{"id":104282,"date":"2025-06-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/70-of-uae-firms-still-not-ready-for-ai-era-cyber-threats\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T00:00:00","slug":"70-of-uae-firms-still-not-ready-for-ai-era-cyber-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/06\/03\/70-of-uae-firms-still-not-ready-for-ai-era-cyber-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"70% of UAE firms still not ready for AI-era cyber threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

UAE<\/strong> firms still underprepared for AI-era threat: <\/strong>Just 30% of UAE organizations have reached either the \u201cmature\u201d or \u201cprogressive\u201d stages of cybersecurity readiness, according to a press release<\/a> citing Cisco\u2019s 2025 Cybersecurity Readiness Index (pdf)<\/a>. This year\u2019s figures mark a modest improvement over last year<\/a>, but still far below what\u2019s needed to counter more complex and AI-enhanced cyber threats.<\/p>\n

55% of organizations fell victim to attacks in the past year<\/strong>, with malware, phishing, and data breaches remaining the most common threat types. More hybrid work environments do little to allay fears, with 88% of companies identifying unmanaged device usage as a key cybersecurity risk. While 93% of UAE respondents reported AI-related incidents, firms are still \u201ccritically exposed\u201d by an awareness gap, Cisco said \u2014 only 62% of respondents think their employees know the associated risks.<\/p>\n

Shadow AI and GenAI use are rising with little oversight<\/strong>, with around 45% of employees using authorized third-party GenAI tools and 54% of IT teams admit they don\u2019t fully track how staff are engaging with these tools. Unauthorized AI deployments\u2014 or \u201cshadow AI\u201d \u2014 is creating serious concerns over data privacy and exposure to unapproved apps. On the flip side, 96% of UAE firms are already using AI to analyze cyber threats.<\/p>\n

Cyber budgets remain constrained: <\/strong>98% of UAE entities plan to modernize their IT infrastructure within the next one or two years, yet only 9% are committing more than a fifth of their IT budgets to cybersecurity. Meanwhile, 81% of firms say their current security setups are overly complex, hampering overall effectiveness. A shortage of skilled cybersecurity talent is another key obstacle for 87% of UAE firms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI-related incidents were reported by 93% of UAE respondents in the past year, yet just 62% believe their employees fully understand the associated risks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1577],"tags":[610,1707,7,1341],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-104282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-_newspack_tech","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cybersecurity","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-tech","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"64f29708-ed10-4b46-b88b-974a887caeab","order":"9","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/6\/1132.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"70% of UAE firms still not ready for AI-era cyber threats","related_issue":[104266],"teaser":"AI-related incidents were reported by 93% of UAE respondents in the past year, yet just 62% believe their employees fully understand the associated risks","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/6\/.0f9b6f49-20d9-4547-829c-1317456f5b1a.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\n70% of UAE firms still not ready for AI-era cyber threats - 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