LATEST INTELLIGENCE
OVER 80% OF
UAE FIRMS
FACED A
CYBERATTACK
IN 2019: IS YOUR
CYBERDEFENCE
ROBUST?
PRESENTED BY
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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
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