2017 has been a year of numerous developments in the Middle East. The President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, and his allies – Russia on the one hand and Iran and its proxies (mainly Hezbollah) on the other, managed to stabilize the future of his regime and push ISIS forces out of Syrian territory. The agreement between Russia and the USA regarding the future of Syria guarantees Assad's political survival.

In early 2016, TSG IT Advanced Systems was jointly acquired by Israel Aeronautics Industries (IAI) and Formula Systems, in equal shares. This acquisition has enabled TSG, for the first time in many years, to revise their business focus. On the agenda: focusing on exports, mainly of intelligence and C2 products; spin-offs of content worlds and associating with strategic partners for the purpose of establishing new subsidiaries and acquiring other companies in order to complement and develop additional fields of activity.

Over the last thirteen years, the cybersecurity market has grown faster than any other technology market worldwide. According to data published by Gartner Inc., the research company, this market has grown by a factor of 35 during said period. In 2017 it is expected to reach a value of US$ 98 billion and by 2021 it is expected to grow further to a value of US$ 132 billion.

Cybertech Tel Aviv 2018 Conference & Exhibition, which will be held on January 29-31, 2018, at Pavilion 2, Tel Aviv Convention Center, is expected to be larger than ever before. More than 150 high-profile speakers from around the world have already confirmed their participation at the event. Thousands of people have already secured their place at the conference, hundreds of companies will take part in the exhibition, and so far dozens of delegations from more than 30 countries have confirmed their arrival to the event.

Apple has announced it will hand over iCloud operations in China to government-owned local partner Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry (GBCD) on February 28. In an FAQ posted January 10, 2018, Apple says GCBD will take over operation of iCloud under China-specific terms of service, The Register reports.

The CIA publishes an unclassified internal journal called Studies in Intelligence. In the latest issue published December 2017, an analyst for the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) named John S. Mohr wrote an article titled "A Call for More Humility in Intelligence Analysis."

Saudi Arabia has reportedly shown interest in purchasing Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system, according to the Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung.

The newspaper revealed that a European weapons dealer in Riyadh said the Saudis are examining the purchase of Israeli military hardware, including the Trophy Active Protection System (APS), which was developed by Rafael and IAI's Elta Group.

The positive signs currently coming from the Korean Peninsula, and especially from North Korea, are definitely encouraging.

In fact, the 23^rd Winter Olympics, scheduled for February 9-25, will take place in the Pyeongchang County, which is located in South Korea, or in what is officially called the Republic of Korea.

South Korea has a secret agreement to offer military assistance to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an emergency, Kim Tae-young, a former South Korean defense minister, said in an interview published by the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper on 9 January.

Kim said the agreement consisted of a memorandum of understanding finalized in 2009 before the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) was awarded a contract to build the Al-Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi.

According to a report by IHS Jane's, Egypt received eight Rafale aircraft from France’s Dassault Aviation Group.