MILLENNIALS remain carefree when sharing their data – with Saudi millennials displaying the most carefree attitude amongst all the countries surveyed, revealed Mahmoud Samy Ibrahim, Forcepoint’s AVP of Sales, Emerging Region, following the study done by Raytheon, Forcepoint and the National Cyber Security Alliance. A successful, well-connected and target-driven leader with 20 years of experience and expertise within the fiercely competitive Telecommunications, Enterprise, IT and Electronics sectors, Ibrahim spoke to Saudi Gazette on a wide-ranging area, including cyber practices and cybersecurity. Here are the excerpts:

Q: Can you tell us a little more about the study done by Raytheon, Forcepoint and the National Cyber Security Alliance?

A: The ever-evolving era of Internet-connected technology has provided the world with unprecedented ways to make our lives easier and more productive. Unfortunately, when everything is connected, everything is potentially vulnerable to cyber threats. We surveyed more than 3,000 millennials in nine countries to better understand the issues and improve the current state. The research conducted by Raytheon Intelligence, Forcepoint, and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) reveals that millennials remain carefree when sharing their data — with Saudi millennials displaying the most alarming behaviors amongst all the countries surveyed. This is especially concerning knowing that, within three years, millennials will make up half of today’s workforces around the world, presenting a major security risk to their future employers. We need to take action to ensure this generation has the tools and embrace safe online practices. We also need strong role models — including parents, teachers, colleagues, and friends — to help improve cyber practices nationwide and encourage the pursuit of cybersecurity careers among young adults.

Q: Protecting the human point is both Forcepoint’s vision and focus. Can you please elaborate?

A: Critical data is everywhere. Stratified in private and public clouds, on removable media, in mobile devices, and all too often in parallel with personal data on employee devices. Yet many security professionals can’t see how and where data is used as it sprawls across company-owned, employee-owned and hosted applications. Regardless of how attacks originate, they ultimately inflict the most damage at the points in which people interact with critical business data and intellectual property. These ‘human points’ of interaction have the potential to undermine even the most comprehensively-designed systems in a single malicious or unintentional act. For this reason, we believe the approach to security the industry has relied upon for years, centered on protecting technology infrastructure, needs to evolve. For too long the industry has been in a cycle of developing products that simply cannot keep pace with the emergence of new threats. The difference we are suggesting is to focus on the constant – on the people. When you examine how people interact with critical business data and understanding how and why these interactions occur, we believe security professionals will be better able to manage how and why people create risk. Risk is itself not constant and by looking at the reasons behind a breach — accidental or maliciously — security teams can better tackle the challenges facing their organizations.

Q: What are the most vulnerable sectors in Saudi Arabia?

A: Regionally, we know that all countries across the GCC region are especially susceptible to attacks at the enterprise level — those working in the finance, manufacturing and energy sectors especially. Forcepoint helps our customers implement intelligent, integrated security solutions that provide visibility into user behavior and coupled with robust cyber security programs. These systems are capable of observing behavior and interpreting intent in order to proactively protect users, critical data and, most importantly, the point at which they intersect.

Q: The study revealed some worrying findings from KSA, can you please share some figures with us?

A: We surveyed more than 3,000 millennials across nine countries to better understand the issues and improve the current state. Of all nine countries, Saudi Arabia’s millennials displayed the most carefree cybersecurity behaviors. This changing and younger workforce poses a risk to businesses and highlights a need for increased awareness through education and training.

Key findings from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia include:

• 94 percent of KSA millennials have used a non-password protected public Wi-Fi as a matter of convenience even though the security risks are well documented (with the global average at 77% percent)

• 67.5 percent of KSA millennials admit to regularly clicking on links even if they aren’t sure of the source

• Over 76 percent of KSA millennials share passwords with non-family members

• Only half (52 percent) of KSA millennials protect their tablets with a password or pin

• A notable 30 percent of KSA millennials are not at all concerned about their device being affected by malware

Q: Could you please include some concluding thoughts on the study for us?

A: Cyber risks are likely to grow more pervasive and complex as technology becomes more ingrained in today’s lifestyle. However, this doesn’t mean the cause is lost — not even close. An increased cyber talent pool and efforts by governments, businesses and employees to practice safe-cyber activities can still lead to a safer online world for everyone. Conducting the annual survey is an important piece of the puzzle for governments and businesses in Saudi Arabia to understand their youngest and future employees. It’s important to know that these young adults believe cybersecurity is important, just as it is to know they conduct cyber practices that might put businesses at risk. There has been improvement in education systems regarding cybersecurity and there is an increased level of awareness among young adults about cyber careers. But that hasn’t necessarily translated into more interest in the field. — SG