Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Mena cybersecurity spend grows to $3.3bn to fight AI crime

By Divsha Bhat
AI cybersecurity arab woman computer screen Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah
Criminals are increasingly using generative AI, computer systems that can create fake information and fake images for use in cybercrime.
  • 12% increase on spend
  • Data privacy budgets rising
  • Cloud security also on the up

Spending on cybersecurity and risk management in the Middle East and North Africa will rise 12 percent in 2024 to $3.3 billion, the research group Gartner is forecasting.

The rise in spending is a reaction to the growing use of generative AI to create fake information and fake images for use in cybercrime.

Shailendra Upadhyay, senior research principal at Gartner, said the rapid growth of generative AI is “expanding the threat landscape” as criminal usage of it also rises.

ChatGPT and other “large language model” applications, such as Google’s Gemini, have placed generative AI on the cybersecurity agenda for many businesses.

Large language model programmes are capable of generating frequently convincing conversations, stories and narratives.

Jon Amato, a senior analyst at Gartner, said that generative AI “creates new attack surfaces, which security leaders must be ready to defend”.

Upadhyay added that the GCC has recently implemented protection laws for handling the personal data of identifiable individuals, in line with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. 

Spending on data privacy is projected to see the highest growth rate of all cybersecurity segments this year, increasing 24 percent compared to 2023.

“These laws require Mena organisations to maintain a higher standard of data privacy and cybersecurity measures, resulting in an increase in spending on data privacy,” Upadhyay said.

Investment in security for cloud computing environments, where customers can access on-demand computing power, boosted by the adoption of services such as Amazon’s AWS and Oracle Cloud, is expected to rise by 17 percent. This is the second highest growth rate for cybersecurity in 2024. 

Latest articles

The five-year pact between PIF and Bpifrance Assurance Export will focus on projects supporting Vision 2030

PIF secures $10bn from French export credit agency

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has signed an agreement with Bpifrance Assurance Export, a French export credit agency, to seek funding for up to $10 billion. The five-year pact will focus on projects supporting Vision 2030 and is aligned with the fund’s strategy to grow build long-term global partnerships. The agreement will unlock new opportunities for French […]

Saudi Arabia's deposit renewal with the State Bank of Pakistan will boost Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and strengthen its economy

Saudi Arabia extends $3bn loan to Pakistan

Saudi Arabia has renewed its $3 billion deposit with Pakistan’s central bank for another year.   The deposit renewal with the State Bank of Pakistan will boost Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and strengthen its economy, the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) said. The initial agreement was signed in 2021 and rolled over in 2022 and […]

Petronas LNG CEO Ezran Mahadzir and Adnoc EVP Fatema Al Nuaimi sign the long-term LNG supply agreement

Adnoc Gas strikes LNG supply deal with Petronas

State-backed energy major Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has signed the second sales and purchase agreement for its Ruwais liquified natural gas (LNG) project at Al Ruwais Industrial City. The 15-year contract was signed with Malaysia’s Petronas to supply one million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG. Deliveries are expected to start in 2028 […]

Dubai and Jeddah account for almost 80 percent of current spending on airport development in the Mena region

Middle East airlines report lowest demand rise

Middle Eastern carriers reported a 2.2 percent year-on-year increase in passenger demand in October, the lowest across all regions, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata). Capacity increased 2.5 percent, while the load factor fell marginally lower at 80.2 percent year on year, Iata reported. Asia-Pacific airlines reported the highest year-on-year increase in demand […]