The Middle East saw 161 million malware attacks in the last 12 months, a 17% increase compared to last year’s 138 million
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The Middle East saw a 17% increase in malware attacks, with Egypt seeing a 32% increase with over 42 million attacks, states global anti-virus software providers Kaspersky in its latest research.
As reliance on computers and digital gateways continues to rise, hackers are refocusing their efforts to hacking into individual and corporate systems to gain access to critical data and information, says Maher Yamout, a senior security researcher at Kaspersky.
The Middle East saw 161 million malware attacks in the last 12 months, a 17% increase compared to last year’s 138 million.
Oman saw the most increase in attacks at 67%, with Kuwait right behind at 64%, and Bahrain at 45%, while Qatar and the UAE witnessed a lower increase, with rates of 16% and 7%, respectively.
“Given the explosive growth in digital transformation since last year, and the increase in remote work caused by the global pandemic, the countries of the Middle East have become an attractive target for those looking to exploit individuals’ weak knowledge of digital security,” said Yamout.
Turkey was the only country that saw a slight decrease of 4.4% in all malware attacks in the first half of 2021, compared to the first half of 2020.
“This shows how cybercriminals’ offensive strategies have become more refined by focusing on advanced persistent threats aimed at causing widespread disruption. Looking at the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region, Turkey still ranks first in the number of attacks detected by Kaspersky,” he explained.
With remote working’s rapid expansion, increased access to corporate networks via personal devices that may not be fully protected means that hackers may gain access to sensitive data and obstruct the company’s work through compromised devices and unprotected networks.
Yamout recommends keeping an eye on unverified links, downloading from unknown or sketchy websites, being careful when connecting to unprotected Wi-Fi sources such as in cafes, and keep operating systems and anti-viruses updated.
