According to IBM, the Middle East lost almost $7 million to data breaches during the pandemic, as the costs of such cyber thefts hit record levels globally. Expenditure against cyber threats by businesses in the Middle East is set to rise by more than 11% in 2022, to reach $2.8 billion. Spending more on cybersecurity is essential to resist advanced attacks.

This is why leading cybersecurity and anti-virus provider Kaspersky registered a 24% uptick in sales across the Middle East in 2021, driven primarily by the B2B segment with large increases in enterprise sales. The company delivered stable business growth in 2021 and increased its global non-audited International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) revenue to $752 million, representing a 6.5% year-over-year increase. Globally, the company’s performance was driven by stable and positive results in most regions, particularly in META (16%).

Amid an ongoing digital transformation, the demand for cybersecurity solutions remained robust for many organizations, with Kaspersky helping businesses to continue growing while mitigating cybersecurity risks. 

In 2021, Kaspersky’s Corporate Business showed the best sales results, delivering major growth in strategic business areas — enterprise and non-endpoint. Key solutions to protect businesses from the most sophisticated attacks, like Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack Platform and Kaspersky Threat Intelligence services, saw significant increases.

Kaspersky also achieved significant growth in the SMB business segment, with a 9% year-over-year increase due to strategic sales development and 6% year-over-year growth in B2B digital sales. The intensified acquisition activities across various digital platforms and modified retention tactics also ensured sales growth in the B2C digital segment (over 2% year-over-year).

In the META region, Kaspersky sales increased by 16%. While in the Middle East, Kaspersky’s business grew by 20%. In the B2B sector, the growth was 24%. The company achieved significant growth in enterprise sales (over 29%) and the SMB segment (12%).