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UAE: Nearly all firms plan to invest more in AI for cybersecurity, survey shows

250 CEOs and senior managers of companies in the country took part in the research

Published: Mon 14 Oct 2024, 11:18 AM

Updated: Mon 14 Oct 2024, 5:21 PM

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Photo: AFP

Photo: AFP

The vast majority of CEOs and senior managers in the UAE – 97.6 per cent – plan to increase their investments in artificial intelligence (AI) for cybersecurity reasons amid a continuing uptick in cyberattacks, according to new research released on Monday.

Commissioned by Palo Alto Networks, the study by Censuswide revealed that respondents saw a significant increase in attacks, with 63 per cent reporting higher attacks compared to 2023, and 14 per cent reporting the same level of attacks as 2023.

The survey included insights from 250 CEOs and senior managers from companies in the UAE between September 18 and 25, 2024.

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The survey's outcome was revealed on the first day of the Gitex Global – the world’s largest gathering of IT companies. The exhibition will run from October 14 to 18 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

However, UAE businesses also appeared to be confident that they can protect their operations through investments in AI. Around 94 per cent of respondents said that they were confident in the effectiveness of AI tools in detecting or mitigating cyber threats compared to traditional cybersecurity solutions.

The survey found that 90 per cent of respondents had already implemented AI for cybersecurity, with 52 per cent saying they had made extensive implementations, and 38 per cent having made limited deployments.

Opinions were more mixed on the precise ways in which AI can help UAE organisations to improve their cybersecurity posture, with 42 per cent saying that AI would be most effective in boosting speed and efficiency through automation, 39 per cent believing it would primarily aid threat detection, and 35 per cent saying it would improve vulnerability management.

“While it is reassuring to see that so many CEOs and business leaders in the UAE are keen to invest in AI to improve their security profile, it is imperative that organisations deploy AI in the right way and understand the importance of embracing a fully integrated approach with platformisation at its core,” said Ercan Aydin, regional vice president at Palo Alto Networks, Middle East and Africa.

Ercan Aydin

Ercan Aydin

“A fully integrated approach enables organisations to remove the confusion that often accompanies AI implementations, allowing them to fully leverage the power of AI to stay ahead of ever-changing threat dynamics while simplifying their security posture,” he said.

The research revealed that while most business leaders surveyed in the UAE understand the importance of AI for cybersecurity, they still see barriers to investment, with cost, complexity of integration, uncertainty about return on investment (RoI), and a lack of clear business benefits cited as key concerns.

Moreover, executives also have concerns over the potential implications of using the technology. For example, 50 per cent of respondents were concerned about privacy issues, 48 per cent worried about potential misuse of AI, 46 per cent cited integration challenges as a concern, and 45 per cent expressed concern over the cost.

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