Thumbay stops 600,000 cyberattacks by deploying Trend Micro solutions

• Group is in discussion about using Trend Micro XDR for their remote security operations centre (SOC), helping to reduce the time for detection, response, and investigation.
• Group converts its legacy anti-virus platform with Trend Micro’s solutions to reinforce its security posture.

The Thumbay Group, a leading UAE healthcare provider, has stopped about 600,000 cyberattacks in three weeks with the deployment of Trend Micro solutions.

The healthcare industry has become a prime target for cybercriminals, who often seek out protected health data and sensitive user information, especially in the wake of Covid-19.

The UAE-based group has converted its legacy anti-virus platform with Trend Micro’s solutions to reinforce its security posture across 46 pharmacies, eight hospitals, and one university hospital, along with medical research, diagnostics, health communication, wellness, laboratories, and nutrition.

According to Alpen Capital, the UAE’s current healthcare expenditure is set to reach a record-high of $25 billion by 2022, comprising about one-quarter of the GCC’s total healthcare expenditure.

With threats against the UAE’s healthcare industry increasing in volume and complexity, Akram Moideen Thumbay, Director of Thumbay Technologies, said the group needed a centralised cybersecurity system that extended beyond the endpoints.

 “Our security transformation with Trend Micro is providing a 360-degree security approach with real-time visibility, instant reports for meeting compliance, and quickly distributing updates and patches,” he said.

As part of its initial system analysis across the healthcare group, the Thumbay Group detected roughly 7,600 malicious communications, which were promptly neutralised within minutes.

Healthcare industry under threat

Further, over a three-week period, the group stopped about 600,000 attempted attacks on the Thumbay Group’s environment, including more than 10,000 attacks that were critical and dangerous.

Over a one-month period, they were able to detect and protect 2,498 vulnerabilities from being exploited on nine critical servers, using virtual patching. 

“With the healthcare industry under threat from unprecedented levels of cyberattacks, the Thumbay Group is showing best practices in transforming their security infrastructure to remain proactive with security protocols,” Majd Sinan, Country Manager – UAE, Trend Micro, said. With such a vast attack surface area within the hospital environment, he said the healthcare providers should consider solutions that provide full visibility across each of their vulnerable endpoints.

In the next stage of its digital transformation, the Thumbay Group is considering centralising its data in a data centre and leading an organisation-wide change of culture in prioritising security.

The Thumbay Group is in discussion about using Trend Micro XDR for their remote security operations center (SOC), helping to reduce the time for detection, response, and investigation.