For the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an aggressive push for a extra digitized financial system attracted loads of curiosity and subsequent funding — but in addition made it a major candidate for relentless cyberattacks.
With almost 50,000 cyberattacks reportedly thwarted each day, the UAE has spent the final yr strengthening its digital borders and tapping into key partnerships to stay one step forward of attackers.
Hitting the Banks
The monetary sector is a major candidate for cyberattacks all around the world, and in 2023 the UAE reached out to different international locations to assist bolster its defenses on this sector. Specifically, its partnership with the US Treasury Division permits the 2 international locations to share the newest cybersecurity threats affecting the monetary companies sector and develop a contingency plan accordingly.
Related safety partnerships with Morocco and Chad have additionally been established, additional strengthening digital ties between the international locations. Dubai, particularly, has bold plans to develop into the worldwide chief in synthetic intelligence (AI) by 2031 — a feat that brings with it loads of alternatives and digital dangers.
However safety is one thing that the UAE has prioritized, with a robust push to have efficient insurance policies and programs in place to reduce cyberattacks. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of cybersecurity for the UAE Authorities, was a number one voice in advocating for extra expert cybersecurity expertise within the nation, particularly within the subject of AI. In a white paper revealed with CPX Holding, Al Kuwaiti highlighted the dramatic development that AI skilled in 2023, and the way AI is poised to be a pivotal software for — each protection and assaults — within the nation’s safety panorama.
Transformative Applied sciences
Actually, AI has been a scorching subject this yr for numerous international locations within the Center East, with generative AI (GenAI) particularly holding probably the most promise. The GenAI trade is anticipated to be round $23.5 billion yearly by 2030 within the Arab Gulf area, based on Technique&, whereas analysis by Gartner discovered 45% of executives are testing GenAI.
With that form of monetary outlook on the road, international locations are aggressively transferring ahead with AI tasks throughout quite a lot of makes use of, from information evaluation and risk detection to customer support. Sujoy Banerjee, affiliate director of ManageEngine, echoes the significance of AI within the area, and the way the UAE was one of many first to appreciate its true potential.
“2023 has been a transformative yr within the UAE, with rising applied sciences resembling AI and ML discovering toes and taking cost particularly from the cybersecurity entrance,” Banerjee says. “Companies within the Center East have acknowledged its worth and have to undertake such emergent applied sciences with a purpose to unlock their enterprise potential, which additionally assist improve their productiveness, safety, effectivity, aggressive edge, in addition to meet the evolving wants of the shopper.”
The takeaway from 2023 for the UAE is that with the adoption of AI, there are equal quantities of danger and return. Cybercriminals are more and more utilizing AI instruments for spoofing strategies, producing phishing emails that mimic kinfolk, pals, or colleagues with a purpose to steal info.
Chester Wisniewski, director international subject CTO at Sophos, says that 2024’s risk panorama will look so much like 2023 however with hackers gaining extra environment friendly methods to breach into networks, both by exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities or utilizing stolen credentials to realize entry to victims’ networks.
Specialists say whereas AI adoption is an efficient speaking level for the UAE in 2024, the nation nonetheless wants to handle a persistent know-how hole that exists in lots of organizations. Whether or not stemming from outdated legacy programs which can be nonetheless in operation or an absence of expert professionals who’re well-versed in newer applied sciences, most organizations might have averted a essential cyberattack if these had been addressed.
Trellix’s “Thoughts of the CISO: Behind the Breach” report reveals the hurt this know-how hole may cause — almost 64% of respondents within the UAE stated that an assault was missed both attributable to an absence of assets or the dearth of expertise to cope with a fancy incident in a well timed method.
