Gulf Business Machines, an end-to-end digital solutions provider, will deploy a next-generation firewall by Palo Alto Networks, a provider in cybersecurity solutions, across all schools under GEMS Education, one of the largest private school networks in the GCC. The project will significantly enhance the security of the digital learning environment, enabling improved threat detection, real-time protection, and compliance with educational regulations.
Amidst rising cyberthreats on the education sector in the GCC, the implementation of the firewall will help ensure secure internet access, especially for students, and provide protection against advanced persistent threats, APT, where an intruder establishes a presence on a network to mine private data.
Operating on zero-trust principles the firewall monitors and filters network traffic, preventing virus infiltration, blocking unauthorised access and upholding data privacy.
The technology offers multiple benefits, including enhanced user identity protection, control over application use, encrypted traffic security without privacy compromise, advanced threat protection, and automated threat intelligence sharing.
Meanwhile, centralised management will boost operational efficiency for all GEMS schools. This supports the goal of fostering a secure and optimised learning environment, aligning with the UAE’s vision for a sustainable, knowledge-driven future.
Suresh Bathrachalam, Senior Vice President and Head of Technology at GEMS Education, said, “With the ever-increasing frequency and complexity of cyberthreats, the importance of cybersecurity in educational settings is growing exponentially. The deployment of Palo Alto Networks’ next-generation firewall, executed by GBM, is the latest step in our efforts to secure our entire ecosystem.”
Hadi Zakhem, Cyber Security Provider for Emerging Markets at Palo Alto Networks, said, “With a unified network security architecture and the ability to leverage deep learning in real time, our firewall will enable GEMS Education to see and secure everything while continuously evolving its cybersecurity approach.”
Offering the perfect balance of security, speed, and versatility, Palo Alto Networks’ next-generation firewalls provide advanced protection for physical and virtual public and private cloud networks. Their integrated capabilities safeguard internal assets as well as the outside world, so users can connect to data and applications anywhere.