About 95 per cent of cyberattacks that affect institutions and individuals in Bahrain are caused by human errors, said top IT experts at a educational webinar hosted by NGN International, a full-fledged systems integrator and IT consultant in cooperation with KnowBe4.

 

The event, organised under the topic 'Social Engineering: The emotional hack' had several top speakers including Mahmood Sabt, Head of Information Security at Bahrain Bourse, Ilya Leonov, Head of Cybersecurity Practice at NGN International and Jelle Wieringa, Security Advocate & PR Lead at KnowBe4, taking part.

 

They pointed out the significance of boosting investment in cybersecurity systems, in addition to training and educating employees and individuals to avoid huge losses in money and data that may result from cyberattacks.

 

The experts said global cyberattacks increased from 20% in 2019 to 37% during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on a study published by Deloitte. 

 

Most of these attacks took place while employees worked from home far from the cybersecurity systems provided by their companies, some employees even use their home computer to access the company’s network, and others use their personal emails and their corporate mail, said the statement from NGN.

 

The webinar reviewed a website that was launched at the beginning of the pandemic to display the statistics of pandemic injuries and deaths in detail in each country separately. 

 

This website gained wide popularity before it was discovered that cybercriminals were behind it and succeeded in stealing through it the data of millions of users by requesting them to download files on their phones and electronic devices later found to be malicious software, it stated.

 

CEO Yaqoob Al Awadhi said this webinar comes within the framework of the company's keenness to enhance its social responsibility towards individuals and institutions in Bahrain, and to boost awareness of various cybersecurity issues in light of the escalation of cyber-attacks in Bahrain and around the world.

 

"Through our work at (NGN), we note that cybercriminals, as individuals and groups, are constantly working to develop methods of attacking their victims. Major institutions in Bahrain are keen to invest in cybersecurity systems, while individuals are still facing challenges in this field," stated Al Awadhi.

 

Speakers at the webinar pointed out that the individual user had become the weakest link in the chain of cybersecurity, as cybercriminals monitor their behaviour on the Internet and know their browsing hours, interests, and level of security, which is known as "social engineering".

 

The cybercriminals then start targeting the victim by sending them files that attract their attention to download them. This malicious software controls the users’ device and reveals their secret data such as credit card details.

 

On the event, Al Awadhi said it was the third of its kind to be held within the activities of NGN Majlis, which was launched by the company as a platform to spread and boost awareness of cybersecurity for individuals and institutions in Bahrain.

 

It includes online workshops and panel discussions with the participation of an elite group of experts and specialists to address the most significant and common cybersecurity and IT topics, he added.-TradeArabia News Service