A recent survey by Cisco of general consumers across UAE revealed majority respondents are increasingly fearful of their connected devices being hacked and attacked.
The survey, which polled 1,001 consumers, identified “red flags” consumers must stay vigilant of, especially as the country is moving into digitisation.
According to the survey, respondents are “concerned” about cyber-attacks, with 73 percent worried about their personal devices being hacked.
The survey revealed that 66 percent of the UAE population use personal devices to send out work emails, whereas 57 percent use personal devices to make business calls.
“Risk is not only a factor at home, and this is increasingly prevalent in the UAE, where many people opt to work in public spaces or check-in on work tasks on the move. In the UAE, 54 percent of respondents frequently use public wireless networks for basic work tasks,” the survey said.
Meanwhile, majority of the UAE population connect more than one device in their homes, however, 68 percent have updated their password in the past six months to lower their chances of being hacked.
However, Cisco says that usernames and passwords have never been a particularly effective technique for keeping cyber threats away.
Users can add a “strong extra layer of protection to system access” through the use of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
For those in the UAE, 24 percent of the population have admitted to a lack of awareness and usage of MFA.
“As nearly every smartphone now has a fingerprint or facial scanner, consumers can choose to use biometrics instead of passcodes to unlock and log in to applications on their personal devices. Organizations have an opportunity to leverage this technology, which is already in employees’ pockets, to drive the adoption of strong MFA at work,” the survey said.
The major challenge, as outline by Cisco, is “educating millions of people at a consistent level.”
Forty four percent of the UAE population seek advice about online and device security behaviour from friends and family, whereas 33 percent rely on social media.
“Subjective advice and opinions on cybersecurity can mean a deficit in genuinely robust measures. For the average person, it may seem unlikely their home Wi-Fi will be hacked, or that someone will access their data while on a public network. However, it only takes one opportunist and a very short window of time to access and harvest the information they need,” the survey said.
Cyber-attacks are a constant threat to businesses and individuals in the UAE especially as the nation encourages hybrid and remote working models to boost digitisation.
“Technology at our fingertips means that the future of work has arrived – and it’s borderless. Today, employees are working from anywhere: from home, the office and using public networks, such as restaurants and airports. With hybrid work becoming an integral element for businesses in the UAE and worldwide, organizations need to pay attention to the risk of cyber threat,” Cisco’s cybersecurity director, EMEA service providers and MEA Fady Younes said.
Younes added: “To mitigate the arising risks, we advise businesses to allow access to data based on zero–trust principles – aligning with individual needs and contexts”
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