The Scale And Intensity Of Cyber-Attacks In The Middle East

We live in a world where technology and digitalization bring the world closer together. People are more interconnected, the companies and businesses have much tighter relations, even the countries are slowly, but surely, losing the integrity of their political borders.

In this context, the threat layout is broadening at an incredible rate. And one of the major issues that the technological landscape faces is the risk of cyber-attacks. That’s because while the individuals and groups are getting more and more improved products and services, the hackers, too, are increasing their cyber potential.

What’s more, even the governments are engaged in this frenzied race of cyber-warfare. In fact, the U.S. Military Doctrine recognizes information warfare as the fifth military domain. So, the scope of this sector isn’t to be joked with. And it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about the Canadian health organization or an Australian gambling venue, the chances of getting attacked are pretty real.

In Australia, for instance, this issue has been spurring a lot of attention lately. While the country is submerged in wildfires that ravage its forests and no other issue is more pressing than it, cyber-attacks are also quite spiking Down There. And especially on Australia casino online providers. That’s because the gambling industry in the country is one of the wealthiest, competing with the global industries with its scale. So, hackers find it lucrative to attack online operators and steal money from them.

The MENA region targeted by the hackers

One of the actively targeted regions nowadays is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). According to the Kaspersky Security Network report, out of all the internet users in the region, an average of 27.3% of them are targeted and affected by web-threats and cyber-attacks in one way or another. And that was just in the first quarter of 2019.

Kaspersky Lab’s senior security researcher Maher Yamout explains that as the more complicated and sophisticated technologies are hitting the consumer market, hackers are gaining an upper hand as well because they’re also getting those products and services. They’re using various methods and techniques, be it a financial crime, data theft, or even Phishing, to get financial gains from companies, entrepreneurs, and individuals.

And, to be fair, it’s not too surprising that particularly this region is the target of many hacker groups and government-based divisions. That’s because the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) controls the highest volume of crude oil reserves in the world. At 495 billion barrels, the GCC reserves hold 30 percent of all proven oil reserves. And since the cyber groups are gravely focused on revenue and profit, no wonder this region is one of their main priorities.

Saudi Arabia - a prime target of cyber-attacks

And in this region, there’s one special country that happens to be in an even higher cyber-threat than others - Saudi Arabia. According to the same report from Kaspersky, this country had the highest number of web-threats and malware accidents - almost 36%.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the wealthiest, most digitized, and developed nations in the whole MENA region. And because its political and economic tenure is so prestigious, cyber-attackers make it a prime security target. Among those criminals are individual hackers and organizations, as well as nation-states and their cyber-warfare departments. And as far as ranking goes, the Kingdom ranked first in the region and 13th among 175 countries in the 2018 Global Cybersecurity Index.

Because the threats are so pressing, and because there’s so much at stake, Saudi Arabia has put a lot of effort and energy to counteract these threats. In fact, the Kingdom’s cybersecurity industry is set to reach 5.5 billion US dollars by the year 2023, while upgrading its informational infrastructure and technological equipment that is being attacked so frequently.

The same projection shows that the individual market players are going to see some significant increases as well. For instance, large-scale enterprises will reach $3.4 billion, while small and medium-sized enterprises - $2 billion by 2023. As of the current situation, the cybersecurity market was somewhere around $3 billion by the end of 2019.

On top of that, Saudi Arabia has prepared legislation that addresses this issue and tackles cyber-crime threats. It includes the safety of data exchange, protection of public interest, morals, and privacy, as well as defending the rights of internet users.

The issue is ignored by many governments and companies

Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the rarest, if not the only, countries that have implemented such legislation and have voiced their plans to fight cyber-crime. Other countries in the MENA region, as well as companies and entrepreneurs, are somewhat neglecting this issue.

And it’s at their great peril because, as mentioned earlier, the world of cyber-crime is no more a domain of individuals who’re acting out of their initiative. No, the stakes are much higher as this industry is increasingly moving towards state relations. Therefore, highly organized and educated government divisions, alongside private underground groups, are working side by side to undermine the integrity of other countries, companies, and individuals.

One of the most lucrative industries

Some experts claim that cyber-crime is one of the most lucrative industries in the world. In fact, it’s calculated that cyber-attacks and other malware activities are going to cost the world some $6 trillion by 2021. To put that into perspective, this number is bigger than international trade between countries.

So, when hackers see there’s such a profitable perspective in this “business”, they quickly jump at the opportunity. And they’re constantly finding new ways to monetize their potential, be it hacking companies’ private databases or outright going against the governments.

As noted above, technology is having a massive effect on these groups. For instance, the development of AI and its accompanying machine learning are making hacker-attacks much more sophisticated and difficult for targets to counteract.

And the improvement of smartphones doesn’t help either. These personal devices, that we carry all the time, are becoming the most rapidly-growing targets for hackers. That’s because we store all our information, including personal and financial, on these devices, we browse the internet and generate data that hints to our preferences, etc.

Therefore, facing this challenge by up-to-date methods is the only way to protect our privacy. While many organizations and countries like Saudi Arabia are active in these efforts, hackers are still one step ahead because they’re better at leveraging the possibilities offered by modern technology. And when it comes to others, who completely neglect this issue, well, let’s hope the consequences for them are somewhat less damaging.