DarkMatter Becomes Associate Member of the Leading Mobile Operator Group, GSMA

LONDON, ABU DHABI and DUBAI, UAE, January 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• Membership will allow DarkMatter to interact with more than 800 telecom operators globally, as it develops end-to-end secure communications offerings 

DarkMatter, the international cyber security firm headquartered in the UAE, announces it has become an Associate Member in the GSMA, the global organisation that represents the interests of the mobile telecom industry.

     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/456368/Faisal_Al_Bannai.jpg )

DarkMatter's membership will permit the firm to become active in GSMA working groups such as Fraud and Security, Web and SIM. These three groups address issues such as safeguarding SIM cards, encryption on the internet, the introduction of HTTP2, mobile malware, cloud service risks and controls, and SS7 security.

The GSMA includes nearly 800 operators and another 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem. The Association, which also produces a range of events that convene the mobile industry, such as Mobile World Congress, has 13 global offices, including one in Dubai.

As an Associate Member of the GSMA, DarkMatter further benefits from the GSMA's resources and can participate in working groups of GSMA programmes such as Personal Data and Connected Living, which are relevant to the firm's own efforts to help secure mobile and Internet of Things devices, and create secure access to online services.

Commenting on the membership, DarkMatter's Founder & CEO, Faisal Al Bannai said, "This is DarkMatter's first substantive industry membership, and we are proud that it is with an organisation as esteemed as the GSMA. Mobile communications have transformed the way in which we work and live, and with the growth in connectivity, and the expansion of applications that are going mobile, it is imperative we secure this fundamental environment from cyber threats."

Faisal Al Bannai continued, "The convergence of mobility, IT, and the web means millions of connected devices are being added to the digital ecosystem on a continuous basis. At DarkMatter we have enjoyed success in developing end-to-end secure communications applications, and we hope to leverage our membership in the GSMA to further establish our activities in this area, while exchanging valuable insights with the leading mobile operators globally."

In addition to DarkMatter's collaboration to help improve the security of the mobile ecosystem, the firm will also benefit from GSMA networking opportunities, access to knowledge databases, and best-practice guidelines and industry intelligence and insight. Membership also offers DarkMatter the opportunity to participate at events and marketing opportunities.

The significance of becoming a part of the GSMA cannot be overstated. The industry body brings together operating companies serving 4.8 billion unique mobile subscribers globally, in an industry that generates over a trillion dollars of revenue annually.

Picture caption - Faisal Al Bannai is Founder and CEO of DarkMatter. He may be contacted on Twitter handle @albannai_faisal