Many GCC organisations are at risk of cyber-attacks due to a lack of proper security infrastructure, it was revealed recently.

Moreover, corporate investment in IT security is expected to decrease this year.

The statistics were among a range of figures revealed at an IT security event hosted by IT solutions provider Gulf Business Machines (GBM) in Bahrain.

GBM’s findings at the event revealed that 71 per cent of GCC executives confirmed that their IT security budgets will either stay the same or decrease in 2016. Meanwhile, of the 700 executives polled in the GCC, only 48 per cent of respondents said that their organisations conduct regular third-party security assessments, while only 40 per cent of organisations have a dedicated IT governance, risk and compliance function.

GBM’s event brought industry-leading experts from Cisco and IBM together with customers to highlight the importance of best practice in securing data across the region.

Held under the theme of “How Can We Predict Cyber-Attacks?” the event gave customers and IT experts the opportunity to discuss their views about security and highlight what organisations need to do to prevent cyber-attacks.

Abdulla Ishaq, country general manager at GBM Bahrain, commented: “Today’s event was an excellent opportunity to highlight the risks organisations in Bahrain still face from cyber-attacks. While there is a certain level of  awareness, not enough is being done to focus on predictive security, so it is a pleasure for GBM to facilitate the necessary  knowledge sharing between industry-leading experts from our network, Cisco, IBM and our customers.”

Hani Nofal, vice president of Integrated Network Solutions (INS) Mobility & Security, said:  “Our event in Bahrain has provided insight that a proactive approach towards cyber-security can save significant amounts of money for our customers in the long-run. The learnings from our survey and today’s panel discussion with experts of IBM and Cisco, allows us to offer customers best practices on how to develop a holistic security model, and gain continuous protection and visibility along their entire security journey.”

The annual GBM Security Whitepaper, now in its fifth year, polled over 700 executives and IT professionals based in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait. –TradeArabia News Service