The UAE’s booming small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector is vital to the country's development and hence steps must be taken to safeguard their businesses from cyber attacks, said a leading IT expert.

The problem is particularly pronounced for new businesses reliant on mobile technology and cloud-based solutions to reduce infrastructural costs, provide 24/7 accessibility and accelerate scale," remarked David Gorodyansky, the CEO of AnchorFree, a global leader in online privacy and internet freedom.

“SMEs are vital to the UAE’s future development and they need to be as nimble and flexible as possible, not only to stay ahead of the competition, but also compete with large companies with more resources,” he stated.

“To suddenly be hamstrung by malware, phishing or Spaam could spell disaster in terms of down-time and lost data. It is critical that business peopleare safeguarded at all times – irrespective of whether they are in the office or logging on to a hotel’s WiFi hotspot on the road,” Gorodyansky said.

The recently-published Internet Security Threat Report notes that 18 per cent of all targeted cyber-attacks are directed at businesses with 250 or fewer employees. More than 60 per cent of these affected companies close within six months of the attack, he stated.

Although many companies use anti-virus software on their computers, most ignore the potential threats that emerge during unprotected internet usage, he added.

"SMEs are an influential catalyst for the region’s economic growth and diversification, but they cannot evolve and innovate to world-class standards without being as IT-empowered as possible," said Gorodyansky.
 
"From general online browsing to shared content via the cloud, SMEs should be free to do business anywhere, anytime, without having to worry about hackers or identity thieves disrupting their operations," he added.-TradeArabia News Service