Information security and digital divide in the Arab world

The so-called ‘Digital Divide’ is a discrepancy in access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In recent years, the meaning of this expression has become more nuanced and is no longer dependent on inability to have the new ICT which has become increasingly available, but depends more on the control of resources that guarantee the security of information. As with other developing countries around the world, the Digital Divide exists both within and between countries in the Arab world. Factors that determine the Divide are connectivity, knowledge, education, and economic capacity. Furthermore, there is a mutual impact between such a Digital Divide and information security in Arab countries. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in its 2013 report, gave a comprehensive global analysis of the Digital Divide. The present paper uses this ITU report as a basis to explore the Digital Divide in the Arab world and seeks to fill the absence of recent sub-skills data through review of relevant literature, toward a clearer appreciation of the mutual influence of Information Security and Digital Divide.