint management), professional services automation (PSA), and Microsoft 365 multi-tenant management to help organizations simplify operations, strengthen security, and scale profitably. Syncro delivers powerful automation, native AI capabilities, deep Microsoft 365 integration, and seamless support for 50+ third-party tools—enabling teams to reduce complexity, cut costs, and uncover new revenue opportunities. Its transparent per-user pricing model and commitment to continuous innovation make it an ideal solution for modern IT operations. Learn more at or follow Syncro on LinkedIn.
Associated Press
23-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Proofpoint Appoints Tom Corn as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Threat Protection Group
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 23, 2025-- Proofpoint, Inc., a leading cybersecurity and compliance company, today announced the appointment of Tom Corn as executive vice president and general manager of its Threat Protection business, effective immediately. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Tom Corn, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Threat Protection Group A seasoned cybersecurity executive, Mr. Corn brings over two decades of leadership experience in cloud, infrastructure, and platform security to Proofpoint. In his role, he will be responsible for driving Proofpoint's threat protection strategy, product innovation, and go-to-market execution, accelerating the company's mission to protect people and defend data in today's complex threat landscape. Prior to joining Proofpoint, Mr. Corn co-founded a startup focused on securing agentic-AI applications. He previously served as chief product officer at Ontinue, where he helped shape the company's AI-driven approach to managed extended detection and response (MXDR). He also held senior leadership positions at VMware and RSA, where he led major initiatives in cloud, endpoint, network, identity and data security product development, contributing to industry-leading advancements in cloud workload protection, micro-segmentation, and cyber risk analytics. 'We are delighted to welcome Tom to Proofpoint's executive team,' said Sumit Dhawan, CEO of Proofpoint. 'Tom's deep expertise in cloud and infrastructure security, combined with his visionary thinking around integrated platforms and the evolving role of GenAI to security, will be instrumental as we continue to deliver the most comprehensive and effective threat protection solutions to our customers. His leadership comes at a pivotal time in our mission to define the future of human-centric security, as organizations seek smarter, more scalable ways to defend against today's most advanced threats.' 'Proofpoint is uniquely positioned to lead human-centric security, and I'm excited to be part of a company that's committed to innovation, customer impact, and a platform-centric approach,' said Tom Corn. 'I look forward to working with this team to further build our market-leading threat protection capabilities and deliver meaningful security outcomes for our customers.' Darren Lee, who previously led Proofpoint's Threat Protection Group, will assume the newly created role of executive vice president of strategic projects, reporting directly to Proofpoint CEO Sumit Dhawan. About Proofpoint, Inc. Proofpoint, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity and compliance company that protects organizations' greatest assets and biggest risks: their people. With an integrated suite of cloud-based solutions, Proofpoint helps companies around the world stop targeted threats, safeguard their data, and make their users more resilient against cyber attacks. Leading organizations of all sizes, including 85 percent of the Fortune 100, rely on Proofpoint for people-centric security and compliance solutions that mitigate their most critical risks across email, the cloud, social media, and the web. More information is available at Connect with Proofpoint on source version on CONTACT: PROOFPOINT MEDIA CONTACT: Estelle Derouet Proofpoint, Inc. [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SOFTWARE DATA ANALYTICS INTERNET ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DATA MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TECHNOLOGY SECURITY SOURCE: Proofpoint, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 06/23/2025 01:00 PM/DISC: 06/23/2025 12:59 PM
Business Wire
23-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Proofpoint Appoints Tom Corn as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Threat Protection Group
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Proofpoint, Inc., a leading cybersecurity and compliance company, today announced the appointment of Tom Corn as executive vice president and general manager of its Threat Protection business, effective immediately. 'Proofpoint is uniquely positioned to lead human-centric security, and I'm excited to be part of a company that's committed to innovation, customer impact, and a platform-centric approach,' said Tom Corn. A seasoned cybersecurity executive, Mr. Corn brings over two decades of leadership experience in cloud, infrastructure, and platform security to Proofpoint. In his role, he will be responsible for driving Proofpoint's threat protection strategy, product innovation, and go-to-market execution, accelerating the company's mission to protect people and defend data in today's complex threat landscape. Prior to joining Proofpoint, Mr. Corn co-founded a startup focused on securing agentic-AI applications. He previously served as chief product officer at Ontinue, where he helped shape the company's AI-driven approach to managed extended detection and response (MXDR). He also held senior leadership positions at VMware and RSA, where he led major initiatives in cloud, endpoint, network, identity and data security product development, contributing to industry-leading advancements in cloud workload protection, micro-segmentation, and cyber risk analytics. 'We are delighted to welcome Tom to Proofpoint's executive team,' said Sumit Dhawan, CEO of Proofpoint. 'Tom's deep expertise in cloud and infrastructure security, combined with his visionary thinking around integrated platforms and the evolving role of GenAI to security, will be instrumental as we continue to deliver the most comprehensive and effective threat protection solutions to our customers. His leadership comes at a pivotal time in our mission to define the future of human-centric security, as organizations seek smarter, more scalable ways to defend against today's most advanced threats.' 'Proofpoint is uniquely positioned to lead human-centric security, and I'm excited to be part of a company that's committed to innovation, customer impact, and a platform-centric approach,' said Tom Corn. 'I look forward to working with this team to further build our market-leading threat protection capabilities and deliver meaningful security outcomes for our customers.' Darren Lee, who previously led Proofpoint's Threat Protection Group, will assume the newly created role of executive vice president of strategic projects, reporting directly to Proofpoint CEO Sumit Dhawan. About Proofpoint, Inc. Proofpoint, Inc. is a leading cybersecurity and compliance company that protects organizations' greatest assets and biggest risks: their people. With an integrated suite of cloud-based solutions, Proofpoint helps companies around the world stop targeted threats, safeguard their data, and make their users more resilient against cyber attacks. Leading organizations of all sizes, including 85 percent of the Fortune 100, rely on Proofpoint for people-centric security and compliance solutions that mitigate their most critical risks across email, the cloud, social media, and the web. More information is available at Connect with Proofpoint on LinkedIn. Proofpoint is a registered trademark or tradename of Proofpoint, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
