Nearly a quarter of Middle East executives agree that it is common practice to use bribery to win contracts, according to EY’s latest Global Fraud Survey.
The poll also said that less than a third of Middle East executives recognise the risk of cybercrimes to their companies compared to almost half globally.
It said only 29 percent of executives in the region recognise the risk, compared to 47 percent globally, with many maintaining the view that fraudulent activity is not their problem.
Michael Adlem, EY’s MENA Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services (FIDS) leader, said: “As the use of technology to disrupt organisations’ systems becomes increasingly rampant, companies are becoming more and more susceptible to cyber breaches. However executives in the Middle East do not recognise cybercrime as a high risk.
“This hints at two possibilities – either executives in the Middle East are overly optimistic and believe their systems are more sophisticated than those globally, or there is a general lack of awareness around the subject, which is why management does not view it as a concern.”
Approximately one in five respondents in the Middle East also explicitly stated that they are willing to act unethically and offer entertainment to win or retain business.
Globally, 42 percent of respondents can justify unethical behaviour to meet financial targets, with 23 percent of respondents in the Middle East agreeing that it is common practice to use bribery to win contracts.
With respect to due-diligence, 40 percent of companies in the Middle East said they are not assessing anti-corruption policies compared to 29 percent of respondents globally.
“The fact is that fraud, corruption and criminal activity are inevitable in today’s business environment. They are however, manageable and to an extent preventative provided companies know the risks they are exposed to – risks such as cybercrime and inadequate due diligence are becoming more prevalent regionally and require serious attention from executive management immediately,” said Adlem.
A survey by Gulf Business Machines said in March that nearly 50 percent of GCC executives lack confidence in their organisations in having the right tools to predict and prevent cyber-attacks.
It said that despite internal and external threats to organisations, 71 percent of executives confirmed that their IT security budgets will either stay the same or decrease in 2016.
The survey, which polled over 700 executives and IT professionals based in the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, also showed that 48 percent of respondents said that their organisations conduct regular third-party security assessments.
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