Breached Or Not Breached?

AS CYBERCRIMINALS BECOME SMARTER AND CYBER-ATTACKS GROW IN SOPHISTICATION, THE GULF REGION IS INCREASINGLY BECOMING AN ATTRACTIVE TARGET TO CYBERCRIMINALS. HANI NOFAL, VICE PRESIDENT, INTELLIGENT NETWORK SOLUTIONS, SECURITY AND MOBILITY, GULF BUSINESS MACHINES, SHARES TOP INSIGHTS ON HOW ORGANISATIONS CAN NAVIGATE THE REGIONAL THREAT LANDSCAPE.

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With ever-growing emphasis on the importance of achieving economic diversification and reducing dependency on oil revenues, digitisation is high on the agenda of governments in the Gulf region.

The accelerated pace of digital transformation in the region has pushed organisations to invest significantly in advanced technologies such as cloud, mobile and Internet of Things. Those that fail to invest risk getting left behind.

However, as Gulf states progress in their ambitious digitalisation goals, they also become hot targets for cyber threats.

High-profile cyber incidents that made headlines over the past few years, including major data breaches such as those experienced by British Airways, Facebook, Starwood Hotels and Careem have kept the security teams across the world on their toes.

“Cybercrime ranks second among the Top 10 risks in the global economy today and the Gulf region is no different in terms of vulnerability and security incidents,” says Hani Nofal, vice president, Intelligent Network Solutions, Security and Mobility, Gulf Business Machines. “In fact, our latest findings have shown that security incidents faced by the Gulf have risen from 28 percent to 41 percent over the past few years. This suggests a significant surge in the activities within the threat landscape.”

As organisations increase their digital footprints and more businesses go online to deliver digital services we can expect this trend to continue.

However, it is encouraging to note that as the rise in threat continues, the level of maturity among organisations when it comes to cybersecurity is also significantly improving, says Nofal.