UAE organizations ramping up cybersecurity with integrated threat defense

As the UAE faced 6,042,459 email threats during H1 2020, organizations are ramping up their cybersecurity with integrated threat defense, Trend Micro Incorporated announced ahead of the e-Crime and Cybersecurity Congress UAE on 21 October.

During H1 2020, Trend Micro blocked 6,042,459 email threats in the UAE, which accounted for about one-seventh of the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s 41,236,550 email threats. Trend Micro’s Mid-Year Roundup Report also found that worldwide – of the 27.8 billion cyber-threats that Trend Micro detected, 93% of them were email-borne.

At the same time, while the pandemic has dominated all our lives during the first half of 2020, it’s not slowing down the cybercriminals. And one of the most prominent areas of cyber-threats continues to be via email. COVID-19 related threats were the single largest type of threat in the first half of the year for organizations worldwide. In just six months, Trend Micro blocked 8.8 million COVID-19 related threats, nearly 92% of which were spam delivered via emails.

“Business leaders and IT teams across the UAE are facing nightmare scenarios of cyber-attacks being delivered via email,” said Hani Abdul Qader, Senior Sales Engineer, Trend Micro. “Cyber-attacks can include scammers posing as helpdesks as well as malware embedded in pandemic-related documents that seem to come from government, health or aid organizations, overloaded employees more likely to accidentally open dangerous attachments.”

Cybercriminals have shifted their focus from January through June to take advantage of global interest in the pandemic. In particular, Business Email Compromise (BEC) detections increased by 18% from the second half of 2019, in part due to scammers trying to capitalize on home workers being more exposed to social engineering.

“The e-Crime and Cybersecurity Congress UAE is a vital platform to educate organizations about the cybersecurity gaps created by a completely remote workforce, and the urgent need for organizations to adopt an integrated threat defense,” added Hani Abdul Qader.

During the event, Hani Abdul Qader will present on “From On-Prem to The Cloud, Securing Email System is Still a Top Priority” from 2:40 pm – 3:10 pm. Trend Micro is emphasizing why securing email is still a top priority for on-premises and cloud-based systems, and addressing the security challenges in transitioning email systems to the cloud, new challenges, and adapting comprehensive multilayered protection, detection, and why response is the solution.

Organizations can leverage Trend Micro’s XGen security strategy, which powers the company’s solutions with a cross-generational blend of threat-defense techniques. The recently released Trend Micro XDR offers the most extensive correlated detection going beyond endpoint detection and response (EDR).