Middle East Urged Not to Take Cyber Security Flippantly

The community of Internet users in the Middle East countries, particularly Qatar, has been urged to remain utterly careful and ensure complete protection from cyber attacks led by phishing and malware infections, as cyber crooks are increasingly aiming to commit identity theft and gain profits.

The warning issued by Mark Chaban, Commercial Market Strategy Group Director, Microsoft Middle East and Africa, emerged out amid the reports of suspected cyber spies from Chinese Mainland hacking the PCs in more 100 nations and stealing vital details from various government and private organizations, as reported by the Peninsula on March 31, 2009.

Microsoft has noted that the threat of computer virus in the Middle East region is growing, as in 2008, the Company detected higher number of PCs in the GCC states (including Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar and Saudi Arabia) infected with malware or unwanted software as compared to 2007.

The Company further said that the extensively publicized data and security breaches and rising incidents of identity thefts are creating increasing concerns among business leaders, privacy advocates, government policy makers as well as consumers.

As per Microsoft, Qatar stood fourth with 16.1% systems infected with malware and various other unwanted software and viruses in 2008. Bahrain was the most affected nation with 29.2% while Oman was the least infected with 15.3%.

Especially for the Internet community in Qatar, the warning to stay protected is of higher importance in wake of Qatar's major Telecom operator Qtel upgrading broadband connections to all its subscribers on April 1, 2009.

Several other security experts also believe that Qatar's remarkable economic growth and its open door policy are inviting the cyber attacks overtly. Thus, it is the responsibility of the nation to keep itself updated of the new modes that may be adopted by cyber criminals in case of lapse in cyber security.

Moveover, Qatar is extensively exposed to malicious attacks when it comes to the magnitude of GhostNet. This network (GhostNet) can use social engineering and malware to provide criminals comprehensive access to the hacked PCs in far flung locations to spy on the happenings taking place there.

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» SPAMfighter News - 4/7/2009