Latest news with #skilledprofessionals
Zawya
26-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Cisco unveils KSA findings from its Cybersecurity Readiness Index for 2025
Organizations in KSA are navigating the challenges posed by AI, particularly the risks associated with generative AI deployment. Cybersecurity prepapdress of organizations in KSA has improved from last year's Index, still further efforts are required as hyperconnectivity and AI introduce new complexities for security. The ongoing demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals continues to present a challenge. While AI provides limitless opportunities, the industry needs to dramatically simplify how enterprises deploy, manage, and secure AI to keep pace with the evolving threat landscape. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – According to Cisco's 2025 Cybersecurity Readiness Index, a total of 25% of organizations in Saudi Arabia have achieved the 'Mature' or 'Progressive' levels of readiness required to effectively withstand today's cybersecurity threats. This represents an improvement from last year's Index, however further efforts are required to address cybersecurity preparedness as hyperconnectivity and AI introduce new complexities for security practitioners. AI is revolutionizing security and escalating threat levels, with 91% of organizations in the Kingdom having faced AI-related incidents last year. However, only 61% of respondents are confident their employees fully understand AI-related cybersecurity threats, and only 51% believe their teams fully grasp how malicious actors are using AI to execute sophisticated attacks. This awareness gap leaves organizations critically exposed. AI is compounding an already challenging threat landscape. In the last year, over half of organisations (52%) suffered cyberattacks, hindered by complex security frameworks with siloed point solutions. The top three types of cybersecurity incidents include malware (76%), phishing attacks (62%), and data breaches by malicious actors (45%). Ransomware attacks were mentioned by 39% of respondents. "The cybersecurity threat landscape has never been more dynamic and complex, with adversaries launching sophisticated attacks and exploits against businesses," said Salman Faqeeh, Managing Director, Cisco Saudi Arabia. "As the Kingdom continues to accelerate its digital transformation and adopt advanced technologies across industries, the need for more robust, proactive, and AI-driven cybersecurity measures has never been greater. Cisco is committed to supporting Saudi Arabia's vision, by helping organizations strengthen their digital resilience and safeguard against emerging threats. Preparedness remains the critical foundation." The Index evaluates companies' readiness across five pillars – Identity Intelligence, Network Resilience, Machine Trustworthiness, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification – and encompasses 31 solutions and capabilities. Based on a double-blind survey of 8,000 private sector security and business leaders in 30 global markets, including 200 in Saudi Arabia, respondents detailed their deployment stages for each solution. Companies were then categorized into four readiness stages: Beginner, Formative, Progressive, and Mature. Findings Cybersecurity preparedness in Saudi Arabia remains alarmingly low, especially as 72% of respondents anticipate business disruptions from cyber incidents within the next 12 to 24 months. Further: AI's Expanding Role in Cybersecurity: An impressive 93% of organizations use AI to better understand threats, 92% for threat detection, and 78% for response, underscoring AI's vital role in strengthening cybersecurity strategies. Generative AI (GenAI) Deployment Risks: GenAI tools are widely adopted, with 50% of employees using approved third-party tools. However, 28% have unrestricted access to public GenAI, and 50% of IT teams are unaware of employee interactions with GenAI, underscoring major oversight challenges. Shadow AI Concerns: 39% of organizations lack confidence in detecting unregulated AI deployments, or shadow AI, posing significant cybersecurity and data privacy risks. Unmanaged Device Vulnerability: Within hybrid work models, 89% of organizations face increased security risks as employees access networks from unmanaged devices. This is exacerbated by using unapproved Gen AI tools. Investment Priorities Shift: While almost all (98%) organizations plan to upgrade their IT infrastructure in the next 12-24 months, only 8% allocate more than 20% of their IT budget to cybersecurity. This finding suggests an opportunity for enhanced investment in comprehensive defense strategies, as the pace of threats continues to rise. Complex Security Postures: Over four in five (84%) organizations report that their complex security infrastructures, dominated by the deployment of more than 10 point security solutions, are hampering their ability to respond to threats swiftly and effectively. Talent Availability Impedes Progress: A staggering 93% of respondents identify the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals as a major challenge, with 57% reporting more than 10 positions to fill. To tackle today's cybersecurity challenges, organizations in Saudi Arabia must invest in AI-driven solutions, simplify security infrastructures, and enhance AI threat awareness. Prioritizing AI for threat detection, response, and recovery is essential, as is addressing talent shortages and mitigating risks from unmanaged devices and shadow AI. About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that is revolutionizing the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era. For more than 40 years, Cisco has securely connected the world. With its industry leading AI-powered solutions and services, Cisco enables its customers, partners and communities to unlock innovation, enhance productivity and strengthen digital resilience. With purpose at its core, Cisco remains committed to creating a more connected and inclusive future for all. Discover more on the Cisco Newsroom.
The National
20-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Sheikh Hamdan approves 17,000 homes for Dubai's skilled professionals
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, has announced an initiative to support Dubai's affordable housing policy. The first phase of the arrangement, Sheikh Hamdan said, will involve the development of tens of thousands of homes across Dubai spanning more than a million square metres. These homes are intended for skilled professionals of various nationalities in the public and private sectors, he added. The agreement was signed by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Municipality and Wasl Group. It supports the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. "The first phase, covering six areas across Dubai and spanning 1.46 million square metres, will see the development of more than 17,000 homes for skilled professionals of various nationalities working across public and private sectors," Sheikh Hamdan wrote in a post on X. 'Our goal is to offer quality housing that improves living standards for Dubai's workforce and strengthens its status as one of the world's best cities to live and work,' Last week, Sheikh Hamdan inspected sites in Wadi Al Amardi and reviewed plans for other developments, amounting to more than 1,100 homes. The three other sites are in Al Aweer, Hatta and Oud Al Muteena, with a total investment of Dh2 billion. The projects are in line with the Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment's work to support Emirati well-being. A total of 1,163 houses are under construction: 432 in Wadi Al Amardi valued at Dh767.9 million, 398 in Al Aweer valued at Dh734.1 million, 213 in Hatta valued at Dh508.5 million, and 120 in Oud Al Muteena valued at Dh113.8 million. Also last week, Sheikh Hamdan chaired a meeting of the Higher Committee for Development and Citizens Affairs in Dubai. During the meeting, he announced that 426 citizens in the emirate would be exempted from housing loan payments worth a total of Dh146 million. He also announced the launch of the Thukhr initiative, which will honour Dubai's retirees for their contributions to the emirate. He later witnessed the launch of the Barwa programme. Developed by the Dubai Land Department and the Community Development Authority, it is aimed at empower senior citizens and those with disabilities to manage their properties independently and with ease.
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Post-Covid home working has failed to level up UK economy, study finds
The post-pandemic shift to greater home working among highly skilled professionals has failed to level up Britain's economy and help struggling regions as many had predicted it would, according to academic research. Hybrid working – where workers split their time between the workplace and another remote location such as home – has surged since the height of the Covid pandemic, yet is mostly available to older, high-skilled professionals based in London and other major cities. The researchers found that just over half (52%) of all UK workers never work from home, but this falls to less than a third (29%) of highly skilled workers. The prevalence of hybrid roles over those that are fully remote means most staff who can work from home are still tied to a city centre workplace. This has dashed hopes that the post-Covid world of work would prompt professionals to move and thereby spread talent around the country, according to a report from academics at the universities of St Andrews and Southampton and others. 'There has been no mass relocation of highly skilled workers to cheaper places as we might have hoped at the start of the pandemic,' said Dr David McCollum, one of the report's co-authors and a senior geography lecturer at St Andrews. 'People are still opting to live in places that offer the best wages and the best opportunities for their profession. If they are relocating, they are not moving that far away as they still have to go to their place of work on a weekly basis, usually a few days a week.' When highly skilled workers move house, the main reason tends to be a need for more space rather than it being determined by their job, the researchers found. The report, which was funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Economic and Social Research Council, urged policymakers to take action to prevent home working from deepening regional divides, as local challenges such as skill shortages, economic inactivity and low-quality jobs cannot be solved just by attracting the most-skilled workers. 'If high earners relocate, that can push up house prices, which can exacerbate inequalities at a local scale,' McCollum said. At a time when the Labour government is aiming to have 50% of all senior civil servants based outside London within five years, the report's authors have called on ministers to consider incentivising firms to establish remote or hybrid work hubs in the UK's second-tier cities, as well as investing in co-working and business support spaces outside the capital to help redistribute economic activity. Employees who are able to work from home value hybrid working the same as an 8% pay rise, according to Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford economics professor who has studied home working for two decades. 'If you think of somebody that is working 45 or 50 hours a week in an office, they've got a 45-minute additional commute. If they get to work from home two, three days a week, they're saving about 8% of their total time,' Bloom told a House of Lords committee, set up to investigate how the rise of remote and hybrid working has affected employers, employees and the wider British economy. 'I would say hybrid helps retention and recruitment and, if it's well organised, is about net zero on productivity,' Bloom told peers on Tuesday. Earlier in May the world's biggest asset management company, BlackRock, became the latest company to call time on an era of remote working by ordering its senior managers back to the office full-time, in a change from its previous four-day-a-week policy. The New York-based company, which employs more than 21,000 people globally, is one of a handful of companies to have followed the Amazon by reinstating pre-pandemic ways of working. Bloom said he believed companies issuing full return-to-office mandates hoped this would make staff leave, thereby helping them reduce their headcount. 'That fifth day in particular, it just annoys people. To force them in on Friday doesn't seem to improve productivity,' he said.
