Cyber security risks on the rise, study reveals

Cyber security risks on the rise, study reveals Issac John / 28 June 2013 Cyber security risks in the UAE are potentially increasing with social media becoming more available within companies, new study reveals. While 65 per cent of IT experts in the UAE believe the region is a prime target for cyber criminals, 63 per cent believe that the number of “successful cyber attacks” will decrease in the next 12 months, the research conducted by Gulf Business Machines (GBM) said. Across the globe, cyber crimes are growing and by 2017, the global cyber security market is expected to skyrocket to $120.1 billion. The estimated annual cost over global cyber crime is $100 billion, latest data reveals.   The total global volume of cybercrime in 2011 was $388 billion, and in 2012, consumer cybercrime alone caused losses of $110 billion. In the UAE, experts estimate that three-quarters of Internet users in the country will become victims of cybercrime. Of that figure 75 per cent of the hacking is slated to happen around our bank accounts. And only one out of 10 is estimated to have installed anti-virus software on mobile phones.   The GBM survey results reveal that 35 per cent of incidents are staff related, which can be avoided by increasing employee awareness.   “ The security landscape in the UAE has continually evolved in recent years, largely due to the increase of cyber crime. The results of the research also highlights that 21 per cent of respondents said their organisations have not been conducting regular proactive screenings to ensure that their IT infrastructure and critical data are protected. Respondents are expressing a false sense of security as the survey shows that 63 per cent of respondents believe that the number of successful attacks will decrease in the next 12 months,” the GBM report said. “Companies are more aware of IT security issues than ever before. Although organizations are showing more interest in pre-emptive measures against possible cyber threats, they are not always taking the appropriate measures,” said Hani Nofal, director of Intelligent Network Solutions (INS) at GBM. “Nearly half of the organizations polled spend up to 10 per cent of their IT budget on security. However, we expect this number to increase in the future,” said Nofal. Similar GBM research conducted last year showed that just over a third of those polled claimed that their organisations’ IT policies completely prohibited access to social networking websites. Today, this number has been cut in half, indicating that more businesses are adopting and embracing social media. “Companies in the region have been exploring social media as a new way of communicating with the public. Enterprises are, therefore, opening their internal networks and allowing access to social media. This is increasing the potential of cyber risks for organizations and making them more vulnerable to cyber security attacks,” said Nofal. A report published in the January issue of 999 Magazine, the official English monthly of the Ministry of Interior, revealed that cyber-attacks had mostly targeted the banking sector, including both the ATM and Internet banking applications, in the UAE. The banking sector topped the list of the most eyed target (35%) while the remaining 65% attacks were launched against the government’s e-services, telecommunication systems, and educational institutions’ systems, according to the report. To address this problem, most of police general headquarters in the UAE have established cybercrime and organisational security units. They also have computer forensics teams that specialise in obtaining, recovering, examining, analysing, and presenting electronic evidence stored on computers or other electronic devices.  Cloud computing has also become an ideal target because of its reliability and scalability.   In 2012, a new legislation came into force in the UAE codifying the full range of cyber crimes that can be committed and the resulting penalties. The UAE is the first country in the Middle East to implement such a wide-ranging cyber crime law.  The law has been introduced in response to increasing levels of cyber crime in the UAE, brought about by rapidly evolving technology and the growth of transactions conducted via the internet. The new law, which builds on the previous 2006 law, is far more comprehensive in its nature and scope. —  issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com Taylor Scott International