Monday, Aug 16, 2010
Gulf News
Saudi Arabia is first, UAE second in terms of vulnerability to cyber-crimes among Gulf countries, magazine says
Dubai Consumer need for protection against computer viruses is on the rise in the Middle East resulting in an increasing number of anti-virus products on offer.
In April 2009 there were 39 products available globally, in December 2009 there were 43 products available and in April 2010 there were 60 products on sales according to Virus Bulletin, a magazine.
“The Middle East is a huge and growing economy with a lot of interest going into alternative investments. There is an increase in consumer interest in gaining protection and an emerging need for special protection technology,” said Roman Veleba, international sales manager at TrustPort, a security software producer.
Rise in crime
This rise in products is in line with the exponential increase in computer crimes globally. According to Veleba, the global level of computer crime increased five times between 2006 and 2007 and is still growing exponentially.
Saudi Arabia was ranked first and the United Arab Emirates second as the most vulnerable of the Gulf countries to fall victim to cyber-crimes such as website hacking, according to a 2009 report published by Trend Micro, a firm specialised in network antivirus and internet content security.
“Computer crime is increasing exponentially especially with the rise of social networking sites. A big problem now is everyone is putting a huge amount of personal information on their profiles and at the same time people are using their personal details as passwords which are shown on their website. However, people in the Middle East are generally more private and don’t put as much information on their profile as they do in Europe,” Valdislav Nemec, CEO of TrustPort told Gulf News.
Because of the conservative culture of the region, Nemec says the main threat in the Middle East comes from the polymorphic virus.
“The UAE has a centralised monitored communication system which is able to monitor communications and remove any virus that may appear. It’s used a lot more compared to Europe. But the main danger lies in the polymorphic viruses which is very difficult to spot a polymorphic virus which spreads and morphs easily over the internet and through USB sticks,” said Nemec.
technology
Computer crime is increasing exponentially, especially with the rise of social networking sites...Everyone is putting a huge amount of personal information on their profiles....”
Valdislav Nemec
CEO, TrustPort
By Aya Lowe?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
