Protecting Personal Data: Cyber Threats in the UAE and Gulf Region

2024-04-25 23:26:08

Theft of personal data topped the list of cyber threats in the UAE, Gulf region and Middle East over the past year, at 49%, according to a recent security study revealed during a panel discussion at the Gulf Information Security Exhibition and Conference (GISEC) in Dubai.

Help AG, the cybersecurity arm of security consultancy e&Enterprise, which published the study, said it monitored 30,000 critical cyber risk alerts last year, of which personal data theft accounted for 49%, while that trademark misuse accounted for 39%. . 10% for data leaks and 1.5% for phishing attempts.

He said these threats greatly affected several institutions in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, led by the education sector at 36%, aviation at 29% and healthcare at 15%, followed by institutions governments at 8% and investment companies at 7%. while threats targeting the banking and financial sector represented 4%.

The group observed a remarkable increase in the index of attacks aimed at blocking electronic services provided by institutions and countries by 42% over the past year compared to 2022, with a total of 213,434 attacks, highlighting that the longest attack that crippled a service provider lasted five days. He explains that 40% of attacks targeting electronic distributed denial of service hit the government sector and 29% targeted the communications sector, compared to 9% for the aviation sector and 5% for the oil and gas sector.

She said: “On the other hand, investments in cyber defense doubled in 2023, as the partnerships and governments of the UAE and the Gulf Cooperation Council recorded 100% growth in the areas of cybersecurity in the technology sector and in unifying relationships with suppliers. The rate also increased in the areas of defense, cybersecurity consulting and protection systems. » Denial of service attacks, due to the enormous losses they cause to the targeted parties.

According to the study, the most significant methods used in cyberattacks targeting the UAE and the Gulf Cooperation Council were the misuse of personal and public accounts seized by hackers, targeting applications by focusing on their vulnerabilities, as well as disguise, which is a common method of infiltrating files and directing them to tasks or secret services that are difficult to track through security systems.

• The UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council governments recorded 100% growth in unifying cybersecurity domains in the technology sector and unifying vendor relationships.

Dubai Cybersecurity Index is the first of its kind in the world

Executive Director of the Cybersecurity Systems and Services Sector at the Dubai Electronic Security Center, Amer Sharaf, said that the Dubai Cybersecurity Index, which is the first of its kind in the world, supports the efforts of government agencies in the emirate in this important area. sector and helps protect them once morest various cyber risks and threats.

He added while participating in a key session of the Gulf Information Security Exhibition and Conference (GISEC) that the field of cybersecurity was ambiguous in the recent past and there was no of widespread interest for safety designs, but has now become an urgent necessity in all projects around the world, to ensure robust safety systems.

Amer Sharaf. From the source

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