A report by S&P Global praised the investments made by banks in the Persian Gulf to insure against potential cyber attacks.
The credit rating agency’s report pointed out that Gulf banks face the risks of cyber attacks “efficiently”, by investing in digital security supported by their capital, profitability and high levels of liquidity.
The report said that the 19 largest Gulf banks included in the study were subjected to few attacks during the past decade, despite their transition to providing services remotely during the Corona pandemic.
The report indicated that Gulf banks would experience a 7.5% drop in net income and a 0.6% decline in shareholders’ equity, in the event of a major cyber attack, based on data collected by S&P with Guidwire, a company specialized in cybersecurity.
Cyber piracy costs the GCC countries about $1.4 billion annually.
United Arab Emirates is the second most targeted country in the world for cybercrime, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the McAfee security software company.
In the Middle East, the average damage from cyber attacks is $6.5 million, well above the average global incident cost of $3.9 million, according to a 2020 study by the Ponemon Institute and IBM Security.
The global cost of cybercrime will exceed $6 trillion in 2021, with online activity on the rise, according to the head of the Italian defense, security and aerospace company Leonardo.
The annual number of DDoS attacks in 2020 crossed the 10 million mark, which is a 20% year-over-year increase, according to a report from hacking research firm Netscout.
Only in the second half of 2020, the rate of attacks increased by 22% compared to the same period last year.
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