Feature Cyber threats are no longer confined to IT departments. As AI, ransomware and cloud adoption reshape the risk landscape, businesses across the Middle East are under growing pressure to strengthen their defences. Shaikh Muhammad Adeel is a cyber security expert with more than 15 years of experience across security consultancy, AI, governance, risk and compliance. He is the Sales Director at Keystrike, an author on AI and cyber security, and has spoken at conferences including RSA Conference, Black Hat, GISEC and GITEX. In this exclusive interview with the Cyber Security Speakers Agency, Shaikh examines the shift from reactive to proactive security, the misconceptions leaving businesses exposed and the threats organisations must prepare for. Question 1: How has the cyber security landscape evolved over the past 15 years, and what has that meant for businesses? Shaikh Muhammad Adeel: “I started in 2010, and we are now sitting in 2025. I’m seeing a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach. “Earlier, people would only take action when something went wrong. They did not take cyber security as seriously. Now, companies are investing heavily in this area, especially midsized businesses and enterprises. Regulations are also driving this shift. “People are paying more attention to how AI and machine learning can support real-time threat detection and solve cyber security issues. Bad actors also have access to AI and machine learning. Services such as ransomware as a service make it easier for an attacker to launch a targeted attack against an organisation. “The adoption of AI and machine learning in cyber security is increasing significantly. Cloud computing, remote working and zero-trust security are also affecting how organisations protect themselves. The industry is moving from a reactive approach to a proactive one.” Question 2: Which misconceptions about cyber security continue to influence business decisions? Shaikh Muhammad Adeel: “One of the main misconceptions is that cyber security is solely an IT issue. It is part of information security as a whole. Governance, risk and compliance teams also have responsibility for it. Cyber Expert Reveals the Misconceptions Leaving Businesses Exposed “Cyber security is a critical business risk. Whenever you discuss business risk, compliance, governance or risk management, you must pay attention to cyber security. “Another misconception is that only large enterprises are attacked. Smaller and mid-sized businesses often think they have no valuable data or that attackers will not target them because they do not operate in financial services. “Statistics show that small businesses are attractive targets. Some attackers use ransomware, while others steal and sell data or attack organisations for other reasons. “People also believe cyber security is very expensive. In sales meetings, if a public company has published its financial data, we sometimes reverse-engineer the figures to show how much a breach lasting 10 or 20 minutes could cost. “Cyber security is an investment, similar to insurance. Organisations need suitable protections in place. “It does not always require significant investment. An organisation may already have a cyber security solution and only need to fine-tune it, add another layer or introduce additional rules. These are some of the misconceptions I am seeing in the market.” Question 3: Which cyber threats currently pose the greatest risk to organisations, and how should businesses address them? Shaikh Muhammad Adeel: “The first major threat is phishing and social engineering. There is a statement that you cannot patch a human. You can train people, enforce rules and provide This exclusive interview with Shaikh Muhammad Adeel was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency.
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