Emerging Gulf State cyber security firm growing fast in size and revenue

Abu Dhabi

A LITTLE-KNOWN cyber security company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recruiting executives who have worked for Western intelligence services is turning over hundreds of millions of dollars a year, largely in contracts with the government.

The company, called Darkmatter, has been on a recruiting spree since late 2014. It has more than tripled its workforce to 650 and has hired executives with experience in major international companies such as Intel Corporation and BlackBerry; some even have backgrounds in Western military and intelligence agencies such as the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Its chief executive Faisal al-Bannai is an Emirati entrepreneur known for setting up regional mobile phone retailer Axiom Telecom. He founded Darkmatter three years ago in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital.

Eighty per cent of its work is with the UAE government and related entities, including advising federal cyber security agency National Electronic Security Authority (NESA).

This has enabled the company, which has an eye on competing in the cyber sphere with IBM and Lockheed Martin, to double its revenue each year.

Mr Bannai said: "Today, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars."

A UAE government representative was not available to comment on the claims.

Mr Bannai said Darkmatter is profitable and providing the UAE government with defensive security tools, but not offensive technology.

"A massive chunk of what we do with government entities here is in strengthening their network against attacks, or at least in helping them to recover from an attack."

Cyber attacks by hostile governments, militant groups or cyber criminals could disrupt key infrastructure such as oil and gas supplies and desalination plants, on which the UAE and other Gulf states depend.

Traditionally low-key UAE has become more influential in its foreign policy in recent years, potentially increasing the threat of cyber attacks.

It has intervened in the Yemen civil war, and is taking a leading role in a dispute between some Arab states and Qatar.

Darkmatter's relationship with the UAE "is a pure commercial transaction," Mr Bannai said, unique in a country where nearly all major entities are state-owned or controlled.

"Definitely, they see a value in having a local partner build these capabilities," he said. REUTERS