81% worried of cyber terrorism

DUBAI — Cyber-terrorism is the top online concern for the majority of Internet users in the Arab region, according to The Arab World Online Report 2017.

A total of 81 per cent of respondents are concerned about cyber-terrorism and 58 per cent said they are “very concerned”.

However, Fadi Salem, director of research and advisory at MBRSG, said that social media companies are slowly taking the initiative to block cyberterrorists. “Cyberterrorism, cybercrime and then cyberbullying are the top three things that people are worried about,” Salem said. “This is followed by fake news. These are in the regional level and they are reasonable, given what’s happening across the region.

“I expect that there will be interventions to minimise this. We’ve seen how social media companies that are obliged by the law in certain cases, intervene to not allow flow of information that enables or empowers violent, terrorist or criminal activities. This is why Twitter has closed thousands of accounts or Facebook has introduced technologies or hired people to look into information that’s not accurate.”

On average, three out of four Internet users (75 per cent) also said they have experienced at least one type of cyber threat in the past two years — these include viruses, scams, hacking, bullying, harassment, identity theft, data breaches, extortion or ransomware.

“Viruses and malicious software continue to dominate the cyber threats affecting Internet users in the region,” the report said. “Around 80 per cent of the respondents who experienced cyber threats during the past two years said that they have been affected by viruses or malicious software, followed by online scams (44 per cent) and hacking attempts (29 per cent).