UAE enjoys the lower average of threats in Middle East region, says Kaspersky Lab at IDC IT in Government Roadshow 2012

Kaspersky Lab,a leading developer of secure content management solutions, participated yesterday at the IDC IT in Government Roadshow 2012 that was held in the United Arab Emirates on November 21st at the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi. The event discussed key business and technology changes taking place as governments aretransitioning to new post-recession environments and citizen expectations.

Speaking at the conference, Vladimir Zapolyansky, Head of Technology Positioning, the delegate of Kaspersky Lab, spoke about the global network intrusions and cyber-attacks the governments have seen throughout the past few years, especially in the Middle East region. Zapolyansky highlighted that the numerousintrusions into networks have not been detected due to the complex set of malware techniques that cybercriminals used to perform them; and he presented innovative and preventive approachesand actions that governments must deploy toachieve a resilient and secure IT infrastructure and regain control over it.

Zapolyansky analyzed also the security level of the United Arab Emirates, and according to the previous month’ figures of Kaspersky Security Network,  he said, “From a malware outspreading point of view, the average rate of worldwide web infection is around 28%, while the UAE’s web infection is around 17%, ranking it 71st in the world;a safer country with a lower threats; meaning that 17% of all internet users in the country regularly face malware during web surfing.

“Furthermore, the average worldwide infection rate through removable devices 16%, positioning the UAE in the 65th place with a rate of 19%, are relevantly safer than other countries in the world; still, users must should pay attention to the devices they use as the 5th removable device in the country in infected”, he continued.

Commenting on the conference, Tarek Kuzbari, Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab Middle East and Turkey said, “According to IDC, IT spending in the government vertical in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa region (META) reached $6.44 billion in 2011, representing an increase of 10.7% year on year. IDC expects IT spending in the sector to expand steadily over the forecast period with a CAGR of 12.3% to reach $10.40 billion in 2015. The sector accounted for 10.0% of total MEA IT spending in 2011.”

He continued saying, “Kaspersky Lab took part in this roadshow to communicate its commitment to the governments of this region, and to share its expertise and best practices in information security. This event forms the linking platform between governments and technology experts to discuss the current and future emerging strategies and capabilities that MEA government IT organizations need to adopt to deliver higher decision-making competency and improve operational efficiency for 2012 and beyond.”