As the remote work trend continues, Okta Inc highlights the need to move towards zero trust principle

• The Okta Zero Trust report highlights the need to move towards the zero trust principle of “never trust, always verify.”
• The rise of Remote Work makes organisations more vulnerable to cyber attacks and IT security threats; 

According to Okta’s research, 40% of global organizations are working on zero trust projects that centre around the principle of “never trust, always verify.” Rather than taking for granted the fact that a site, application, or platform is safe to work on, employees maintain a healthy level of cynicism about the IT resources that they’re using. And while North America leads the pack with 60% of respondents embarking on zero trust initiatives, both Europe and the Middle East are lagging, with just under 18% onboard.

 “As companies look to securely enable a long-term remote workforce, they need a security framework that can support them both today and into the future “keeping their people, data, and infrastructure safe. That’s where zero trust comes in.” ,” said Justin Doo, Director - EMEA South (Mediterranean, Middle East, Turkey, Africa & Israel) Company at Okta, Inc.

 “A people-centric strategy is a must for organizations in the United Arab Emirates, as cybercriminals increasingly target people rather than infrastructure, with the aim of stealing credentials, siphoning sensitive data, and fraudulently transferring funds. In fact, our recent research revealed that 39% of UAE CSOs and CISOs believe their employees make their business vulnerable to cyber-attacks and more than half (55%) cite human error and lack of security awareness as one of the biggest IT security risks,” said Emile Abou Saleh, Regional Director, Middle East & Africa at Proofpoint.

Saleh continued, “With this in mind, education and security awareness is a mission critical priority and could make the difference between an attempted cyber-attack and a successful one. Along with technical solutions and controls, a comprehensive training program should sit at the heart of an organization’s cyber defense. Organizations must also be considering who within their network is being targeted – in addition to how and why – to truly understand this user risk.”

With nearly 80% of companies  in some parts of the world expecting to keep their remote work arrangements in place for up to one year after COVID-19 substantially subsides, Middle East organizations need zero trust policies and robust tools to help them operate more safely, securely, and confidently.  

“We’re all getting used to being part of a remote and distributed workforce, and that means that companies have to take on secure tools that make working remotely easier,” Doo added. “And as we figure out what our new normal is in the Middle East, zero trust should be the star guiding our way.”

Professional services firm KPMG in Saudi Arabia has warned of an increase in malicious cyber-activity, as online criminals seek to exploit the global coronavirus pandemic. With a worldwide pandemic underway and companies round the globe are predicted to face a loss of $3.5 billion a year to cybercrime. More Middle East companies need to strengthen their cybersecurity solutions for their remote workforces.

Working remotely was the obvious choice for many companies, but while in-office workers offered organizations easier cyber protection with traditional technology such as firewalls, remote working has forced these same companies to loosen protocols to allow for remote access. Workers need the right level of access, to the right resources, in the right context, but the 2020 Verizon Data Breach Report demonstrates that cybercriminals are moving away from the traditional technology attack (such as attacking a firewall) and moving their focus towards the people and their identities. In short, workers are the number one cause of cybersecurity breaches—a risk that increases exponentially for remote workforces.

Sayantan Dev, President at Redington Value said, “In the Middle East region, digital footprints are enormous. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many organizations to move employees’ home, which in turn present quite a few challenges to security teams. Additionally, the majority of organisations continue to rely on passwords as their exclusive authentication method. Password security simply must be a focal point for our companies to survive in the future.”

Dev summed it up, “There is a real problem. Every region presents its own unique problems. In the Middle East organizations have experienced a high number of insider-related incidents and are very likely to experience a spike in credential theft. Luckily, there are real technology solutions we should be looking at. Organisation should look at deploying Multi-Factor Authentication technologies as a base practice.”

Before the onset of COVID-19, organizations across the Middle East kicked off their journeys to zero trust security by starting with identity, adopting tools and best practices like single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication for internal and external users, as well as for API access.

Forrester’s evolution of the Zero Trust framework – the Zero Trust Extended Ecosystem (ZTX), led by analyst Dr. Chase Cunningham – emphasizes the shift beyond network segmentation, and Okta has been recognized as a Leader in Zero Trust Security.

© Press Release 2021