70% UAE Companies Turn To Artificial Intelligence To Fight AI Threats

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The majority of UAE firms plan to establish an artificial intelligence-driven security operations centre (SOC) to counter emerging AI-related threats, according to Kaspersky.

The global cybersecurity firm said seven out of 10 – 70 per cent – of UAE firms plan to establish AI security centres, but face significant challenges related to AI-skilled personnel and large integration costs.

Recommended For You

Consequently, AI is being widely viewed as essential for enhancing threat detection and operational efficiency amid growing AI-related threats.

The study comes as the UAE Cybersecurity Council announced that the national cybersecurity system thwarted organised cyberattacks with a terrorist nature that targeted the country's digital infrastructure and vital sectors in an attempt to destabilise the nation and disrupt essential services.

The attackers also exploited AI technologies to develop complex offensive tools, reflecting a significant evolution in the methods used by terrorist groups and their ability to employ modern technologies in carrying out digital attacks.

However, nearly one-third – 30 per cent – of UAE firms said they would definitely leverage AI to elevate SOC performance.

What will AI do for UAE firms?

When it comes to practical use cases, 58 per cent of UAE companies primarily expect AI to strengthen threat detection capabilities through automated analysis of data to identify anomalies and suspicious activities.

Additionally, 46 per cent of firms plan to facilitate response automation, enabling the rapid execution of predefined incident response scenarios.

UAE firms aim to adopt AI to improve overall threat detection effectiveness, automating routine tasks and increasing accuracy while reducing false positives.

“Organisations clearly recognise the value AI can bring to SOCs, but the transition from experimentation to real SOC impact still remains challenging. Given the cybersecurity talent shortages – and AI talent being scarce as well – introducing in-house AI capabilities in a SOC remains a coveted but hard-to-achieve goal. This is why cybersecurity companies are investing in AI-powered features across their leading products,” said Anton Ivanov, chief technology officer at Kaspersky.

ALSO READ

• More than 4 out of 10 UAE banks using AI to reduce operational costs, reveals study
• Jobs in UAE: AI-skilled employees earn more, but face tighter scrutiny from employers
• Wearable robots, newborn screening: How AI is transforming lives in the UAE

MENAFN22022026000049011007ID1110773983