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Dubai - UAE firms buckle up to face an increasing number of cyber security attacks

by

Rohma Sadaqat

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Published: Wed 18 Jan 2017, 8:00 PM

Last updated: Mon 23 Jan 2017, 9:27 AM

While many residents in Dubai celebrate the fact that they are living in a place that is on its way to becoming a smart city, there are many that are still unaware about the cyberthreats that are increasingly targeting businesses.
In an increasingly interconnected digital world, businesses both large and small can't afford to be caught unawares when it comes to cybersecurity. Experts have stressed that there is a strong need to form a clear cybersecurity structure, and have a proper risk management plan to tackle the threats posed by cyber criminals.
According to Gemalto's 2016 Data Breaches and Customer Loyalty report, 66.5 per cent of UAE respondents claim that the responsibility for protecting and securing customer data lies with companies. The report also found that consumers are becoming increasingly fearful of their data being stolen, with 56 per cent believing it will happen to them in the future. Gemalto also noted that data breaches in the Middle East have increased by 50 per cent in the first six months of 2016, compared to the last six months of 2015.

"In the Middle East in particular, organisations recognise that complexity is the enemy of security. Accordingly, they are seeking strategic partnerships with companies like Cisco to reduce the complexity of their security systems in order to more rapidly identify threats and respond to them. This is particularly true of organisations considered Critical National Infrastructure, but also broadly recognised in many other segments as a part of UAE's ongoing transformation," said Adam Philpott, Cisco - director, EMEAR Cybersecurity.
Where does the UAE stand on cybersecurity?
According to the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union, the UAE ranks 17th on the list of the world's best-prepared countries in cybersecurity. Despite this, the UAE was the target of five per cent of the world's cyber attacks in 2016.
"The UAE, like any other country in the world, is at risk of becoming the play thing of the professional cyber criminals, unless the businesses here do a better job of managing their digital risk," said Michael Marriott, security researcher at Digital Shadows. "Cyber attacks are inevitable and therefore the battle lines have changed and businesses need to change their stance to reflect this new reality. Today, cybersecurity is about knowing what criminals know about you through your digital footprint; and knowing quicker about a data breach or hack on your company so you can mitigate the risk and damage."
Kaspersky noted that 50 per cent of consumers in the UAE have come across, or been targeted by malware online. More worryingly, 28 per cent of Internet users affected by malware in the UAE have no idea how it ended up on their device.
Many large entities, who are well aware of the increasing number of risks posed by cyber criminals, have already taken steps to protect the vast sources of data that they store, and have rushed to assure their customers of the fact.
"There is nothing more important to the Visa payment network than trust, especially as consumers increasingly transact in a digital world. We deploy a multi-layered security approach that has kept fraud rates low, despite significant growth in transaction volumes. We also work hand-in-hand with the broader payments community - from cardholders to merchants, financial institutions to service providers and regulators to keep payments safe," stressed Ibrahim Selim Ergoz, country manager at Visa UAE, Qatar, and Pakistan.
However, gone are the days when targeted attacks were only directed at organisations such as banks. Today's cyber attacks can target anyone consumer, no matter where their data is stored. Kaspersky Security found that 22.8 per cent of users in the UAE were affected by cyber threats originating from the Internet in the third quarter of 2016.  
"Cybersecurity is not a topic we take lightly as startups and small enterprises," said Omar Benseddik, co-founder of Scoutmycar. "Analysis of data is a crucial step for us as it helps us make strategic decisions. To protect our data from being stolen or hacked, we take effective measures by hiring external security experts that establish safety measures on all levels."
"Through encryption, for example, data is unusable in case of a breach; this way we keep our information safe and unreachable. Not only do experts protect data but employees themselves, who are trained to avoid cyber-attacks. We recommend all startups to take smart measures when it comes to data loss prevention and not fall in the trap of thinking that data protection is solely for big corporations and banks," he stressed.
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com


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