UAE-Based Companies Are More Frequently Exposed to Phishing and APT Attacks

DNS management and security services provider Infoblox introduced a global report looking at the state of security issues, costs and how to address them.

Amid the pandemic, organisations are accelerating their digital transformation to support remote working. At the same time, attackers continue to exploit vulnerabilities in these environments, creating more work and increasing budgets for security teams.

In the UAE, the surge in remote working has changed the corporate landscape. The study says that 52% of organisations have accelerated IT modernisation/digital transformation for remote working. While networks have become hybridised to accommodate this change, security systems are still catching up. Companies have also increased network and database resources (49%) and hired more IT staff (43%), higher than the average compared to global respondents.

72% said security incidents encountered by their organisation resulted in a breach. Successful attacks were most likely to have originated from Wi-Fi hotspots (50%) and third parties (42%). In addition, the attacks had significant financial impact: 42% of organisations suffered direct and indirect damage up to $1 million (AED 3.672 million).

While ransomware has attracted public attention, phishing and APTs have been among the main methods of attack, the report said. UAE-based companies are most commonly targeted by phishing (56%) or advanced threats (50%), followed by ransomware (44%). Successful phishing attacks usually signal the need to raise awareness among employees, so they don't fall for these popular scams.

UAE organisations are devoting more resources to protecting networks, data and cloud computing. A large majority (81%) expect an increase in IT security funding in 2022. Those expecting a hybrid approach are most likely to implement DNS security (45%) and secure web gateways (43%).