How AI Is Reinventing Cybersecurity For The Automotive Industry
By Alain Penel, VP of Middle East, CIS & Turkey at Fortinet
Autonomous and electric vehicle uptake is rising across the Middle East, driven by national agendas and a growing push for sustainable mobility. With this rapid growth however comes an urgent need to address cybersecurity at every stage of the automotive value chain.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of this shift; transforming not only how vehicles operate, but also how cyber threats are identified, mitigated, and prevented. From predictive maintenance to driver behaviour analytics, AI is streamlining processes and unlocking efficiencies. But it is also redefining the security perimeter for automotive organisations.
Forces Influencing AI Adoption in Automotive
As the industry evolves, three forces are shaping the current landscape: stricter regulations, rapid AI integration, and a fundamental change in communication infrastructure. Regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act and NIS2 for example are introducing more granular compliance mandates, especially for sectors handling critical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, AI is accelerating business and individual learning processes. At the network level, the need for faster communication and bandwidth adaptability is giving rise to next-generation connectivity frameworks that can support AI-native systems.
This evolution in infrastructure and intelligence also promotes a significant shift in cybersecurity from reactive to preventive. AI is increasingly being used to analyse threat landscapes and internal vulnerabilities in real-time. This shift enables organisations to prepare for attacks before they happen, leveraging behavioural analytics and high-speed correlation to stay ahead of potential breaches. Hardware acceleration and software development, guided by AI, are now setting the pace for how cybersecurity evolves across the industry.
The Impact of Cybersecurity
Unsurprisingly, automotive enterprises are becoming high-value targets for cybercriminals. Three core factors contribute to this trend; the financial opportunity of holding connected services hostage, the complexity of digital supply chains, and the vast amount of sensitive data being generated.
With every vehicle connected to cloud-based services, a single breach can have wide-ranging brand, operational, and financial repercussions. Moreover, the ecosystem of third-party vendors involved in producing autonomous and electric vehicles significantly expands the attack surface.
The use of digital twins and advanced manufacturing technologies further intensifies the volume of valuable data. This information ranging from user behaviour patterns to proprietary designs is not only attractive to attackers but also becomes a tool for launching future attacks or selling on the dark web.
AI Transformations in the Automotive Supply Chain
AI is also transforming the automotive supply chain. Predictive maintenance for example – as opposed to scheduled or reactive vehicle maintenance, which until now has been the norm – enables companies to forecast part failures, optimise distribution, and reduce warehousing costs. AI can analyse and synthesise so many data streams that this guessing game becomes much more accurate. Not only does this mean more reliable vehicles for the consumer, but it also means that each element of demand can be optimised.
Driver behaviour analysis and in-cabin monitoring systems powered by AI are also enhancing safety, particularly for long-haul truck drivers exposed to risks such as fatigue and theft. These AI-powered innovations are already helping companies reduce operational costs while improving customer satisfaction.
Strengthening security across the supply chain means embedding real-time monitoring, mapping data flows, and building a fast, coordinated response to incidents. The introduction of cyber resilience principles encouraged by regulatory bodies requires organisations to maintain robust and sustainable response mechanisms. AI can help with this.
AI's Role in Automotive Cybersecurity
The future of AI in automotive cybersecurity lies in its ecosystem-wide integration. Multimodal AI models that can process text, images, and design data are already in use.
But the next phase involves combining internal and external intelligence to strengthen risk postures. Synthetic data created specifically to train internal models without exposing real user data is becoming an important asset in speeding up AI development while preserving privacy.
The impact of AI can be summarised as transformative, dual-edged, and adaptable. It is enhancing cybersecurity readiness, being weaponised by attackers, and empowering businesses to evolve quickly in a changing environment.
As the Middle East embraces connected mobility and smart transportation, the conversation must move beyond adopting AI to implementing it securely and intelligently. The road to the future may be autonomous, but its success will hinge on cybersecurity built for adaptability, speed, and scale. 0 0
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
3 hours ago
- Zawya
Fortinet unveils new AI-powered workspace security suite to protect the modern enterprise
Dubai, UAE: Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today announced enhancements to its data and productivity security portfolio, expanding FortiMail with the launch of the FortiMail Workspace Security suite. These new capabilities establish FortiMail as the broadest and most customizable email security platform and extend protection beyond email to include browser and collaboration security. These advancements, combined with new features in FortiDLP, Fortinet's next-generation data loss prevention (DLP) and insider risk management solution, deliver a unified, AI-powered approach to safeguarding users and sensitive data across today's dynamic work environments. 'In today's evolving threat landscape, securing user productivity and sensitive data requires a unified strategy that considers both outsider threats and insider risks,' said Nirav Shah, Senior Vice President, Products and Solutions at Fortinet. 'Cybercriminals are aiming their efforts right at users and increasingly leveraging tools like FraudGPT, BlackmailerV3, and ElevenLabs to automate the creation of malware, deepfake videos, phishing websites, and synthetic voices—making attacks more scalable, convincing, and difficult to detect. With our expanded AI-powered FortiMail Workspace Security suite and FortiDLP solutions, Fortinet empowers organizations to stay ahead of threat actors and insider risks while ensuring users, data, and productivity remain secure.' AI-Powered Defense for Communication, Collaboration, and Data Security Today's hybrid workforce relies heavily on SaaS and collaboration tools, increasing both productivity and the attack surface. As users interact with sensitive data across these platforms, organizations must address threats to both users and data in tandem. The 2025 Fortinet Global Threat Landscape Report highlights the rise of AI-enabled cybercrime, with attackers using automation to launch more convincing phishing, impersonation, and account takeover campaigns. Fortinet's enhanced workspace security solutions meet this challenge head-on with AI-powered protection across email, browsers, and collaboration environments, defending against external and internal threats wherever work happens. This spans the full spectrum of user interactions and data movement across the digital workspace: Email security, evolved: With the acquisition and integration of Perception Point—recognized as a Visionary in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Email Security1—Fortinet has significantly expanded the capabilities of the FortiMail email security platform, establishing it as the industry's broadest and most customizable solution. FortiMail can address any email security needs, including inbound, outbound (including relays), and internal mail protection, with flexible deployment options across appliances, virtual machines, hosted services, and SaaS. It offers multiple operating modes—gateway, server, ICES, and hybrid—and features both a highly configurable UI and a streamlined SaaS experience. Extending security to collaboration tools: The FortiMail Workspace Security suite expands protection beyond email to web browsers and collaboration tools, enabling organizations to stop sophisticated threats across platforms like Microsoft 365 and Teams, Google Workspace, and Slack. It blocks evasive web-based attacks, hidden malware in shared files, and malicious links sent through chat and collaboration apps. The platform also enhances visibility into user activity across cloud environments, helping security teams detect and prevent account takeovers before they escalate. A built-in, 24x7 managed incident response service supports rapid threat analysis and containment to reduce operational load on SOC teams. Smarter defense for critical data: FortiDLP strengthens this offering by adding advanced capabilities like secure data flow with data lineage and sequence detection, providing security and insider risk teams with detailed tracking of sensitive data from its source, capturing how that data is used and manipulated by users, and automatically correlating user activities to detect high-risk behavior that warrants further investigation. Whether monitoring for unauthorized sharing of confidential information through cloud drives or preventing the exposure of sensitive data to unsanctioned SaaS and GenAI platforms, FortiDLP delivers the context and control needed to protect sensitive data, including intellectual property. Unified Protection for a Hybrid World With these latest enhancements, Fortinet redefines the way organizations protect users and data in the modern workspace. By combining the power of AI with integrated email, browser, collaboration, and data security, Fortinet delivers the visibility, control, and response speed security teams need, turning complexity into clarity and threats into just another task handled. Additional Resources Learn more about FortiMail Workspace Security. Read more about the Fortinet Security Fabric. Visit to learn about Fortinet innovation, collaboration partners, product security processes, and enterprise-grade products. Read about how Fortinet customers are securing their organizations. Learn about Fortinet's commitment to product security and integrity, including its responsible product development and vulnerability disclosure approach and policies. Follow Fortinet on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe to Fortinet on our blog or YouTube. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. [1] Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Email Security Platforms, By Max Taggett, Nikul Patel, Franz Hinner, Deepak Mishra, 16 December 2024 About Fortinet Fortinet (Nasdaq: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere our customers need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet's solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Collaboration with esteemed organizations from both the public and private sectors, including Computer Emergency Response Teams ('CERTS'), government entities, and academia, is a fundamental aspect of Fortinet's commitment to enhance cyber resilience globally. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet's elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at the Fortinet Blog, and FortiGuard Labs. Copyright © 2025 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and ™ denote respectively federally registered trademarks and common law trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet's trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, the Fortinet logo, FortiGate, FortiOS, FortiGuard, FortiCare, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, FortiASIC, FortiClient, FortiCloud, FortiMail, FortiSandbox, FortiADC, FortiAI, FortiAIOps, FortiAgent, FortiAntenna, FortiAP, FortiAPCam, FortiAuthenticator, FortiCache, FortiCall, FortiCam, FortiCamera, FortiCarrier, FortiCASB, FortiCentral, FortiCNP, FortiConnect, FortiController, FortiConverter, FortiCSPM, FortiCWP, FortiDAST, FortiDB, FortiDDoS, FortiDeceptor, FortiDeploy, FortiDevSec, FortiDLP, FortiEdge, FortiEDR, FortiExplorer, FortiExtender, FortiFirewall, FortiFlex FortiFone, FortiGSLB, FortiGuest, FortiHypervisor, FortiInsight, FortiIsolator, FortiLAN, FortiLink, FortiMonitor, FortiNAC, FortiNDR, FortiPAM, FortiPenTest, FortiPhish, FortiPoint, FortiPolicy, FortiPortal, FortiPresence, FortiProxy, FortiRecon, FortiRecorder, FortiSASE, FortiScanner, FortiSDNConnector, FortiSIEM, FortiSMS, FortiSOAR, FortiSRA, FortiStack, FortiSwitch, FortiTester, FortiToken, FortiTrust, FortiVoice, FortiWAN, FortiWeb, FortiWiFi, FortiWLC, FortiWLM, FortiXDR and Lacework FortiCNAPP. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee, contract, binding specification or other binding commitment by Fortinet or any indication of intent related to a binding commitment, and performance and other specification information herein may be unique to certain environments. Media Contact Amber Dale amberdale@
Channel Post MEA
4 days ago
- Channel Post MEA
Fortinet Unveils Security Suite For AI-Powered Workspaces
Fortinet has announced enhancements to its data and productivity security portfolio, expanding FortiMail with the launch of the FortiMail Workspace Security suite. These new capabilities establish FortiMail as the broadest and most customizable email security platform and extend protection beyond email to include browser and collaboration security. These advancements, combined with new features in FortiDLP, Fortinet's next-generation data loss prevention (DLP) and insider risk management solution, deliver a unified, AI-powered approach to safeguarding users and sensitive data across today's dynamic work environments. 'In today's evolving threat landscape, securing user productivity and sensitive data requires a unified strategy that considers both outsider threats and insider risks. Cybercriminals are aiming their efforts right at users and increasingly leveraging tools like FraudGPT, BlackmailerV3, and ElevenLabs to automate the creation of malware, deepfake videos, phishing websites, and synthetic voices—making attacks more scalable, convincing, and difficult to detect. With our expanded AI-powered FortiMail Workspace Security suite and FortiDLP solutions, Fortinet empowers organizations to stay ahead of threat actors and insider risks while ensuring users, data, and productivity remain secure,' says Nirav Shah, Senior Vice President, Products and Solutions at Fortinet. AI-Powered Defense for Communication, Collaboration, and Data Security Today's hybrid workforce relies heavily on SaaS and collaboration tools, increasing both productivity and the attack surface. As users interact with sensitive data across these platforms, organizations must address threats to both users and data in tandem. The 2025 Fortinet Global Threat Landscape Report highlights the rise of AI-enabled cybercrime, with attackers using automation to launch more convincing phishing, impersonation, and account takeover campaigns. Fortinet's enhanced workspace security solutions meet this challenge head-on with AI-powered protection across email, browsers, and collaboration environments, defending against external and internal threats wherever work happens. This spans the full spectrum of user interactions and data movement across the digital workspace: Email security, evolved: With the acquisition and integration of Perception Point—recognized as a Visionary in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Email Security—Fortinet has significantly expanded the capabilities of the FortiMail email security platform, establishing it as the industry's broadest and most customizable solution. FortiMail can address any email security needs, including inbound, outbound (including relays), and internal mail protection, with flexible deployment options across appliances, virtual machines, hosted services, and SaaS. It offers multiple operating modes—gateway, server, ICES, and hybrid—and features both a highly configurable UI and a streamlined SaaS experience. Extending security to collaboration tools: The FortiMail Workspace Security suite expands protection beyond email to web browsers and collaboration tools, enabling organizations to stop sophisticated threats across platforms like Microsoft 365 and Teams, Google Workspace, and Slack. It blocks evasive web-based attacks, hidden malware in shared files, and malicious links sent through chat and collaboration apps. The platform also enhances visibility into user activity across cloud environments, helping security teams detect and prevent account takeovers before they escalate. A built-in, 24×7 managed incident response service supports rapid threat analysis and containment to reduce operational load on SOC teams. Smarter defense for critical data: FortiDLP strengthens this offering by adding advanced capabilities like secure data flow with data lineage and sequence detection, providing security and insider risk teams with detailed tracking of sensitive data from its source, capturing how that data is used and manipulated by users, and automatically correlating user activities to detect high-risk behavior that warrants further investigation. Whether monitoring for unauthorized sharing of confidential information through cloud drives or preventing the exposure of sensitive data to unsanctioned SaaS and GenAI platforms, FortiDLP delivers the context and control needed to protect sensitive data, including intellectual property. Unified Protection for a Hybrid World With these latest enhancements, Fortinet redefines the way organizations protect users and data in the modern workspace. By combining the power of AI with integrated email, browser, collaboration, and data security, Fortinet delivers the visibility, control, and response speed security teams need, turning complexity into clarity and threats into just another task handled.
Channel Post MEA
21-05-2025
- Channel Post MEA
Fortinet Launches FortiGate 700G Series Firewalls For Campus Networks
Fortinet has announced the FortiGate 700G series, a next-generation firewall (NGFW) purpose-built for the modern campus. Powered by Fortinet's proprietary Network Processor 7 (NP7), Security Processor 5 (SP5) ASIC, and FortiOS, Fortinet's unified operating system, the FortiGate 700G series delivers up to 7x higher firewall throughput, 4x better threat protection, and 7x lower power consumption than competitor offerings. With support for advanced networking, FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services, and new FortiOS enhancements, including post-quantum cryptography readiness, FortiAI-Protect for AI-driven threat detection, and generative AI (GenAI) risk assessment, the FortiGate 700G helps organizations reduce risk, optimize performance, and future-proof hybrid IT environments. 'With the FortiGate 700G series, we're delivering more than just industry-leading performance that customers have come to expect from Fortinet—we're equipping organizations with advanced capabilities to stay ahead of current and emerging cyberthreats,' said Nirav Shah, Senior Vice President, Products and Solutions, at Fortinet. 'From AI-powered threat detection and GenAI risk mitigation with FortiAI-Protect to post-quantum cryptography readiness built into FortiOS, this new next-generation firewall series helps our customers consolidate infrastructure, reduce cyber risk, and confidently build for the future.' FortiGate 700G: Industry-leading Performance with AI-Powered Security Today's enterprises are under pressure to scale operations, secure expanding attack surfaces, and manage increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats while reducing costs and maintaining efficiency. The FortiGate 700G series is engineered to meet these demands, offering: Unmatched performance and security: Delivering 7x higher firewall throughput (164 Gbps) and 4x better threat protection (26 Gbps) than the industry average, the FortiGate 700G series ensures businesses maintain high-speed, secure operations. Delivering 7x higher firewall throughput (164 Gbps) and 4x better threat protection (26 Gbps) than the industry average, the FortiGate 700G series ensures businesses maintain high-speed, secure operations. Energy resilience through ultra-efficient design: The FortiGate 700G series enables continuous security even in energy-constrained or sustainability-focused environments. Consuming 7x fewer watts per Gbps than the industry average, the FortiGate 700G series sets the standard for energy efficiency and significantly reduces operational costs. The FortiGate 700G series enables continuous security even in energy-constrained or sustainability-focused environments. Consuming 7x fewer watts per Gbps than the industry average, the FortiGate 700G series sets the standard for energy efficiency and significantly reduces operational costs. Enhanced threat detection and response with AI-powered security: As attackers increasingly weaponize AI and automate cyberattacks, FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services, enhanced by FortiAI-Protect, enables organizations to detect and block emerging, unknown, and increasingly sophisticated threats. FortiAI-Protect also delivers contextual risk assessments and enforces access controls for third-party GenAI applications, providing visibility into shadow AI usage across business groups and helping improve the overall data security posture of organizations. As attackers increasingly weaponize AI and automate cyberattacks, FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services, enhanced by FortiAI-Protect, enables organizations to detect and block emerging, unknown, and increasingly sophisticated threats. FortiAI-Protect also delivers contextual risk assessments and enforces access controls for third-party GenAI applications, providing visibility into shadow AI usage across business groups and helping improve the overall data security posture of organizations. Post-quantum cryptography readiness: New FortiOS capabilities help protect sensitive data against quantum-era threats by enabling quantum-resistant encryption, algorithm stacking for enhanced protection, and a seamless transition to post-quantum security, ideal for organizations in finance, healthcare, government, and other sectors handling long-term sensitive information. New FortiOS capabilities help protect sensitive data against quantum-era threats by enabling quantum-resistant encryption, algorithm stacking for enhanced protection, and a seamless transition to post-quantum security, ideal for organizations in finance, healthcare, government, and other sectors handling long-term sensitive information. Support for a wide range of network interfaces, ranging from 5GE to 25GE: Ensuring the flexibility to connect various devices and topologies, the FortiGate 700G series enables organizations to seamlessly adapt to developing technologies and accommodate future upgrades without costly overhauls. Ensuring the flexibility to connect various devices and topologies, the FortiGate 700G series enables organizations to seamlessly adapt to developing technologies and accommodate future upgrades without costly overhauls. Deeper protections for critical system files: FortiSentry is a unique out-of-band hardware module that provides continuous, non-intrusive file-system monitoring, adding another layer of protection to detect and prevent unauthorized access to critical system files. 0 0
