News
2021 Outlook
Perhaps no one has ever been this happy to say goodbye to a year like it is the case with 2020. We don’t know yet what 2021 will bring, but we keep our hopes high as always. For the time being, and as long as COVID-19 is prevalent, our social and PR activities remain on hold, and hence, we will not participate or organize any events, roadshows or exhibitions until further notice.
Whereas on the business level, AEG will be active as ever. In fact, AEG is now in the middle of a partnership talk with an outstanding software provider that will be announced at a later stage. This partnership is intended to complement our portfolio of comprehensive solutions. Currently, our teams are working on 2 new solutions in collaboration with our new partner, which will have a great impact on system-related operations and security. These solutions are to be officially launched during the first quarter of 2021.
Moreover, AEG’s Development Department is currently working on new tools and applications, some of which are dedicated to Arab and European countries, each addressing its corresponding area standards and requirements. As ever, AEG promises its clients state-of-the-art technologies and expertise, and always aspires to keep its promise.
AEG throughout 2020
Apart from the tragedies we experienced this year, AEG was listed as CSP Assessor and Cyber Security Service Provider on SWIFT’s directories. Moreover, 3 new in-house-developed solutions were launched this year, one of which was self-attested and listed on SWIFT’s directory: AEG Universal Payment Confirmation. In fact, this solution is being very well received by our clients, with over 60 implementations so far, and counting. AEG-UPC automates the process of sending confirmations to the Tracker on the payment status, the process which is now mandated by SWIFT as of 22 November 2020.
As for messaging formats, AEG developed MidSys3 and MT-ISO Converter, new solutions for MT to ISO 20022 conversion in compliance with CBPR+, as well as SWIFT’s new requirements.
As for gpi, many of our clients went live this year with AEG gpi-PRO, a powerful solution to integrate gpi with the functionalities and services of the back-office system and helps the banks offer tracking capability to their clients. This solution is still expanding, and we are expecting more during next year.
Furthermore, AEG SmartSMD has proven to be a life savior, as it has played a vital role during the total lockdown. It allows bank employees to work from home securely due to the efficient automated smart dispatching of the incoming SWIFT messages/transactions to the related department/personnel for processing. And hence, during the lockdown, banks were able to operate effortlessly.
NOTE: SWIFT does not certify, warrant, endorse or recommend any service provider listed in its directory and SWIFT customers are not required to use providers listed in the directoryBeirut Port Explosion Aftermath
The most prominent incident this year in Lebanon, on top of the economic crisis and COVID-19, is the enormous explosion that stroke the Port of Beirut ramming the whole city, killing 204 people, injuring over 6,500, and leaving over 300,000 people homeless.
Many businesses were affected, especially those that are close to the area of the explosion, including one of our main connectivity providers, whom the blast severely damaged their data center. Despite the sad news, our redundancy plan secured the connectivity of our clients and the transfer was seamless. Moreover, our emails were switched to a secondary domain as the primary was affected as well. This maintained a normal communication with our clients allowing them to open tickets, receive support and make requests. Within the given circumstances, we consider this year a success story as AEG has, once again, proven its resilience and reliability. This is, in fact, the promise AEG makes to its clients, and strives to meet every single time.
The COVID-19 Experience
The persistence of the pandemic over several months with no clear foresight of when it is going to end made us adapt much quicker to the new facts and force solid measures in order to keep our business up and running.
Due to the regular enhancements of our Business Continuity Plan, our teams were already trained and prepared for certain limitations that they were faced with. However, the elongated period has brought about some challenges that could not be avoided, but again, we have been dealing with them in the sense that kept the functionality as high as possible within the circumstances.
First, there were some complications arising from the logistic issues due to lockdown and curfew imposed by governments at the countries of our clients. This may have caused some delays while we would be waiting for our clients to be operating and able to cooperate with us. Moreover, remote communication has been a real changer of the game, because our clients are used to our engineers visiting their premises, operating on site and communicating their issues in person.
Our staff members got used to the new situation and are finding ways to optimize functionalities by creating alternative proactive plans. This induces creativity, problem solving skills, risk management skills, and brings about the best in each and every employee at AEG. We sure hope this pandemic gets over as soon as possible after all the bad ways it has impacted people around the world, yet, we cannot deny that it has given us many lessons on the business and personal levels equally.
Special Offer on PASM Solution from Ekran
With the spreading of COVID-19 pandemic, Governments around the world are requesting their citizens to work from home, which would affect institutions on how to monitor and control the security of the day-to-day tasks performed by their personnel. In that scope, AEG is proud to present a special offer on its PASM Solution by Ekran for a limited period. With Ekran, you could perform all your session monitoring for your personnel while they are working from the safety of their homes.
This offer is valid until the end of May 2020. Should you be interested in this offer and wish to have more information about the product, please do not hesitate to contact your country / account manager.
Special Offer on AEG SmartSMD
AEG is offering a powerful and secure message distribution application “AEG SmartSMD Solution” that allows the bank’s staff to perform, remotely and securely, an efficient and automated smart dispatching of the incoming SWIFT messages / transactions to the related department / personnel for processing. The concerned departments and personnel can receive copies of their messages by mail without the need to check the printouts physically as a copy with exact content will be mailed to the appropriate personnel.
SmartSMD will automate all your SWIFT printing jobs right to your mail no matter how complex your message dispatching process is thanks to SmartSMD’s advanced routing engine. SmartSMD is also used for strict SWIFT messaging monitoring, helping financial institutions to enforce security and compliance as it allows managers to monitor the messaging creation, modification and authorization during these difficult times where unfortunately hackers increased their criminal activity lately and managed to hack Finastra, the Third Largest FinTech Firm in the World a few days ago. SmartSMD is web-based, easy to use and can be remotely installed . It has been also used by number of big banks. AEG, as part of our social contribution towards our customers, announces for a very special offer on AEG SmartSMD valid till end of April 2020. Should you be interested in this product and wish to have an offer or have more information about the product, please do not hesitate to contact your country / account manager.
AEG MT-ISO Converter
All financial institutions processing SWIFT MT Category 1, 2 and 9 series messages must be able to receive and process Cross-border Payments and Reporting Plus (CBPR+) compliant ISO 20022 messages. Optionally, financial institutions with significant intermediary business, where compliance is required, should also be able to send CBPR+ compliant ISO 20022 messages based on received ISO 20022 payments. Conformance to CBPR+ specifications will be validated by the SWIFT messaging service, so it is imperative that bank implements the specifications correctly.
AEG MT-ISO Converter with its advanced and robust features plays an important role in adopting the ISO20022 migration by anticipating their business requirements and complying with CBPR+ defined rules and standards. This also helps the bank to focus on a single point of implementing the ISO20022 instead of making the changes on all the back-end applications.
Universal Payment Confirmation
Starting 22 November 2020, SWIFT mandates FIN users to confirm to the Tracker when a payment (MT 103) has been credited to the account of the beneficiary, placed on hold or transferred outside of SWIFT within a maximum of two business days following the value date in the MT 103.
AEG Universal Payment Confirmation (AEG-UPC), an inhouse application, automates the process of sending confirmations to the Tracker on the payment status in compliance with SWIFT requirements. AEG-UPC is already an integrated module in AEG gpi-PRO application if the bank is a gpi member. However, if the bank is not a gpi member, AEG-UPC can work as a stand-alone application to perform the confirmations to the Tracker automatically.
A New Application for Target2
AEG MidSys3: a new application to migrate SWIFT MT to ISO 20022, and to integrate the BO applications with SWIFT Target 2 messages.
All financial institutions processing SWIFT MT Category 1, 2 and 9 series messages must be able to receive and process Cross-border Payments and Reporting Plus (CBPR+) compliant ISO 20022 messages. Conformance to CBPR+ specifications will be validated by the SWIFT messaging service, so it is imperative that banks implement the specifications correctly.
AEG MidSys3 is a middleware application that resides between core banking applications and SWIFT Alliance Access/Entry and transform the MT messages to ISO 20022 and vice versa. It plays a role of transforming standards, adapting to bank’s operational procedures, adapting to CBPR+ regulations and has the capability to enrich the messages where needed.
Further, AEG MidSys3 allows the back-office systems to exchange the T2 payload information. It contains the required T2-specific logic to communicate with T2 using the SWIFTNet interface. It handles both the InterAct and FileAct messaging services in real-time or store-and-forward mode, including the handling of T2 BAH/BFH signatures. The application also offers a number of add-on features that make it even more powerful such as monitoring, security, integration with AML solutions, email notifications, and workflow definition.
AEG Listed as CSP Assessor
Ever since the first release of CSP in 2016, AEG has been working closely with its clients providing consultancy, guidance and support concerning the compliance with SWIFT’s CSCF framework. In the past four years, AEG performed security awareness sessions, security assessments, risk assessments, penetration testing, along with various activities to detect vulnerabilities, risks and gaps. Moreover, AEG has also been providing security and business continuity products in the quest of keeping its clients protected and compliant. With all the CSP projects that we have done, we have always had satisfying results and contented clients.
Today, AEG is proud to announce that it has been listed on SWIFT’s directory of CSP assessment providers. Being acknowledged as an assessor will undoubtedly strengthen the trust of our current and future clients; the trust that we highly value, appreciate, and work hard to maintain.
Go to SWIFT CSP Assessment Providers Directory NOTE: SWIFT does not certify, warrant, endorse or recommend any service provider listed in its directory and SWIFT customers are not required to use providers listed in the directoryAEG COVID-19 Statement
Considering the current circumstances forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope that you and your family are safe.
Further, we would like to inform you that we have taken all health safety measures as to ensure the protection of our teams at all departments across our branches.
We have all systems and technologies ready in place to operate anywhere throughout our branches across the Middle East and Africa; we will be working on-site where possible or executing secure remote collaboration where needed.
Our teams will be operating from our physical offices or from virtual offices depending on the situation. In this manner, we can promise the continuity of our business undertakings. We ensure that meetings, presentations, demos and professional services can take place virtually. Our support team is ready to serve you at any time via phone, email, Webex and all scheduled deliveries and implementations will be completed on time.
We hope to surpass this situation all together very soon. Until then, stay safe.
On-site Visit to Frejus Teleport and Data Center
In response to Sonema’s kind invitation for a socialization trip to Monaco to watch Formula1’s Grand Prix taking place on May 26 and to visit Sonema’s premises, Dr. Sadek, CEO, and Mr. El Harakeh, Business Development Manager, were glad to accept the invitation and join Sonema’s team for an interesting weekend and an unforgettable experience.
Throughout the stay, various business discussions and topics of mutual interest were raised and it has been very fruitful. There will be many positive outcomes to these meetings that will be inevitably reflected on our mutual business as partners and consequently on the business of our clients as well.
Partnership with RAPID7
AEG is trusting RAPID7’s Vulnerability Scanner
AEG has always taken the initiative to provide its customers with the best solutions to best answer their concerns and address the challenges they are being met with. This proactive approach is not new to us and has always been the main drive and guide by which we do business.
This strategy we undertake implies that we ally with specialists and business partners to exchange knowledge and expertise in order to widen the capabilities for both sides. This partnership naturally reflects all its advantages on our customers, since they are to be served the latest technologies and the best technical support.
Rapid7 is advancing security with visibility, analytics, and automation delivered through an Insight cloud. Their solutions simplify the complex, allowing security teams to work more effectively with IT and development to reduce vulnerabilities, monitor for malicious behavior, investigate and shut down attacks, and automate routine tasks. Over 7,200 customers rely on Rapid7 technology, services, and research to improve security outcomes and securely advance their organizations. Rapid7’s on-premise option for vulnerability management software, monitors exposures in real-time and adapts to new threats with fresh data, ensuring you can always act at the moment of impact.
For more details, kindly contact our Sales team
AEG Penetration Testing
AEG is now providing a penetration testing service. It is a technical consultancy service by which a simulated cyber-attack is performed on an IT Infrastructure to evaluate the implemented security controls. The test is executed to identify misconfiguration, weaknesses and strengths. Vulnerabilities may include the potential for unauthorized parties to gain access to accounts, sensitive data, or the gaining privileges and so on. The outcome of this exercise is a report that highlights the weaknesses captured in the penetration test, its criticality and its exploitability level.
AEG’s extensive knowledge and experience in SWIFT infrastructure allows a deeper understanding of what is best practice in this field and hence put the bank in a real test scenario. Knowing the gaps and vulnerabilities in a bank’s infrastructure has become an urgent need, especially after the recent massive heists that had occurred. AEG highly recommends this exercise for all its customers as part of their cyber security plan.
AEG Risk Assessment
This is a consultancy service targeted to test various attack scenarios via table-top exercise using either ISO 27005 or NIST Risk Assessment framework. The outcome of this exercise is to check possible ways that an adversary can gain un authorized access to compromise integrity, confidentiality or availability.
This exercise is intended to evaluate whether the existing controls are enough or whether additional controls should be added. The scenarios are classified according to likelihood of impact on the organization. These are prioritized and forwarded for decision to the corresponding stakeholders. A report is generated showing results and suggesting risk treatment which is then evaluated by the bank for budgeting and handling.
AEG is urging its customers to assess their risks and take action toward their weaknesses and vulnerabilities in order to avoid any stay protected.
AEG gpi-PRO: A Powerful Application
AEG is launching gpi-PRO application soon
Banks have been long striving to offer fast delivery of the payments with possibility for tracking the process, especially in the case of cross-border payments, as each bank has only been able to guarantee and share information of payments of its own.
SWIFT has launched the gpi – the new standard in global payments – to overcome money transfer challenges and create a quick and smooth cross-border payment experience.
In order to achieve a rapid and efficient adoption of gpi, AEG is offering “AEG gpi-PRO” – a new payment and tracking application which not only saves the bank all the trouble of going through development and testing, but also facilitates and automates the gpi payment process and tracking facility, along with many additional features, all the while being secure and free of human errors.
AEG gpi-PRO is a gpi payment and tracking application developed by AEG. It is dedicated to create gpi payments and allows the bank and its clients to track their payments in real time. The main role of it is to enable SWIFT gpi by converting corporate payment requests into gpi payments and by encapsulating gpi business logic and SLA requirements in payment transactions. And hence, AEG gpi-PRO is based on the available tools and capabilities of SWIFT gpi. It aims to enhance and facilitate gpi use by the banks. It integrates gpi with the functionalities and services of the back-office system and helps the banks offer tracking capability to their clients.
