Augmented security: integrating AI with your current technology and staff
4th September, 2024 • The St Regis, Abu Dhabi, UAE
The hackers are already using AI, so how can defenders quickly respond?
Huge investments and upgrades to cybersecurity technology planned in the UAE as threats multiply and AI is utilised on both sides of the fight
99% of UAE companies plan to increase their cybersecurity budget in the next 12 months.
91% of these companies anticipate substantial growth of 10% or more in their cybersecurity budgets.
Why? During the past two years, the vast majority of United Arab Emirates-based businesses have experienced a cybersecurity incident. Analysis carried out by the UAE Cyber Security in the ‘State of the UAE – Cybersecurity Report 2024’ highlights the scale of the problem: the report has identified over 155,000 vulnerable assets within the UAE, with more than 40% of critical vulnerabilities remaining unaddressed for over five years. This vulnerability, coupled with the surge in advanced cyber-attacks such as ransomware, underscores the essential need for robust cyber defences in a region that is at the forefront of AI-driven technological innovations and geopolitical significance.
According to various pieces of recent research aggregated by AKJ Associates:
- 87% of companies in UAE have faced different forms of cyber incidents in the past two years.
- 85% of UAE respondents said they expect a cybersecurity incident to disrupt their business in the next 12 to 24 months.
- 65% of respondents said they experienced a cybersecurity incident in the last 12 months, and 52% of those affected said it cost them at least US$300,000.
- 82% of UAE respondents said that having multiple point solutions slowed down their team’s ability to detect, respond and recover from incidents. This raises significant concerns as 78% of organizations said they have deployed ten or more point-solutions in their security stacks, while 26% said they have 30 or more.
- 90% of UAE companies also highlight talent shortage as an issue.
- 51% said they had more than ten roles related to cybersecurity unfilled in their organization at the time of the survey.
- 95% envision integrating AI technologies into their cybersecurity frameworks to fill more than 10% of those unfilled cybersecurity roles.
- 68% are planning to significantly upgrade their IT infrastructure in the next 12 to 24 months.
- 66% plan to upgrade existing solutions.
- 54% plan to deploy new solutions.
- 54% plan to invest in AI-driven technologies.
