FUTURE TECHNOLOGY
GCC and Middle East regions have already
embarked on their transformative journeys
and we expect the pace to pick up from 2019
and further into the end of the decade.”
the scope of the risk and compliance teams.
Shadow IT creates a backdoor and it’s a
growing danger.
Organisations in the Middle East
must not ignore the presence of such
environments and start taking measures to
reduce the risks.
gi
et
states there will potentially be data breaches
next year targeting organisations through
this growing exposure surface.
Smaller teams within the same
organisation are doing things their own way.
Craving more agility and faster delivery, they
end up creating their own IT environment
that is usually cloud-based and unmanaged
by the IT infrastructure team and outside
er
, M
an
ta
Da
a gi
ng D
sion
irector – UAE, Dimen
Cybersecurity predictions for 2019
RSA Security has released its predictions for
the UAE’s cybersecurity sector.
Based on RSA’s own research and
discussions with partners and customers it
has identified four key trends emerging in
the year ahead:
TREND ONE: Consumer technologies at the
core of the enterprise
IoT started on the consumer side with
wearable devices. However, security
was at the low end of consideration and
passwords were embedded at the factory
level, which meant that most IoT devices
were not secured. While data leaks due to
poor security on consumer IoT devices may
not pose that much risk (consumers may
not care if the number of steps they took in
a day are leaked), once these devices make
their way into the business and enterprise
use-cases, that risk grows.
TREND TWO: The rise of shadow IT
Shadow IT, where systems and solutions are
built and used inside organisations without
explicit organisational approval, is a growing
digital risk in the region and RSA Security
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TREND THREE: The accelerated rate in
cloud adoption
The Middle East market has been slower
to adopt the cloud as it has been portrayed
as something unsafe. But adoption is now
growing, as it's no longer a choice for
businesses – it’s a reality.
In the next year, cloud adoption will
accelerate significantly and organisations
will have more confidence in the cloud
overall. This will put pressure on regional
organisations to keep themselves secure
through the transition. This includes ensuring
their identity and access management
The GCC and Middle
East regions have
already embarked on
their transformative
journeys and we expect
the pace to pick up from
2019 and further into
the end of the decade.
Until now, our industry
has spoken about
innovative technologies
somewhat theoretically.
remains up to par and that their risk
programmes expand to cover third parties.
TREND FOUR: Targeting critical
infrastructure will continue
Attacks on SCADA systems and critical
infrastructure will increase and the risk
of causing physical damage beyond the
digital one will also increase. SCADA and IoT
security will become a significant area of
investment in the region.
There has been an increase in
targeted attacks against critical
infrastructure. Traditionally isolated
infrastructure, as OT and modern IT systems
converge, the ‘it’s isolated, so it’s secure’
concept becomes a myth.
To mitigate risks, RSA Security
recommends the following essential advice
for businesses launching a new digital
process or adopting a new technology for an
enterprise use case:
Your business must implement a
holistic risk-based approach. Here, you
must identify who is going to use it and
what type of risk is likely, including the
areas of highest risk that require the
most attention.
Apply controls to tighten basic security
that comes with IoT, and add visibility
tools so any cyberbreach can be detected
and responded to effectively.
Aim to achieve comprehensive
visibility of what’s going on across
the whole environment including third
party providers.
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