Are organisations prepared for new cybersecurity risks?

IT professionals in various industries have encountered the unexpected task of supporting remote and hybrid working environments during the last year. As a result, significant modifications to remote access infrastructures and cloud-based services were necessary.

This resulted in a rise in the use of software-as-a-service models in many situations – and, of course, these substantial developments have heightened cybersecurity concerns. In addition, cyber-criminals are exploiting security flaws in new and inventive ways.

According to Trend Micro’s biannual Cyber Danger Index (CRI) study, the risk of cyber-attacks has risen in the previous year. The survey revealed that 80 per cent of global organisations report they are likely to experience a data breach that impacts customer data in the next 12 months. The survey forewarns organisations in the MENA region to re-evaluate and re-instate their cybersecurity stance to combat advanced threats.

Read: Trend Micro survey forewarns MENA enterprises of customer record breach in 2022

At GITEX Global this year, IT decision-makers, cybersecurity vendors and partners will discuss the cyber threat landscape and how they are leveraging the emerging technologies to build a more resilient post-pandemic world.

Dr Mohamed Hamad Al-Kuwaiti, head of cybersecurity, United Arab Emirates government, will discuss the real danger of cyber threats and how can businesses, individuals and, governments prepare themselves in an increasingly digitised world? He will also explain which innovative technologies are helping to protect against cyber threats and the organisations’ main security challenges and priorities for the next two years.

Some of the other key cybersecurity speakers this year will be Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola, chair, African Union Cyber Security Expert Group; Abdulla Bader Al Sayari, chief information security officer, Department of Health, UAE; Aloysius Cheang, chief security officer, Huawei UAE, George Eapen, global CISO and group head of cybersecurity, Petrofac, Harrison Nnaji, Group Chief Information Security Officer (GCISO), FirstBank Group, Illyas Kooliyankal. CISO, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), among others.

Building effective cybersecurity resilience strategy

One of the major concerns of today’s businesses is cyberattacks, which may negatively impact the company’s reputation and loss of sensitive data. When considering cybersecurity priorities, businesses must first assess risks throughout the organisation to determine their weakest connections.

In today’s world, the significance of data as a strategic asset and source of economic value is obvious, but the pandemic has shown us that planning is essential for successfully mitigating cyberattack threats. This post-pandemic recovery and preparedness phase provides a chance for organisations to rebuild to a new normal, with enterprise resilience as a primary goal.

However, these initiatives must take a multi-stakeholder approach. The participation of the tech world in events like GITEX Global to discuss the emerging trends in cybersecurity is essential to building effective cybersecurity resilience capabilities.