Welcome to ‘Part 2’ of our cybersecurity awareness blog series. If you haven’t read ‘Part 1’ yet, please click here. At a later stage, we would also like to understand how you perceive some of these aspects, through a small survey that we will add to our social media pages. Kindly read on.
Organizations that want to minimize the risks of cyber threats need to be equipped with robust systems and always stay abreast in keeping the security measures up to date.
Digital transformation among the countries in the Middle East brings an added and growing exposure to the risk of security threats. Security researchers from Cisco Talos recently discovered a new remote access Trojan (RAT), which attacks a victim’s device to collect information on the victims’ computers. The RAT malware, dubbed “JhoneRAT”, mainly targets victims of Middle Eastern countries by checking keyboard layouts of the infected device.
It is also noted that the attackers have made use of various cloud services, such as file storage and synchronization services and survey administration apps, as part of the payload’s infection process. Researchers stated that JhoneRAT has targeted Middle Eastern countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, Yemen, Syria, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Lebanon.
Countries in the Middle East are increasingly investing in cybersecurity activities to bolster their national cybersecurity capabilities and elevate the protection level of their critical national information infrastructures. The majority of countries such as Dubai and Saudi Arabia, have framed new laws aimed at fortifying electronic transactions and executing cybercrimes. Others have developed cyber warfare capabilities and doctrines, along with establishing policies for the protection of critical information infrastructure, cybersecurity protection plans and have vested responsibility for cybersecurity in existing agencies or directorates.
Many other countries such as Dubai, Egypt and Israel have established national incident response protocols and have begun building cybersecurity awareness and capabilities. These are all good steps toward improving cybersecurity. However, these steps alone will not hit the spot to manage the risks associated with the ‘smart’ world that we live in, that has become even more digital due to the current pandemic.
So, what can we do to prevent cyber-attacks?
Digital transformation is crucial for businesses in any industry in order to survive and grow in this highly competitive world. To thrive in such an environment it is necessary to make cybersecurity an essential part of the journey. Some of the active measures that can be taken to prevent security threats are as follows:
The journey to fortify your organization and personal data from cyber-attacks is to acknowledge that cyber and information security is a real threat. You should focus on building a detailed strategy for the protection of your business, and in order to do so, you need to stay updated with the latest developments in this space. One of the primary steps could be to build a separate department for cybersecurity, or hire a cybersecurity consultant or service provider in the Middle East, like Aspire, to empower your business. The techniques shared below can prove to be crucial in safeguarding your organization from cyber-attacks.
What can we do in order to minimize the risk of security threats?
(1)Willis Towers Watson reports that more than 90% of cybersecurity issues originate from human error.
Given the ever-evolving landscape of cybercrimes that constantly outsmart modern cybersecurity technologies, it becomes imperative for organizations to increase cognizance and implement advanced cybersecurity technologies. While we search for new ways to effectively combat advanced cyber threats, the informed end-user will always be a necessary component of cyber defense. Get secure today!
