Cyber Security Risks in MENA Region: Threats, Challenges and Countermeasures Ahmed A. Mawgoud 1 , Mohamed Hamed N. Taha 1(&) , Nour Eldeen M. Khalifa 1 , and Mohamed Loey 2 1 Information Technology Department, Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt aabdelmawgoud@pg.cu.edu.eg, {mnasrtaha,nourmahmoud}@cu.edu.eg 2 Computer Science Department, Faculty of Computers and Informatics, Benha University, Benha, Egypt mohamed.loey@fci.bu.edu.eg Abstract. Over the last few years, MENA region became an attractive target for cyber-attacks perpetrators. Hackers focus on governmental high valued sectors (i.e. oil and gas) alongside with other critical industries. MENA nations are increasingly investing in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) sector, social infrastructure, economic sector, schools and hospitals in the area are now completely based on the Internet. Currently, the position of ICTs became an essential phase of the domestic future and global security structure in the MENA Region, emphasizing the real need for a tremendous development in cybersecurity at a regional level. This environment raises questions about the developments in cybersecurity and offensive cyber tactics; this paper examines and investigates (1) the essential cybersecurity threats in MENA region, (2) the major challenges that faces both governments and organizations (3) the main countermeasures that governments follow to achieve the protection and business continuity in the region. It stresses the need for the importance of cybercrime legislation and higher defenses techniques towards cyberterrorism for MENA nations. It argues for the promotion of a cybersecurity awareness for the indi- viduals as an effective mechanism for facing the current risks of cybersecurity in MENA region. Keywords: Cyber security Á Malicious attack Á Cybercrime Á MENA region 1 Introduction Cyber threats are an international phenomenon that keeps increasing proportionally with the ICT sector rapid growth; they are continuously growing to advanced levels that needs from the governments and individuals to cooperate to face this kind of cyber risks. Cyber-crime has developed into well-organized networks with superior attack techniques, cyberattacks grow to represent the type of risks a real war can cause; as the rapid-growth digitization in MENA nations and the dependence on information sys- tems increases [1]. Based on Symantec [2] survey that questioned about 30,000 person © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 A. E. Hassanien et al. (Eds.): AISI 2019, AISC 1058, pp. 912–921, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31129-2_83