A recent Kaspersky survey in the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region entitled “Cybersecurity in the workplace: Employee knowledge and behavior”, found that just 48% of professionals in the United Arab Emirates received a training on digital threats. This knowledge gap is significant, especially given that the majority of cybersecurity breaches are attributed to human error. The findings underscore a need for IT departments to provide clear guidance and for organisations to implement structured, practical cybersecurity training that reaches employees at every level.
Many cyberattacks today are deliberately designed to bypass digital defenses by exploiting human psychology. “Social engineering” schemes, like phishing emails, manipulate trust and urgency to trick employees into sharing sensitive information or initiating fraudulent transactions. Nearly half of surveyed professionals (45.5%) encountered scams disguised as messages from their organisation, colleagues or suppliers within the past year, while 13% suffered negative consequences after such deceptive communication. Other cybersecurity issues closely linked to the human factor include compromised passwords, the leakage of sensitive data, unpatched IT systems and applications, unlocked and unencrypted devices.
Human-related cyberattacks can be prevented through appropriate education and awareness. 13,5% of respondents acknowledged they made IT-related mistakes due to a lack of cybersecurity knowledge. At the same time, training was named as the most effective means of raising cybersecurity awareness among non-IT employees: 59% of professionals chose it over other options such treat stories (27%) and references to legal responsibility (37.5%). These findings show that cybersecurity training is an essential layer of organisational defense.
When given the opportunity to choose specific training topics, respondents said they would choose ones dedicated to websites and internet security (47%); security of accounts and passwords (43%); protecting confidential work data (41%), e-mails (35%), mobile devices (33%), safe use of social networks and messengers (28%), secure remote work (26,5%) and safe use of neural network-based services such as chatbots (24%), while 23% would prefer to undergo all the above trainings, which highlights the broad demand for comprehensive cybersecurity education.
The data shows that employees are open to improving their cybersecurity skills. However, for this knowledge to become an integral part of their daily IT routines, training needs to be well-structured, tailored to the role and existing IT skills of each employee, regularly updated, as well as gamified and practical. This approach enhances engagement and knowledge retention. When organisations invest in such education, they are not just meeting a requirement, but also fostering a “security-first” mindset among workforce. This turns employees from a potential point of weakness into a distributed network of vigilant guards, capable of making smart security decisions instinctively.
“Cybersecurity can’t live solely within the IT department. Everyone—from executives to new hires—needs a clear grasp of digital risks. A truly resilient organization is built by equipping every employee with the skills to recognise scams, prevent costly errors, and safeguard company data,” comments Rashed Al Momani, General Manager for the Middle East at Kaspersky.
To strengthen their defences, organisations should consider the following:
- Implement robust monitoring and cybersecurity solutions, for example from the Kaspersky Next product line.
- Introduce employee education and cybersecurity trainings, such as Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform, developed to help IT and HR departments with delivering practical cybersecurity skills to employees.
- Implement security policies for employees, from password and software installation to network segmentation.
- Foster a culture of security: encourage employees to report suspicious activity, reward proactive security behaviors to reinforce good habits.
*The survey was conducted by Toluna research agency at the request of Kaspersky in 2025. The study sample included 2800 online interviews with employees and business owners using computers for work in seven countries: Türkiye, South Africa, Kenya, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
