New-Tech Europe Magazine | Q1 2021

With the surging ransomware attacks in the Middle East, this is how you keep the threats at bay

New-Tech Magazine group

REGIONAL NEWS: According to a Kaspersky Security report, more than 2.57 million phishing attacks were detected across the Middle East, from Egypt to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman in 2020. A “Cyber Pandemic” phenomenon in the Middle East Remote work and increasingly sophisticated hacking tools are contributing to the surging number of ransomware attacks. Traditional forms of ransomware simply encrypt files, while more modern variants go one step further by also transferring potentially sensitive data to the attackers, who then threatens to release them. Preventing ransomware attacks are

also no longer as simple as avoiding suspicious email attachments and installing an antivirus. Threat actors have been increasingly successful at exploiting organizations through phishing, social engineering, and exploiting unpatched or zero-day software vulnerabilities. In 2020, the UAE has seen a 250% increase in cyberattacks with the rising tide of phishing and ransomware incidents. The UAE government’s top cyber security chief warns that the region is facing a “cyber pandemic” as hackers take advantage of COVID-related digital adoption. Unfortunately, driven by the unceasing increase in remote work, cyber-attacks are going to continue to be an ongoing threat for businesses in 2021. Though ransomware attacks pose an

existential threat to businesses, more often than not, little is done to protect against them. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to mitigate risks. How to best minimize these potential threats? IT teams are the first line of defense against ransomware and can block many attacks before they reach end-users or critical systems. Modern security practices leverage multiple "layers" of protection. Starting at the outermost layer, using a well-configured firewall and Intrusion Detection/Protection System (IDS/IPS) can help block out large portions of low-level attacks. Additional network monitoring and analysis tools can then be set up to check for unusual and suspicious

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