A Kaspersky study suggests UAE businesses are increasingly treating contractor security as part of their own cyber defence, with 69% saying they are prepared to help fund the protection of suppliers and contractors, and 29% already sharing those costs. The findings point to a widening recognition that cyber risk does not stop at the company perimeter, but travels through the wider network of partners with access to systems and data.

The same survey found the UAE matches the global figure of 69% of respondents who are considering financial support for contractor security, underlining that this is not just a local concern. The shift comes as supply chain attacks have become more common and companies have been forced to reassess how much of their resilience depends on the security standards of smaller firms they work with.

Sergey Soldatov, head of security operations at Kaspersky, said businesses now understand that protection has to extend across the wider ecosystem. He argued that smaller suppliers often lack the tools and expertise of larger enterprises, leaving vulnerabilities that can be reduced if companies pool resources and knowledge.

Kaspersky said organisations should go beyond goodwill and put formal controls around supplier risk, including detailed checks of vendors’ security practices, scrutiny of software development processes and contractual requirements on cyber hygiene. The company also recommends practical safeguards such as least-privilege access, zero-trust principles and stronger identity management.

The study sits alongside a broader set of concerns facing security teams in the UAE. Kaspersky has separately found that 86% of companies in the country operate in multi-vendor security environments, a structure that can add complexity, cost and operational strain. It has also reported that 94% of cybersecurity professionals in the UAE are familiar with Secure by Design development, suggesting growing interest in building resilience into systems from the outset rather than bolting it on later.

AI-driven threats are another pressure point. In a different Kaspersky survey, 89% of IT and information security professionals in the UAE said they expect malicious use of AI to rise over the next two years, while 35% said they already face significant gaps in cyber protection. Taken together, the findings suggest companies are trying to strengthen both their internal controls and the security of the wider supply chain before more advanced attacks widen existing weaknesses.

Source: Noah Wire Services