BAE Systems research reveals worrying vulnerabilities

Dubai 13 November

A recent study conducted by YouGov on behalf BAE Systems reveals that many organisations have not made the right preparations to protect themselves against aggressive cyber-attacks.

Nearly half of those polled said their organisation lacked security controls, with the figure as high as 55 per cent in Saudi Arabia.  The UAE appears more cyber-savvy with two thirds believing that they had the right systems in place.

However, only 45 per cent of respondents in the UAE had actually tested their procedures within the past six months and 37 per cent did not know if they had ever been tested at all.

Cyber-attacks in the Gulf region appear to be most prevalent in the UAE with eight per cent experiencing a cyber-attack within the past four weeks and 28 per cent having endured an attack in the last year.

Bulent Teksoz, Global Cyber Security Strategist at BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, Dubai said: “Cyber-attacks not only cost the organisation significant sums in lost revenues, sometimes multi-millions of dollars, but can also cause irreparable reputational damage.  The global cost of cyber-crime is estimated to be worth billions of Dirhams with increasingly sophisticated and coordinated attacks generating huge sums for criminals and other groups.”

With 34 per cent of respondents stating that their organisations had suffered a cyber-attack in the past six months, this shows the Gulf region is not immune to cyber-attack. Alarmingly 43 per cent didn’t know what the attack on their business had cost, directly or indirectly.

BAE Systems research and a case study will be presented at the RSA conference in Abu Dhabi next week. RSA is a global event which aims to expose the latest cyber-security threats and to share means of mitigation.

-Ends-

About the research
The survey was conducted by YouGov, an independent technology market research provider, on behalf of BAE Systems. The survey polled 100 business leaders from public and private organisations with more than 1,000 employees across the Gulf region. Respondents included C-suite level (CIO, CISO etc) and decision makers (management, department heads etc.) within their IT department.

For further information, please contact:
Abdul Karim Samaan, THC
M: +971 50 363 3145
E: abdulkarim@taqarabu.com

Nick Haigh, BAE Systems
M: +44 7525 390982 
E: nick.haigh@baesystems.com  

About BAE Systems
At BAE Systems, we provide some of the world’s most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions and employ a skilled workforce of some 83,400 people in over 40 countries. Working with customers and local partners, we develop, engineer, manufacture and support products and systems to deliver military capability, protect national security and people and keep critical information and infrastructure secure.

At BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, we help nations, governments and businesses around the world defend themselves against cybercrime, reduce their risk in the connected world, comply with regulation, and transform their operations.

We do this using our unique set of solutions, systems, experience and processes - often collecting and analysing huge volumes of data. These, combined with our Cyber Special forces - some of the most skilled people in the world, enable us to defend against cyber-attacks, fraud and financial crime, enable intelligence-led policing and solve complex data problems.

We employ over 4,200 people across 18 countries in the Americas, APAC, UK and EMEA. For further information about BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, please visit www.baesystems.com/businessdefence

© Press Release 2016