Google Cloud, Haboob Partner to Strengthen Saudi Arabia's Nationwide Cyber Defense

Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Google Cloud, Haboob Partner to Strengthen Saudi Arabia's Nationwide Cyber Defense

Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
Haboob announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Haboob, a leading cybersecurity service provider owned by the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), announced its partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Chronicle CyberShield to Saudi Arabia.

This marks the first time Chronicle CyberShield will be offered in a managed services model in the Kingdom, aiming to bolster cybersecurity services for public sector organizations, said Haboob in a statement on Tuesday.

The news was revealed at Black Hat MEA in Riyadh.

“Chronicle CyberShield is a comprehensive solution that provides technology, processes, capabilities and resources to deliver situational awareness of the cyber threat landscape. It is uniquely designed for government entities to share threat information, help accelerate investigations and initiate a united response against persistent and ever-evolving threats proactively and rapidly,” said the statement

Haboob and Google Cloud are addressing the rising demand for cloud services in the Kingdom in alignment with the Saudi Vision 2030 digital transformation goals.

Running on Google Cloud's infrastructure, Chronicle CyberShield is capable of ingesting large amounts of data and conducting analytics within seconds. This can be a crucial factor when protecting one of the top 20 global economies and dealing with diverse data sources across various organizations and industries.

Haboob is spearheading the nationwide implementation of this solution, including the launch of a modernized Government Security Operations Center in Saudi Arabia, with advanced threat intelligence capabilities, enabling proactive detection and response to threats and incidents.

As part of the partnership, Haboob will also have access to a range of services from cybersecurity leader Mandiant, part of Google Cloud, including incident response capabilities, compromise and cyber defense assessments, and red teaming, in order to help protect key customer assets.

CEO of Haboob Eng. Saleh Alhaqbani underlined their keenness to provide their services to a wide range of clients in government and private sectors, which reflects great confidence in their ability to meet their needs in the cybersecurity sector, said the statement.

He stressed the importance of managed security monitoring services, which are growing significantly due to the legislation and security controls of the National Cybersecurity Authority, as well as the great risks resulting from cyber threats and new and complex methods of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) to bypass and penetrate technical systems.

Alhaqbani added that Haboob is delivering a managed security monitoring service in partnership with Google Cloud using Google Chronicle CyberShield, which is supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that help it detect complex cyber threats. Haboob is seeking to contribute to creating a safe cyberspace and achieving its strategic goals that have been worked on to align with Saudi Vision 2030's strategic goals.



Facebook Users Affected by Data Breach Eligible for Compensation, German Court Says

A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado
A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado
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Facebook Users Affected by Data Breach Eligible for Compensation, German Court Says

A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado
A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado

A German court said on Monday that Facebook users whose data was illegally obtained in 2018 and 2019 were eligible for compensation.

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that the loss of control over one's data online was grounds for damages without having to prove specific financial losses.

Thousands of Facebook users in Germany are demanding compensation from parent company Meta for insufficient protection of their data after unknown third parties were able to access user accounts by guessing phone numbers.

The claims, which stem from a data breach in 2021 of information gathered through the Facebook friend search feature, had been dismissed in principle by a lower court in Cologne and will now have to be re-examined.

The plaintiff had demanded damages of 1,000 euros ($1,056), but the BGH said that around 100 euros would be appropriate with no proof of financial loss.

According to the Karlsruhe-based court, the lower court must determine whether Facebook's terms of use were transparent and comprehensible, and whether users' consent to the use of their data was voluntary.

Meta previously refused to pay compensation on the grounds that those affected had not been able to prove any concrete damages.

A Meta spokesperson said the BGH's ruling was "inconsistent with the recent case law of the European Court of Justice, the highest court in Europe."

"Similar claims have already been dismissed 6,000 times by German courts, with a large number of judges ruling that no claims for liability or damages exist," the spokesperson said. "Facebook's systems were not hacked in this incident and there was no data breach."

Roughly six million people in Germany were affected by the leak.