GCC makes up 11.4% of Mideast bot population

Dubai: Dubai is ranked as the second highest source of bot infections in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) after Riyadh, according to a report by Norton by Symantec.

With the global botnet population growing by 6.7 million in 2016, the report reveals that GCC made up nearly 11.4 per cent of the Middle East’s total bot population.

Bots are internet-connected devices of any kind — such as laptops, phones, IoT devices, baby monitors, etc — infected with malware that allows hackers to remotely take control of many devices at a time, typically without any knowledge of the device owner. Combined, these devices form powerful bot networks (botnets) that can spread malware, generate spam, and commit other types of crime and fraud online.

“The GCC is widely considered a region that adopts new technologies more readily when compared to other global markets. But there seems to be a limited awareness amongst consumers about the various risks associated with using internet connected devices. In fact, more than 2.53 million consumers in the UAE were victims of online crime in the past year, and bots and botnets are a key tool in the cyber attacker’s arsenal,” said Tamim Taufiq, head of Norton Middle East. In fact, he said that IoT devices may be part of the uptick in global bot infections in 2016. During its peak last year, when the Mirai botnet — made up of almost half a million internet-connected devices such as IP cameras and home routers — was expanding rapidly — attacks on IoT devices were taking place every two minutes.

Unbeknownst to the device owners, one in 50 IoT attacks originated from devices in the Middle East alone. The UAE accounted for 5 per cent of IoT attacks coming from the Middle East in 2016.

“The ratio of bots per internet connected user in the GCC was significant as well. There is one bot for every 20 internet users in Kuwait; one bot for every 28 internet users in the UAE; and one bot for every 35 internet users in Saudi Arabia. The number is lower for Oman where there is one bot for every 50 internet users,” he said.