Both across the Middle East and around the globe, nationwide lockdowns led to a surge in remote working which triggered security concerns. Mimecast's Threat Centre witnessed a historic uptick in cyber-attacks. The centre saw increases in malware by 22% and spam by 36% in the Middle East during February and March, when the Coronavirus started spreading in the region. 'Cybercriminals are refocusing their phishing, impersonation and ransomware attacks from office networks to the cloud services remote employees use from home'.

As Saudi Arabian firms scramble to tackle cyber-risks and secure remote working conditions during the nationwide lockdown, cybersecurity spending is soaring, and more companies and public sector divisions are investing in systems security.