Employees of energy companies in the Middle East must be aware of how important their role is in helping protect their company’s data, according to an expert.
A report from Symantec found that oil and gas companies in the Middle East have been targeted by information stealing malware, but companies must help educate their staff to help in the fight against cyber-attack.
“Technology in this sector is constantly evolving and therefore updates and changes are inevitable in order to protect assets accordingly,” said Safdar Akhtar, Director of Business Development, Cyber Security for Middle East and Africa, Honeywell Process Solutions
“This is the nature of the industry, particularly within the energy industry where you have remotely located assets and the need to enhance consistent security measures. The rise of software-driven technology, such as the cloud and virtualized environments, has also increased the need for more regular updates.
“However, I would say one of the most important changes that need to be made is internally. Employees must be aware of the role they play in the protection of their company’s data and the protocol in place to protect that.
“Education is key to ensuring this responsibility and accountability is upheld.”
