Doha: The Middle East is a prime target for cybercrime, said majority of respondents in a survey by Gulf Business Machines (GBM).
About 72 percent of respondents in Qatar believe the Middle East is a prime target for cybercrime. As per the survey, 61 percent of companies in Qatar invest 15 percent or less of their IT budgets in security.
About 10 percent of respondents in 2012 reported owning five or more personal devices and 40 percent of Qatari respondents in 2014 reported owning five or more personal devices.
“The increased focus on rolling out smart government services is one of the factors driving the increase in device connectivity in Qatar’s workplace,” said Hani Nofal, Director of Intelligent Network Solutions (INS) at GBM.
“With an ever-changing technology landscape supporting those types of advances, the role of IT security professionals is increasingly dynamic and vital for a company’s sustained success and integrity,” he said.
According to the survey, 53 percent of respondents are allowed to connect personal devices at work. About 55 percent of respondents’ employers restrict social media access partially or not at all.
The online survey polled 1,060 IT professionals in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait
It said about 59 percent of respondents’ employers’ main concern around cloud adoption is data security.
About 51 percent of security incidents in the past 12 months were caused by internal staff; 35 percent of incidents in the previous 12 months were caused by internal staff in last year’s findings.
About 39 percent of companies in Qatar utilise free cloud-based online file storage services at work.The Peninsula
