LATEST INTELLIGENCE
OVER 80% OF UAE FIRMS FACED
A CYBERATTACK IN 2019: IS YOUR
CYBERDEFENCE ROBUST?
PRESENTED BY
Download whitepaper here
There is no doubt that organisations globally
are facing a fast-evolving threat landscape,
and the UAE is no exception.
In fact, 82% of organisations in the UAE reported at
least one cyberattack in 2019, a recent survey of 150
senior IT executives in the country has found.
The survey, by cybersecurity company Proofpoint,
also found that 51% of the organisations
reported multiple incidents, with credential
theft and phishing topping the list of common
attack vectors.
“Whether via malicious links, account compromise,
or social engineering, threat actors are turning their
attention to what, for many organisations, is the
last line of defence,” said Adenike Cosgrove, EMEA
Cybersecurity Strategist at Proofpoint. “A last line
that is often ill-prepared – its people.”
Despite end-users being on the frontline of
cyberthreats, security knowledge and awareness is
found to be lacking among the UAE’s workforce.
The Proofpoint survey revealed the common
employee mistakes that increase an organisation’s
risk of attack including poor password hygiene
(29%), mishandling of sensitive information (25%),
falling victim to phishing attacks (24%) and clicking
on malicious links (20%).
Cyber criminals are also constantly adapting
their focus. For instance, while the global workforce
has shifted largely to remote working, organisations
worldwide have seen their attack surfaces widen and
threat actors are all too aware of this.
Remote working often means you aren’t protected
by the same safeguards your office has in place,
often adding additional hurdles and requiring
extra vigilance when it comes to checking in with
colleagues or partners to verify the authenticity of
requests, and these conditions have breathed new life
into the cyberthreat landscape.
With growing number of attacks and a distributed
workforce, how can organisations ensure that their
data remains secure?
“The best protection for this rise in remote working is
a combination of technology and people,” advised
Cosgrove. “It’s vital that businesses invest in modern
email security solutions to detect and block as much
of these threats as possible, removing the guess work
from users.”
Proofpoint recommends that organisations
prioritise a people-centric approach to security that
protects all parties (their employees, customers,
and business partners) against these threats,
including layered defences at the network edge,
email gateway, in the cloud and at the endpoint,
along with strong user education.
“A new approach is required. One that puts people
at the heart of cyberdefence – ensuring employees
are not just able to spot and deter attacks but
are acutely aware of their role in keeping our
organisations safe.” •
16 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com