DOHA: IT (Information Technology) professionals in Qatar are more aware of local cyber laws than their peers in the GCC.
According to a Gulf Business Machines’ (GBM) survey released yesterday, 38 percent of Qatar respondents were aware of local cyber laws compared to a regional average of 21 percent.
The annual GBM Security Study, now in fourth year, has shown that security breaches in the GCC are on the rise, with one in five participants being aware of a privacy violation in the past 12 months.
Increasing threats of cyber-attacks, coupled with the rise of cloud adoption, mobility and social media, led companies to implement more flexible technologies in the workplace, while not necessarily investing enough to mitigate potential associated risks.
“We do significant business with public and private organisations. Qatar is continuing to enrich its large portfolio of e-Services available for constituents and businesses,” said Soubhi Chebib, Country General Manager, GBM Qatar. “Security has always been of prime concern and the survey has shown that there is an impressive level of awareness in Qatar about the need for appropriate systems to keep data and information safe and minimise the impact of threats. This is good news for Qatar’s future development,” said Chebib.
About 80 percent of respondents in Qatar are not aware of any cyber threatening incident in their company in the past 12 months and 75 percent use same mobile for work and personal use. Around 30 percent accept terms and conditions without reading them before downloading and installing apps on their mobile devices, said the survey. The online survey polled 500 professionals in the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
With services are being brought online and the region’s growing focus on smart services, the survey has shown that cyber security continues to cause concern for organisations and individuals. It also showed that 86 percent of participants are concerned with data and identity theft that could result from having to provide personal data while making online transactions. Yet, three out of five participants blindly accept online terms, which may lead to privacy breaches.
“The future is digital,” said Hani Nofal, Vice-President, Intelligent Network Solutions, GBM.
“And we must ensure that the correct security measures are in place for organisations and the general public to feel safe in the technologies that can provide added value to their working and personal lives.”
Engineer Khalid N Sadiq Al Hashmi, Assistant Under Secretory, Cyber Security Sector, said: “Public and private actors encounter unprecedented and unacceptable risks on the Internet. As a result, public-private-partnerships (P3s) approaches were able to address complex national challenges through combined training and awareness programmes.
“We acknowledge GBM’s efforts in pioneering local P3s models in the region,” he added.
The Peninsula
