In a world where data is just as vulnerable at rest as it is in motion or in use, organisations need security that meets data wherever it lives, not the other way around. Closing the gap between visibility and control means securing data no matter where it resides by bringing awareness back to the top says Samer Diya at Forcepoint.
In the UAE and across the Middle East, the rules of data security are being rewritten. As organisations embrace remote work, cloud adoption and generative AI, data is spreading fast, often beyond visibility or control. The challenge: knowing which data matters most, understanding its context, and protecting it exactly when it matters, at AI speed.
This demands AI-native security, technology built with AI at its core, not added on as an afterthought, so that intelligence is embedded in every decision.
Traditional, siloed security methods can no longer keep up. The answer to this dilemma is a smarter, self-aware approach to data security, one grounded in continuous visibility, contextual understanding, and the agility to adapt in real time. This means knowing where sensitive data lives, recognising when its risk level changes, and enforcing protection automatically.
If data does not sit still, why should security?
This shift is urgent. The gap between visibility and control is widening, creating blind spots and vulnerabilities that increase the risk of data breaches, regulatory fallout, inefficiency and more. Security teams are under more pressure than ever, often relying on fragmented tools and reactive control.
Meanwhile, attackers, especially those using AI, are faster, have more resources and are becoming harder to detect. In an AI-driven threat landscape, speed matters as much as accuracy. Security must adapt in step with the data itself.
A self-aware approach to data security is no longer optional, it is foundational. In a world where data is just as vulnerable at rest as it is in motion or in use, organisations need security that meets data wherever it lives, not the other way around.
Effective data protection today demands intelligence and context, visibility into where data resides, clarity on its value, and awareness that scales across environments. The most advanced approaches combine explainable AI with unified policies, allowing teams to focus on genuine threats, adapt protection as risk changes, and simplify compliance even as they embrace new AI-driven opportunities.
This level of awareness allows security to adjust dynamically, reducing false alarms and preventing threats from escalating long before they have a chance to materialise.
This approach is especially critical in the UAE and GCC, where governments are accelerating AI-driven initiatives as core pillars of national digital transformation strategies, creating urgency for enterprises to know their data, adapt protection dynamically and safeguard innovation without compromising compliance.
With the regional AI market poised for substantial growth, it has become imperative that enterprises adopt security solutions that enable innovation, without compromising data protection or regulatory compliance.
Closing the visibility and control gap means securing data no matter where it resides by bringing awareness back to the top. Because when you know where your data lives, you can adapt those controls in real-time and enforce protection at scale, you make clearer decisions based on context, rather than isolated signals.
AI now takes this a step further. While it can be weaponised by attackers to impersonate users or exfiltrate sensitive data, it also gives defenders the upper hand: Enabling earlier threat detection, predictive insights into attacker behaviour, and faster, more precise responses.
The real differentiator lies in how AI is applied. That is why we are focused on leveraging AI not only to know what risks matter most, but also to understand their context, adapt controls accordingly, and respond intelligently to enforce protection at scale.
The vision reflects this commitment to make security more aware of data, its value and sensitivity, so data security can respond to risk faster, delivering smart, scalable, and integrated protection that works seamlessly across all environments, without adding unnecessary complexity.
And as AI becomes deeply embedded in business operations, data security is no longer just about preventing breaches, it is about enabling safe, sustainable transformation. Organisations that rethink their data security strategies with awareness, intelligence, visibility, and control at the forefront will be best positioned to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
