(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Faced with new and emerging threats on Internet firms have to battle on many fronts to secure their businesses With businesses based in the Middle East increasingly falling prey to cyber attacks there is an urgent need to deploy a cyber defence system that is secure vigilant and resilient according to a report released by Deloitte recently.
“Virtually all organisations will be attacked so C-level executives need to better understand their biggest threats and which of their assets— typically those at the heart of their business’s mission— are at the greatest risk” the report Global Cyber Executive Briefing said. The report examines threats and vulnerabilities across seven key sectors: High technology online media telecommunications e-commerce insurance manufacturing and retail. It outlines potential for attacks reasons possible scenarios and potential impact to business.
“People think cyber-attacks are confined to specific sectors. The reality however is that any organisation that has valuable data is at risk” said Fadi Mutlak partner and cyber security leader at Deloitte Middle East. “Not a single sector is immune to this. The recent systematic cyber attacks on Middle East governments and Oil & Gas companies have highlighted the need for determining the value of your data now and over time the motivation and resources of potential attackers which are some of the first steps in making business decisions about adequate protection.”
According to the report “being secure” starts with tackling weaknesses in applications and reinforcing the digital infrastructure. Organisations that are vigilant should subsequently be alert and identify any attacks as early as possible. Being resilient involves early stage identification of the direction of a threat the reason for such threat and how it will manifest itself. Rapidly detecting an attack can spur an organisation into action so that it can isolate and remove the threat.
Key sectors facing threats include high tech online media telecommunications eCommerce insurance and retail.
Despite years of effort and tens of billions of dollars spent annually the global economy is still not sufficiently protected against cyber attacks — and it is getting worse. The risk of cyber attacks could decelerate the pace of technology and business innovation with as much as $3 trillion in aggregate impact according to the findings of a research by McKinsey in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
In the first quarter of 2014 Saudi Arabia had the highest total number of local and online malware detections closely followed by the UAE. Bahrain and Lebanon were the safest countries with the region’s lowest threat levels according to data from Kaspersky Security Network.
More than seven million of these came from the Internet while the remaining were blocked when they came from local sources such as USB drives DVDs etc. These security incidents represent three per cent of the global total Sergey Novikov deputy director Global Research & Analysis Team of Kaspersky said.
A recent research by McKinsey also suggests that companies are struggling with their capabilities in cyber risk management. As highly visible breaches occur with growing regularity most technology executives believe that they are losing ground to attackers. Organisations lack the facts to make effective decisions and traditional “protect the perimeter” technology strategies are proving insufficient. Most companies also have difficulty quantifying the impact of risks and mitigation plans. Much of the damage results from an inadequate response to a breach rather than the breach itself.
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