CyberArk has released a new global research report that shows how siloed approaches to securing human and machine identities are driving identity-based attacks across enterprises and their ecosystems.

The CyberArk 2024 Identity Security Threat Landscape Report provides unique perspectives on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) boosts cyber defenses as well as attacker capabilities; increases the pace at which identities are created in new and complex environments; and highlights the scale of identity-related breaches affecting organizations.

The report, which surveyed 2,400 cybersecurity decision makers in more than 18 countries including the UAE, found that 99% of UAE organizations had two or more identity-related breaches in the past year, indicating the scale of the new challenges.

Cyber Risk Rises as Machine Identity Security Treated Differently to Humans

While the quantity of both human and machine identities is growing quickly, the report found that security professionals globally rate machines as the riskiest identity type. In part due to widespread adoption of multi-cloud strategies and growing utilization of AI-related programs like Large Language Models, machine identities are being created in vast numbers. Many of these identities require sensitive or privileged access.

However, contrary to how human access to sensitive data is managed, machine identities often lack identity security controls, and therefore represent a widespread and potent threat vector ready to be exploited. Key findings of the report include:

• 99% of UAE organizations had two or more identity-related breaches in the past year.
• Machine identities are the #1 cause of identity growth in the UAE and are considered by respondents to be the riskiest identity type.
• 94% of UAE organizations expect identities to grow 3x or more in the next 12 months
• 28% of UAE organizations cited concerns over their software supply chain as a key concern for securing machine identities.

“The digital initiatives that drive organizations forward inevitably create waves of new human and machine identities. Because many of these identities require sensitive or privileged access it is imperative that businesses in the UAE gain a clearer understanding of the nature of this access and the attack surface it represents,” said Tom Lowndes, Director, Middle East at CyberArk. “Identity-centric breaches affect nearly all organizations, with most suffering multiple successful attacks; to address the extent of growing threats on identity that organizations face from an array of malign actors, it is key to build resilience on a new cybersecurity model that places identity security at its core.”  

Widespread Use of AI to Battle AI and Complacency Takes Hold

Consistent with CyberArk’s 2023 report, the 2024 Threat Landscape Report found that all organizations in the UAE (100% of those surveyed) are using AI in cybersecurity defense initiatives. Furthermore, the report predicts an increase in the volume and sophistication of identity-related attacks, as skilled and unskilled bad actors also increase their capabilities, including AI-powered malware and phishing. In related findings, the majority of respondents are confident that deepfakes targeting their organization won’t fool their employees.

• All UAE organizations surveyed have adopted AI-powered tools as part of their cyber defenses to some degree, with 35% using AI for advanced analytics and 31% addressing cyber skills and resource challenges with AI.
• 99% of UAE respondents expect AI-powered tools to create cyber risks including AI powered malware, phishing, data leakage from compromised AI models and deepfake scams.
• 83% are confident that their employees can identify deepfakes of their organizational leadership.
• 97% of UAE organizations surveyed have been a victim of a successful identity-related breach due to a phishing or vishing attack.
• 100% of UAE organizations increased their investment in identity-related products or services to some extent in the last 12 months as a result of a breach.

The full report offers further insight on what is behind human and machine identity growth, where related cyber risk lies and how AI is being used in cyber defenses. The report also details the consequences firms are facing from identity-centric cyber breaches and recommends methods to ensure that security practices keep up with organizational initiatives to reduce cybersecurity debt.

Study highlights the divide between AI leaders and AI laggards illustrating value of unified data approach.

NetApp released its second annual Cloud Complexity Report. The report looks at the experiences of global technology decision makers deploying AI at scale and shows a stark contrast between AI leaders and AI laggards. This year’s report provides global insights into progress, readiness, challenges, and momentum since last year’s report, what we can learn from both the AI leaders and AI laggards, and the critical role of a unified data infrastructure in achieving AI success.

“AI is only as good as the data that fuels it,” said Pravjit Tiwana, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Cloud Storage at NetApp. “Both the AI leaders and AI laggards show us that in the prevailing hybrid IT environment, the more unified and reliable your data, the more likely your AI initiatives are to be successful.”  

There is a Significant Divide Between AI Leaders and AI Laggards

The report found a clear divide between AI leaders and AI laggards across several areas including:

Regions: 60% of AI-leading countries (India, Singapore, UK, USA) have AI projects up and running or in pilot, in stark contrast to 36% in AI-lagging countries (Spain, Australia/New Zealand, Germany, Japan).

• Industries: Technology leads with70% of AI projects up and running or in pilot, while Banking & Financial Services and Manufacturing follow with 55% and 50%, respectively. However, Healthcare (38%) and Media & Entertainment (25%) are trailing.
• Company size: Larger companies (with more than 250 employees) are more likely to have AI projects in motion, with 62% reporting projects up and running or in pilot, versus 36% of smaller companies (with fewer than 250 employees).

Both AI leaders and AI laggards show a difference in their approach to AI:

• Globally, 67% of companies in AI-leading countries report having hybrid IT environments, with India leading (70%) and Japan lagging (24%).
• AI leaders are also more likely to report benefits from AI, including a 50% increase in production rates, 46% in the automation of routine activities, and a 45% improvement in customer experience.

“The rise of AI is ushering in a new disrupt-or-die era,” said Gabie Boko, Chief Marketing Officer at NetApp. “Data-ready enterprises that connect and unify broad structured and unstructured data sets into an intelligent data infrastructure are best positioned to win in the age of AI.”

AI Laggards Must Swiftly Innovate to Stay Competitive

Despite the divide, there is notable progress among AI laggards in preparing their IT environments for AI, but the window to catch up is closing rapidly.

• A significant number of companies in AI-lagging countries (42%) have optimized their IT environments for AI, including Germany (67%) and Spain (59%)
  

• Companies in some AI-lagging countries already report they see the benefits of a unified data infrastructure in place, such as:
  • Easier data sharing: Spain (45%), Australia/New Zealand (43%), Germany (44%)
  • Increased visibility: Spain (54%) and Germany (46%)

IT Costs and Data Security Emerge as Top Challenges but Won’t Impede AI Progress

Rising IT costs and ensuring data security are the two of the biggest challenges in the AI era, but they will not block AI progress. Instead, AI leaders will scale back, cut other IT operations, or reallocate costs from other parts of the business to fund AI initiatives.

• AI leaders will also increase their cloud operations (CloudOps), data security and AI investments throughout 2024, with 40% of large companies saying AI projects have already increased IT costs
• Year over year, “increased cybersecurity risk” jumped 16% as a top concern from 45% to 61%, while all other concerns decreased
• To manage AI project costs, 31% of companies globally are reallocating funds from other business areas, with India (48%), UK (40%), and US (35%) leading this trend.

Security, AI, and CloudOps Drive 2024 Cloud Investments

As global companies, whether AI leaders or AI laggards, increase investments, they are relying on the cloud to support their goals.

• Companies reported that they expect to increase AI-driven cloud deployments by 19% from 2024 to 2030.
• 85% of AI leaders plan to enhance their CloudOps automation over the next year.
• Increasing data security investments is a global priority, jumping 25% from 33% in 2023 to 58% in 2024.

Wego Reports Over 3 Million Searches to Riyadh

Wego has observed a 20.31 percent year-on-year rise in domestic bookings in Saudi Arabia during Eid al Fitr this year compared to the same period last year. Over 3 million searches to Riyadh were conducted on Wego’s platform this year, and the company saw a 19.63 percent increase in domestic travel bookings during Eid al Fitr when compared to the previous month.

According to the data gathered by Wego, Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam are at the top of the list of the most sought-after domestic destinations during Eid al Fitr holidays. These cities generally welcome the bulk of Saudi domestic travelers all year round, but they also hosted special events and festivities in celebration of Eid al Fitr this year, drawing even more visitors from across the Kingdom during this time period.

Trailing the top 3 cities are Abha, Medina, Jizan, Tabuk, Taif, Al Qassim, and Najran. Wego believes the list indicates a mix of leisure and homecoming trips during Eid holidays. Wego also noted that solo travelers made up the majority of domestic travelers in Saudi Arabia during Eid al Fitr travel season, followed by couples and families.

Wego also noted that most of the travelers made their bookings around 2-7 days ahead of their travel dates.

Domestic travel continued growth

Wego noticed a similar increase in domestic travel bookings during other holidays, such as New Year and Founding Day this year, with month-on-month (MoM) percentage increases in bookings during those times reaching up to 56.69 percent.

The growth in domestic travel interest during holiday seasons showcases how Saudi travelers often prefer local destinations to spend their days off. Earlier this year, the Saudi Ministry of Tourism announced that the Kingdom welcomed a record-breaking 100 million visitors, more than half of which were domestic travelers.

Wego expects a continued boost in Saudi domestic travel, as the Kingdom has expressed its commitment to growing the tourism industry through mega projects, international events, and infrastructure revamp.

Top tips on finding better deals

As per the proprietary pricing data, Wego acknowledged the challenges of finding good airfare and hotel deals during peak travel seasons like Eid al Fitr. As travel demands grow close to a major holiday, prices tend to go up and availability goes down.

Travel experts at Wego maintained that Saudis can still be savvy travelers by following some tried-and-true tips. Picking weekdays instead of weekends for travel dates, hunting for tickets early, and keeping an eye out for seasonal discounts are some of the suggestions shared by experts at Wego.

“Flight prices fluctuate—what you see now may still go down significantly within hours. Wego app notifies users via email and pop-up notifications when there’s a price drop for a route or hotel stay they recently browsed for”, Mamoun Hmedan, Chief Business Officer of Wego stated.

He also noted, “that the Wego app not only provides inspiration for where to go but also opportunities to grab better deals.”