Daily malware detections in the UAE have been on the rise during March, according to new research by Acronis, a global cyber protection company.
This trend exposes the critical need for cybersecurity in the region, especially for SMEs, said Candid Wuest, Acronis VP, Cyber Protection, speaking ahead of Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference (GISEC), an Arabian Business report added.
“Over the last two weeks we have seen a rapid increase in new cyber threats, which could be a concern. Our latest data indicates that between March 3 and 11 malware detections alone have increased by 122 percent,” said Wuest.
He further explained that this goes to show that cybercriminals are working overtime to develop tools and tricks that enable them to counter-fight the solutions being put in place. However, at Acronis, we try to always be a step ahead thanks to our machine learning and artificial intelligence. This information has helped us enhance our cyber protection solutions to proactively protect internet users from continuous emerging cyber threats.
The report further added that globally, during Q4 of 202, over 12,640 ransomware attacks were successfully blocked on average per month by Acronis representing a 0.2 percent jump from Q3 2021.
In the same period, Acronis’ cyber protection solutions also blocked 1,156,773 malware attacks on average per month representing a 74 percent jump from Q3. Acronis also successfully blocked over three million malicious URLs on average per month.
According to a Kaspersky report Malware attacks in the Middle East increased almost 17 per cent on an annual basis to 161 million in the first half of the year 2021 amid a rapid digital transformation of the region.