In an era of rapid global digitization, the GCC stands at the forefront of technological advancement. The need for robust cybersecurity measures has now reached a point of undeniable importance. Our research sheds light on the vulnerabilities that organizations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are facing, highlighting a critical need for enhanced security strategies. Amid these challenges, the spotlight turns to Zero Trust Segmentation as a transformative solution capable of fortifying cloud security landscapes across the GCC.
 Upon conducting our research, we see a concerning picture come to light regarding the susceptible nature of organizations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to cloud breaches: about 54 per cent of breaches now stem directly from the cloud, costing a whopping $2.3 million annually. These breaches threaten the core of businesses due to the volume of high-value applications and sensitive data now being stored in the cloud.
Yet, despite the criticality of the cloud for modern businesses, 70 per cent of IT and security decision-makers in the GCC say their own cloud security is inadequate and represents a major risk for their company. We believe this is likely because organizations lack the granular control and visibility needed across the hybrid attack surface, making it time-consuming for IT teams to simultaneously protect applications in real-time and deliver consistent securing policies.
Breaches are now inevitable, we all know this, and despite organizations pouring more money into traditional prevention and detection technologies, attacks are becoming more frequent and more catastrophic. This is especially important for the region as the cyber threat landscape is advancing at an alarming rate in comparison to the rest of the world. especially within the GCC region where the cyber threat landscape is advancing rapidly due to increasing geopolitical tensions.
The aftermath of these breaches affects organizational stability to its core: service downtime, demotivated employees, decreased productivity and the threat of lawsuits all come together and amplify the concerns with compromised cloud security.
Considering these challenges, we urge a call for action amongst companies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to drive improvements – it comes as no surprise that improving cloud security is a high priority for 89 per cent of the respondents within the region, however, the region is consistently above the global average when it comes to company concerns and cyberattacks. Close to 98 per cent of our respondents are concerned that the connectivity between their cloud and on-prem environments increases the chances of a breach.
Zero Trust Segmentation is poised to be the solution, with the majority believing it has the potential to significantly improve their company’s cloud security. Yet only 33 per cent of respondents in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are currently using it across on-premises and cloud environments, much lower than the global average of 48 per cent – underscoring the untapped potential and urgency for change to strengthen resilience.
As the attack surface becomes larger and more complex, organizations must possess real-time visibility over their applications and workloads, alongside the ability to rapidly contain threats in the cloud. Introducing Zero Trust Segmentation as part of a proactive security strategy can significantly bolster cyber resilience and mitigate the cost and impact of cloud breaches.
However, despite the clear benefits of Zero Trust Segmentation, the disparity between belief in its efficacy and current adoption levels within the GCC remains evident. Closing this gap is critical in ensuring the security of organizations across the region, but this requires a concentrated effort towards education, investment, and a strategic shift away from reactive security strategies focused on prevention and detection, towards proactive cybersecurity strategies like Zero Trust.
The potential for Zero Trust Segmentation within the GCC region is vast and promising. It represents both a proactive and adaptive security technology that can help reduce risk and strengthen resilience against the increasing prevalence of cloud breaches, particularly as cloud migration continues to accelerate. Embracing Zero Trust Segmentation signifies not just a commitment to robust cybersecurity measures, but also a commitment to safeguard the future of the digital landscape across the GCC.
