Sixty per cent of respondents to a survey in Saudi Arabia and UAE respondents expressed increasing concern about data protection and data privacy compliance, a report said.

Sixty per cent of respondents to a survey in Saudi Arabia and UAE respondents expressed increasing concern about data protection and data privacy compliance, and 82 per cent still do not have a plan in place to comply with the EU legislation, a report said.

With less than four months to go until the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force on 25 May 2018, data privacy and protection is top of mind for business leaders in the GCC, added the third biennial EY Global Forensic Data Analytics Survey.

The EU’s GDPR will require all businesses to strengthen the protection of personal data of all EU citizens in 28 member states.

The survey analyzes the legal, compliance and fraud risks global companies face and the use of forensic data analytics (FDA) to manage them.

FDA, which is the collection and analysis of all types of data with the objective to manage legal, compliance and fraud risks, can be used to better monitor, prevent, and predict anomalies in business activities and transactions.

Respondents expressed a strong belief in the value of FDA ;100 per cent of the respondents in UAE and Saudi Arabia who use FDA towards regulatory compliance agree that it has been effective.

Charles De Chermont, EY Mena Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services leader, said: “The introduction of GDPR and data protection and data privacy laws are major compliance challenges for all organizations, including those in the Mena region. Companies that embrace a GDPR-compliant approach with their FDA efforts can gain a competitive edge over those that choose to avoid FDA due to the cost of compliance and regulatory concerns.”

Increased adoption of FDA to manage risks

In Saudi Arabia and UAE, companies are looking at a variety of FDA techniques such as risk scoring and aggregation techniques, user behavioural analytics and social medial analytics to manage their risk. The adoption rate for emerging technologies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia is high; 53 per cent of companies are already using or likely to adopt robotic process automation compared with the global average of 39 per cent.

“The majority of organizations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are making significant investments in emerging technologies to help them mitigate cyber risks and attacks. Compared to global adoption rates, the region is in a strong position when it comes to using data analytics to detect potential anomalies and risks, although this tends to be more on an ad-hoc basis where only 33 per cent of respondents versus 50 per cent globally had implemented continuous monitoring solutions,” said Paul Marsters, executive director, EY Mena Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services.

Overall, the report highlights how increased adoption of, and spending on advanced FDA technologies, needs to be matched with greater investment in skilled resources. A vast majority of Saudi Arabia and UAE respondents believe that the full potential of FDA is reliant on investments in the right technology and sources, implemented by subject matter experts.

“Without the right people managing the technology, the real value of FDA can’t be used to manage risk,” said De Chermont.

“While it’s encouraging to see that investment in advanced FDA is increasing, companies need to hire the right talent such as data science and IT professionals and compliance and risk experts who are responsible for designing and reviewing the results of the analytics. Along with the right technology and integrated data sources, only then will companies be able to successfully manage their risk profile effectively.” – TradeArabia News Service