Study: 60% of Saudi institutions hit by virus attacks, malware

Sixty percent of institutions in Saudi Arabia have experienced virus attacks and malware over the past 12 months, according to Russian cyber-security firm Kaspersky Lab.
This finding came in a recent study revealed by Kaspersky Lab during a workshop entitled “Security, Information Technology 2017,” which was organized by the Ministry of Interior’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) in Riyadh.
The study found that 41 percent of the respondents questioned believe that their institutions need better tools to detect “persistent threats” and deal with targeted attacks.
“Our objectives as an e-security hub in the Kingdom focus on improving the readiness of e-security and the capabilities of the government sector, including the vital national infrastructure, and developing national capabilities in terms of e-security,” said Dr. Abbad Al-Abbad, the NCSC’s executive director of strategic development and communication.
“The workshop was held in cooperation with Kaspersky Lab and enabled IT professionals and public- and private-sector organizations to learn about the most important solutions and results in this field.”
Maxim Frolov, Kaspersky Lab’s regional managing director, said that public and private institutions in the Kingdom were leading the way in this field.
“We believe in Kaspersky Lab that many countries can learn from Saudi Arabia in this area,” he said.
The workshop illustrated the steps taken by public-sector organizations in digital transformation efforts, with the aim of aligning their outputs with the Kingdom’s reform plans.
Analysts said digital transformation would play a key role in achieving the goals of Vision 2030.
E-security is one of the main requirements of all institutions in digital transformation, and the levels of implementation and unified preparedness will provide a solid foundation for building strategic commitments at the national level, they added.