13 founding banks to share cyber security intelligence in new UBF-ISAC, powered by AnomaliThreatStream 

Anomali, provider of market-leading threat intelligence platforms, has launched its first Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This debut is in partnership with the UAE Banks Federation (UBF), the professional representative body comprising 48 member banks operating in the UAE. It will initially bring together 13 banks’ cyber security data in Anomali’sThreatStream platform. This will aggregate, correlate, and analyse threat data from multiple sources in real-time to support defensive actions.

The new UBF-ISAC lays the foundations for a fruitful relationship, and aims to enhance the understanding of threat intelligence, showcase the value of collaboration, and provide ongoing training. Founding members include HSBC, CBD, ADCB, Barclays, CBI, Citibank, ENBD, FAB, Mashreq, Noorbank, SCB, ADIB, and NBF. Professional body UBF and the ISAC is set to grow in a phased approach to encompass all UBF’s member banks.

“This partnership is aligned with our 2017 Cyber Threat Intelligence Initiative, and to equip our banks with the tools and intelligence to better identify, protect, detect and respond to cyber-attacks. It will help to establish the importance and value of seamlessly collecting, sharing and analysing data, while allowing for anonymous reporting. Together we can then reduce sensitive data exposure and make more informed decisions and investment strategies,” said H.E. Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UBF.

The ISAC is powered by Anomali’sThreatStream platform, which helps to order and interpret the ever growing amount of threat data available to organisations from internal and third-party sources. It aggregates threat intelligence, enriches and dedupes it, removes false positives, and builds clusters of relating information. As well as streamlining threat information sharing and collaboration, the ISAC will enable members to apply context to intelligence, where breach details shared quickly could mean the difference in someone else being attacked.

“We’re excited to enter this first of its kind partnership. The UAE is the financial services hub for the Middle East and it’s essential that it takes the lead in embracing threat intelligence sharing,” commented Colby Derodeff, Co-founder and CTO at Anomali. “The Middle East has seen a sharp uptick in cyber-attacks recently, the adoption of new, technologically advanced processes is paramount and sharing intelligence bolsters defenses exponentially.