UAE thwarts cyber attacks, state news agency says

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has successfully thwarted organized cyberattacks targeting the country’s digital infrastructure and vital sectors, the state news agency reported on Saturday.

The attacks “included attempts to infiltrate networks, deploy ransomware, and conduct systematic phishing campaigns targeting national platforms.” The agency added that the perpetrators utilized artificial intelligence technologies to develop their offensive tools. The report did not identify who was to blame for the incursions.

The statement followed an announcement by Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of the UAE Cyber Security Council, who revealed that the country faces between 90,000 and 200,000 system breach attempts every day, many of which are state-sponsored. He noted that the government has invested heavily in defensive measures to protect both public and private infrastructure.

“Regional geopolitical tension across North Africa, the Gulf, and broader Middle East information spaces has intensified online narratives targeting the UAE,” Dr. Al Kuwaiti stated last week. “Conflict-driven discourse, diplomatic friction, and AI-enabled disinformation activity have increased rumour propagation and hacktivist mobilisation across regional digital ecosystems.”

According to a WAM report, state-sponsored cyberattacks primarily originate in Asia, which accounts for approximately 66.7 percent of such actors, followed by Europe at 14.3 percent. The remaining attacks are attributed to actors from the Middle East or those operating across multiple regions. The report did not name specific countries.

Western nations commonly identify Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—collectively referred to as the ‘Big 4’—as the principal sources of state-sponsored cyber aggression, a claim these countries consistently deny.