Trend Micro blocked 56.9 million cyber-attacks in H1 2020

In the run-up to GITEX 2020, Trend Micro Incorporated has released the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) results for its annual mid-year roundup report. Trend Micro detected a combined 56,873,271 email, URL, malware, and banking malware attacks in the GCC during the first half of 2020.

In the GCC, Trend Micro detected 41,236,550 email threats, 13,181,016 URL victims, and 61,314 URL hosted attacks. Malware continues to surge, with Trend Micro recording 2,392,097 malware detections, and another 2,294 banking malware detections in the region.

Worldwide, COVID-19 related threats have been the single largest type of threat faced by organizations in the first half of the year. In just six months, Trend Micro blocked 8.8 million COVID-19 related threats, nearly 92% of which were spam delivered via emails. In the GCC, Trend Micro blocked 163,774 COVID-19 threats: 127,415 URL attacks, 36,312 email spam attacks, and 47 malware attacks.

Supporting Middle East organizations in their secure digital transformation, Trend Micro will exhibit at GITEX under the theme of “The Art of Cybersecurity.” The theme combines Trend Micro’s proven foresight, its XGen security strategy of cross-generational threat defense solutions, and passionate people to make cybersecurity a work of art.

“The GCC’s high rates of cyber-attacks across email, URL, and malware show that cybercriminals are ramping up their exploits of the weak points in organizations’ endpoints, network, and cloud — especially with COVID-19-related threats,” said Dr. Moataz Bin Ali, Vice President, Middle East & North Africa, Trend Micro.

At GITEX, Trend Micro will showcase cybersecurity solutions across cloud (Cloud One Hybrid Cloud Security), user protection for endpoints (Apex One), email and web, detection and response (XDR), Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control security (TXOne Networks), and network protection from known, unknown, and undisclosed threats (Network Defense).

“As the region’s only in-person technology event in 2020, GITEX is a key event for Trend Micro to spread the importance of cybersecurity in the shift to digital transformation,” added Dr. Moataz Bin Ali. “We are returning to GITEX to show how Middle East organizations can reinvent their cybersecurity posture and processes”

Encouragingly, since the lockdown, more than four-fifths (82%) of the UAE’s remote workers say they are more conscious of their organization’s cybersecurity policies, according to Trend Micro’s recent study “Head in the Clouds.”

However, many employees are still breaking the rules anyway due to limited understanding or resource constraints. During GITEX, Trend Micro will also educate organizations about the importance of not having a one-size-fits-all cybersecurity strategy, but rather tailoring their cybersecurity strategies to the most common employee attitudes and behaviors on risk awareness, risk management, and risk avoidance, and personal accountability.

During GITEX, Trend Micro aims to once again meet customers and channel partners, and to exchange best practices in cybersecurity.

Visit Trend Micro in Hall 2 – Booth H2-A10 at the Dubai World Trade Centre during GITEX, running from 6-10 December. Read the full Midyear Security Report: https://bit.ly/3niza5t.