Intelligent CISO Issue 66 | Page 58

FEATURE
regulatory landscape , both locally and internationally . Both these factors are bound to drive organisations to invest more in cybersecurity . A third catalyst is this demand on CISOs to do more with less . I can see this leading to more shrewd and targeted cyber investments as organisations consolidate their security suite and seek to shrink their vendor pools .
In other areas , if we are fortunate , the market for cybersecurity talent will continue to grow , governments and private-sector businesses will collaborate more often and international cybersecurity organisations will unite experts to fortify the region ’ s cyber defences and make us all safer .
What ’ s the secret to staying cyber secure in this particular region ?
The key is universal and , in fact , is no secret . Middle East organisations must adopt multi-faceted , proactive approaches to cybersecurity . Understand your risks as they pertain to your region , your industry and your regulatory landscape . Invest in up-todate cybersecurity technologies that address the challenges of today rather than those of yesteryear .
Globally , cyberthreats are evolving and growing in number . The technologies that fight them are out there and are also improving . When deployed effectively , these technologies create layers of protection against BEC campaigns , phishing , vishing and smishing . They protect against identity theft , fraudulent sessions , lateral movement and payload drops . They protect against the infiltration of malicious entities and the compromise or exfiltration of data . Technology allows the SOC to continually adapt to the threat landscape .
What trends are you seeing in terms of customer demand and how has this evolved over the last few years ?
The primary trend that stands out for me is the increasing emphasis on the consolidation of cybersecurity technologies . Cybersecurity teams , vendor management teams and procurement teams are collaborating on this shift , which is driven by the realisation that a patchwork of point solutions is not sufficient to meet present-day challenges . Legacy tools become unwieldy and their results degrade to white noise , alert fatigue and burnout among security professionals . Consolidation reduces complexity and so eliminates these headaches , streamlines operations and improves overall security posture while reducing costs and boosting morale in the SOC .
How has increased adoption of the cloud impacted cyber-risk for organisations ?
The cloud and remote work have contributed to heightened cyber-risk . The Middle East saw massive shifts to these models from mid-2020 onwards . Cybersecurity solutions now include those that are cloud-aware in a way that legacy tools were not . Cloudnative environments are the norm so cybersecurity must now be scalable and flexible . Tools must allow analysts to peer into every corner of the modern business ’ operations , which are more dynamic and distributed . Microsoft , Google , Oracle and other hyperscale providers are establishing clouds across MEA , in countries like the UAE , Qatar , Bahrain and South Africa . The businesses that are the customers of those tech giants can no longer rely on the ‘ castle / moat ’ approach to security . Firewalls and perimeters have different roles to play in infrastructures that are routinely exposed to the Internet . We must safeguard data and resources with due regard to that exposure , adopting cloud-native security measures to mitigate cyber-risk .
What are some of the misconceptions about cybersecurity in the region ?
The Middle East ’ s misconceptions closely resemble those of the rest of the world : cybersecurity is purely an IT issue ; we are not a high-profile target ; the technology alone will protect us from all threats ; insider threats can ’ t happen here ; incident-response plans are for multi-nationals .
The truth is : cybersecurity is a multidisciplinary team sport ; any scale of business can be the victim of a crippling incident ; technology is not the beginning and end of the posture story ; there are such things as malicious and non-malicious insider threats and they can happen to anyone ; and everybody should have an incident response plan because anybody can be a victim .
A region-specific example might be that cybercriminals only target the oil and gas sector – also untrue . No one is safe ; nothing is invulnerable .
How has the ransomware pandemic shaped the cybersecurity landscape in the region and what are your top tips for how businesses should tackle this moving forward ?
The ransomware pandemic has left an indelible mark on the cybersecurity landscape in the Middle East , mirroring its global impact . I would refer you back to the US $ 8 million cost of the average breach in Saudi Arabia and the UAE . Much of this cost is ransomware payments . According to one estimate , the activity of ransomware groups in the Middle East increased by 77 % in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 .
Heightened awareness now underscores the gravity of the threat and has prompted organisations to bolster their defences . Regulators have responded by tightening data protection and cybersecurity regulations and imposing penalties for data breaches .
We have already discussed how the quick march to the cloud expanded the attack surface by introducing new vulnerabilities . To compensate , regional organisations must adopt proactive measures . Start with robust backup and recovery protocols . Ensure employees are thoroughly trained to identify phishing attempts . Make sure you are current on software updates and patches . Adopt multi-layered security defences that give you complete and continuous visibility of all your assets . Carry out risk-based assessments on vulnerabilities . Review compliance management and formulate a riskbased roadmap for prioritisation and remediation of gaps . And collaborate across tech and non-tech business functions to author a comprehensive incident-response plan . u
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