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CISOs in the Middle East Have Dealt With Loss of Sensitive Data in the Past 12 Months, Says Proofpoint

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Proofpoint, Inc., a leading cybersecurity and compliance company, today released its annual Voice of the CISO report, which explores key challenges, expectations, and priorities of chief information security officers (CISOs). The findings reveal that most CISOs have returned to the elevated concerns they experienced early in the pandemic. Seventy-five percent of CISOs in the UAE surveyed feel at risk of a material cyber attack, compared to 44% the year before, when they may have felt a brief sense of calm after adapting to the chaos of the pandemic.

This year’s data is a shift back to 2021 when 68% of CISOs in the UAE believed a material attack was imminent. Likewise, sentiments about preparedness levels have reversed: 57% feel unprepared to cope with a targeted cyber attack, showing a moderate increase over last year’s 47% and a decrease from 2021’s 72%.

While organizations have largely overcome the disruptions of the last two years, the effects of the Great Resignation and employee turnover continue to linger, exacerbated by the recent wave of mass layoffs—75% of CISOs in the UAE say that employees leaving the organization played a role in a data loss event. Even though 47% of security leaders had to deal with the loss of sensitive information in the past 12 months, only 61% believe they have adequate data protection in place.

The 2023 Voice of the CISO report examines global third-party survey responses from more than 1,600 CISOs at mid-to-large size organizations across different industries. Throughout the course of Q1 2023, 100 CISOs were interviewed in each market across 16 countries: UAE, KSA, the U.S., Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Brazil.

The report discusses global trends and regional differences around three central themes: the threats and risks CISOs face daily; the impact of employees on organizations’ cyber preparedness; and the defenses CISOs are building, especially as the economic downturn puts pressure on security budgets. The survey also measures the changes in alignment between security leaders and their boards of directors, exploring how their relationship impacts security priorities.

“Years of sustained remote and hybrid working has resulted in an increased risk around insider threat incidents, with our research revealing that three-quarters of CISOs in the UAE agree that people leaving the organization contribute to data loss,” said Emile Abou Saleh, Regional Director, Middle East, and Africa at Proofpoint. “The rising challenges of protecting people and data, high expectations, burnout, and uncertainty about personal liability are testing CISOs in the UAE. The way forward is to implement layered defenses, including a dedicated insider threat management solution and strong security awareness training, so organizations are well protected against threats that focus on people as the main perimeter.”

Proofpoint’s Voice of the CISO report for 2023 includes the following findings about the UAE:

  • CISOs in the UAE have returned to the elevated concerns they experienced early in the pandemic, while also feeling more unprepared than last year: 75% of CISOs in the UAE feel at risk of experiencing a material cyber attack in the next 12 months, compared to 44% last year and 68% in 2021. Further, 57% believe their organization is unprepared to cope with a targeted cyber attack, compared to 47% last year and 72% in 2021.
  • The loss of sensitive data is exacerbated by employee turnover: 47% of security leaders in the UAE reported having to deal with a material loss of sensitive data in the past 12 months, and of those, 75% agreed that employees leaving the organization contributed to the loss. Despite those losses, 61% of CISOs in the UAE believe they have adequate controls to protect their data.
  • Email fraud tops the list of the most significant threats: The top threats perceived by CISOs in the UAE are almost the same as last year. In both years email fraud (business email compromise) and cloud account compromise led the way, but this year they were followed by malware and smishing/vishing, whereas last year malware was joined by insider threats as the other top concern.
  • Most organizations are likely to pay a ransom if impacted by ransomware: 59% of CISOs in the UAE believe their organization would pay to restore systems and prevent data release if attacked by ransomware in the next 12 months. And they are relying on insurance to shift the risk—56% said they would place a cyber insurance claim to recover losses incurred in various types of attacks.
  • Supply chain risk is a recurring priority: 56% of CISOs in the UAE say they have adequate controls in place to mitigate supply chain risk, a modest increase from last year’s 49%. While these protections may feel adequate for now, going forward, CISOs may feel more strapped for resources—65% say their budgets have been impacted.
  • People risk grows as a concern: There is an increase in the number of CISOs in the UAE who view human error as their organization’s biggest cyber vulnerability—59% in this year’s survey vs. 50% in 2022 and 70% in 2021. At the same time, 56% of CISOs believe that employees understand their role in protecting the organization, compared to 51% in 2022 and 69% in 2021; this illustrates a struggle to build a strong security culture.
  • CISOs and boards are much more in tune: 63% of CISOs in the UAE agree their board members see eye-to-eye with them on cybersecurity issues. This is a substantial increase from the 47% of CISOs who shared this view last year and the same as the 63% who felt this way in 2021.
  • Mounting CISO pressures are making the job increasingly unsustainable: 59% of CISOs in the UAE feel they face unreasonable job expectations, a significant increase from last year’s 38%. While the return to their new reality may be one reason behind this view, CISOs’ job-related angst is a likely contributor as well—60% are concerned about personal liability and 59% say they have experienced burnout in the past 12 months.

“Security leaders must remain steadfast in protecting their people and data, a task made increasingly difficult as insiders prove themselves as a significant contributor to sensitive data loss,” said Ryan Kalember, executive vice president of cybersecurity strategy for Proofpoint. “If recent devastating attacks are any indication, CISOs have an even tougher road ahead, especially given the precarious security budgets and new job pressures. Now that they have returned to elevated levels of concern, CISOs must ensure they focus on the right priorities to move their organizations toward cyber resilience.”

Cyber Security

The Average Time to Investigate a Cybersecurity Incident is Around 26.1 Days, says Binalyze

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With the intricacies of the digital world growing exponentially, the relevance of effective and timely Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) cannot be overstated. Recognising this need for insight, Binalyze, in collaboration with the global market intelligence firm IDC, is excited to publish a compelling new report: “The State of Digital Forensics and Incident Response 2023”.

Based on an extensive survey conducted in June 2023, the study brings into focus the perspectives of over 100 cybersecurity professionals from five Middle Eastern countries. This diverse respondent pool consists of individuals directly influencing the cybersecurity functions within their organizations, with roles spanning SOC analysts, DFIR professionals, Incident responders, Threat hunters, SOC managers, and Directors.

The key findings of the report are critical for anyone involved in DFIR, from SOC teams to individual analysts and investigators. Report highlights include:

  • According to the research and subsequent analysis, the average time to investigate an incident is approximately 26.1 days, and the time to resolve incidents is an additional 17.1 days.
  • The importance of reducing “detection-to-resolution” times for efficient incident management.
  • The ongoing skills shortage: 81% of respondents identified this as a major challenge.

“Our world thrives on digital connections, but with this connectivity comes vulnerabilities. As the frequency and intensity of cyber threats surge, the importance of DFIR in understanding, mitigating, and learning from these threats is paramount. There is a real and urgent need for forensic visibility at speed and scale. AIR is a game changer here and should be at the centre of all SOCs DFIR effort,” says Ahmet Öztoprak, Senior Sales Director of META at Binalyze.

This report serves as both a wake-up call and a guide. By leveraging the insights from the top cybersecurity professionals in the Middle East, ‘The State of Digital Forensics and Incident Response 2023’ aims to provide companies with the knowledge and solutions they need to combat emerging cyber threats effectively and maintain resiliency.

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Cyber Security

Cybercriminals Used Malware in 7 Out of 10 Attacks on Individuals in the Middle East

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Positive Technologies analyzed attacks on individuals in Middle Eastern countries between 2022 and 2023. Malware was used in 70% of successful attacks. More than half of these attacks involved spyware. The vast majority of attacks used social engineering techniques. In 20% of phishing campaigns, the attack was multi-pronged, exploiting multiple social engineering channels simultaneously.

“According to our data, cybercriminals employed malware in 7 out of 10 successful attacks on individuals in the Middle East region. More often than not, the attackers infected users’ devices with spyware (three out of five malware attacks). This type of malware collects information from the infected device and then passes it on to the attacker. Depending on the task, spyware can steal personal and financial data, user credentials, as well as files from the device’s memory,” the company said.

Positive Technologies Information Security Research Analyst Roman Reznikov said, “By using spyware, attackers can compromise not only personal and payment information and personal accounts, but also corporate credentials, network connection information, and other sensitive data. The stolen data is then offered for sale on the dark web forums. As a result, a skilled attacker can gain access to an organization and carry out a successful attack, leading to non-tolerable consequences: disruption of technological and business processes, theft of funds, leakage of confidential information, attacks on customers and partners.”

In the vast majority (96%) of successful attacks on individuals in Middle Eastern countries, social engineering techniques were employed. Most often, these were mass attacks in which the criminals aimed to reach the maximum number of victims. To achieve this, they actively leveraged current news about significant global and regional events, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

In every fifth (20%) phishing campaign, the attack was multi-pronged, exploiting multiple social engineering channels simultaneously. Criminals led the victims through a series of steps until the device was infected and data stolen. For instance, users could be lured through social media accounts that contained links to a messenger channel from which the victim would install a malicious application.

One of the reasons for the success of social engineering is the numerous data leaks from various organizations. “According to our research on the cybersecurity threatscape in the Middle East, 63% of successful attacks on individuals in the region resulted in leaks of confidential information. The majority of stolen information consisted of personal data (30%) and account credentials (30%). Cybercriminals were also interested in payment card data (10%) and user correspondence (8%).” the company added.

On the dark web, malicious actors sell information about users and also provide stolen data archives for free. Criminals use the compromised information in subsequent attacks on users. For example, a successful attack on a bank could result in fraudulent actions against its customers. Cybersecurity experts recommend that users follow cyber-hygiene rules.

Companies also need to ensure the security of employee and customer data. Data breaches cause reputational and financial damage and put at risk users whose information has been compromised. To maintain cyber-resilience, it’s essential to regularly assess the effectiveness of security measures and pay special attention to the verification of non-tolerable events.

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Market Research

Cybercriminal Forums Host Attack & Evasion Research Contests, Says Sophos

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Sophos has announced its discovery regarding the role of research contests within cybercrime forums. These contests serve as a source of inspiration for the development of new attack techniques and methods to evade detection. Remarkably, these contests closely resemble legitimate security conferences’ “Call For Papers” and offer substantial financial rewards, peer recognition, and potential job opportunities to the winners.

Sophos X-Ops has detailed these findings in its latest report, titled “For the Win? Offensive Research Contests on Criminal Forums.” The primary objective of these contests is to foster innovation, and upon closer examination, the submitted entries provide invaluable insights into how cybercriminals strategize to overcome security challenges.

Interestingly, the landscape of these criminal forum competitions has evolved significantly over time. In the early days, cybercrime contests featured trivia quizzes, graphic design competitions, and guessing games. However, contemporary criminal forums are now encouraging attackers to submit comprehensive articles on technical subjects, complete with source code, videos, and screenshots. Following the submission, all forum users are invited to vote for the contest’s victor. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that the judging process isn’t entirely transparent, as forum owners and contest sponsors also hold influence over the final decision.

“The fact that cybercriminals are running, participating, and even sponsoring these contests, suggests that there is a community goal to advance their tactics and techniques. There is even evidence to suggest that these competitions act as a tool for recruitment amongst prominent threat actor groups,” said Christopher Budd, director of threat research, Sophos. “While our research shows an increased focus on Web-3 related topics such as cryptocurrency, smart contracts and NFTs, many of the winning entries had a broader appeal and could be put to practical use, even if they weren’t particularly novel. This may be reflective of the priorities of the community but could indicate that attackers keep their best research to themselves as they can profit more from using them in real-world attacks.”

Sophos X-Ops delved into the examination of two notable annual competitions: one hosted by the Russian-language cybercrime platform Exploit, which offered a substantial prize pool of $80,000 to its 2021 contest winner, and another conducted on the XSS forum, featuring a prize fund of $40,000 in the year 2022. These contests have received sponsorship from influential figures within the cybercriminal community over several years, with notable contributors including All World Cards and Lockbit.

In the most recent iterations of these contests, Exploit centered its competition around the theme of cryptocurrencies, whereas XSS broadened its scope to encompass various topics, ranging from social engineering and attack vectors to evasion tactics and scam proposals. Many of the victorious entries concentrated on the exploitation of legitimate tools, such as Cobalt Strike. One of the runners-up even shared a tutorial on targeting initial coin offerings (ICOs) to raise funds for a new cryptocurrency, while another provided insights into manipulating privilege tokens to disable Windows Defender.

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