Ram Narayanan, Country Manager, Check Point Software Technologies, Middle East, highlights that sustained attack levels in the first half of 2026 show why UAE organisations need prevention-first security, continuous exposure reduction and secure AI adoption as part of their broader digital transformation strategy.
The first half of 2026 showed that cyber risk in the UAE is now a continuous business challenge rather than a series of isolated peaks. Attackers maintained sustained pressure across the period, reinforcing the need for prevention-first security that can operate consistently across hybrid networks, cloud environments, workspaces and emerging AI systems.
Between January and June, UAE organisations experienced an average of 2,197 cyber attacks per organisation every week. January recorded 1,966 weekly attacks, rising to 2,277 in February and easing slightly to 2,217 in March. Activity then reached a six-month high of 2,392 in April, before moderating to 2,198 in May and 2,135 in June.
Every month still recorded double-digit year-on-year growth, peaking at 35% in February and remaining at 11% even in March. This shows that the UAE was not dealing with one isolated surge, but with sustained cyber pressure throughout the period.
The pattern matters more than the April peak
April was the busiest month in the UAE data, but the wider concern is that attack volumes remained elevated after the peak had passed. Five of the six months recorded more than 2,100 weekly attacks per organisation.
This suggests that a quieter month should not automatically be read as a safer one. Threat actors regularly adjust their timing, targets and techniques. A temporary decline may reflect campaigns being reorganised rather than a lasting reduction in risk.
The UAE trend also reflected a broader global picture. Worldwide, organisations experienced an average of 2,090 weekly attacks in January. After easing temporarily in March, global attack volumes climbed to 2,201 in April, before reaching 2,270 in June, the highest level recorded during the first half of the year. The increase was spread across regions and industries rather than driven by a single event or sector.
For business leaders, the lesson is straightforward: cyber resilience cannot be measured by a single month’s figures. Organisations need a security architecture that reduces exposure continuously, applies consistent policy across every environment and prevents threats before they create operational disruption.
Critical sectors remain under pressure
During the first half of 2026, cyber attacks continued to expand beyond traditional targets. Organisations with valuable data, operational importance and interconnected digital environments remained attractive targets for threat actors.
Manufacturing was consistently among the most targeted sectors globally during H1, driven by the growing connectivity of production environments, supply chain dependencies and exposure across operational technology systems.
Government organisations also remained frequent targets as attackers continued attempts to disrupt essential services, access sensitive information and exploit digital infrastructure.
Energy and Utilities, Financial Services and Healthcare faced continued cyber pressure due to the critical nature of the services they provide and the impact that disruption can create. Technology and Telecommunications organisations also remained key targets as cloud adoption, AI integration and digital connectivity expanded the attack surface.
For UAE organisations, these global trends are particularly relevant as the country continues to accelerate digital transformation across government services, financial services, healthcare, energy and other critical sectors. As digital ecosystems become more connected, visibility into systems, data, third-party access and emerging technologies will become increasingly important.
AI adoption must be secured, not slowed down
The rapid adoption of generative AI introduced a new layer of cyber risk during H1 2026. Employees are using AI platforms to draft documents, analyse information, write code, summarise meetings and support routine decision-making. While these tools can improve productivity, they can also create new exposure points when security controls and governance do not keep pace with adoption.
Across the first half of 2026, organisations worldwide regularly used multiple GenAI tools, with monthly averages ranging from seven to eleven platforms. Throughout the period, between one in every 25 and one in every 31 prompts submitted from enterprise environments carried a high risk of exposing sensitive information.
The information at risk included customer data, financial records, internal documents, source code and other confidential business information. In many cases, this does not require an attacker to break into a network. Exposure can begin when an employee places sensitive content into an unapproved tool without knowing how the information may be stored, processed or reused.
For UAE organisations, the answer is not to slow AI adoption but to secure it. That means visibility into which AI tools are being used, governance over what data they can access, runtime protection against prompt-based risks and clear policies for employees. AI security should be treated as a business enabler: the foundation that allows organisations to innovate with confidence while reducing unmanaged exposure.
Ransomware remains a business disruption threat
Ransomware continued to be one of the most disruptive cyber threats during the first half of the year. Publicly reported incidents reached 707 globally in April. May recorded the strongest annual growth of the period, with ransomware activity rising 48% compared with May 2025, while June remained 33% higher year on year.
The ransomware ecosystem also shifted quickly. Qilin was among the most active groups during much of the first half of the year, before The Gentlemen moved into the leading position in June.
This shift highlights an important trend: ransomware risk does not disappear when one group declines. New or reorganised operators can quickly replace established groups, maintaining pressure on organisations across industries.
Regional developments added another layer of complexity
The first half of 2026 also highlighted how closely cyber activity is linked to broader regional developments.
As tensions increased across the Middle East, cyber campaigns targeting organisations and internet-connected infrastructure demonstrated how geopolitical events can quickly expand into the digital domain. Check Point researchers observed cyber activity targeting exposed internet-connected devices, including surveillance infrastructure, alongside campaigns focused on gaining access to cloud environments and organisational accounts across the region.
These developments reinforced an important shift in the threat landscape. Organisations are no longer only dealing with financially motivated cybercrime. They must also consider campaigns designed for intelligence gathering, disruption and strategic influence during periods of heightened regional uncertainty.
For organisations in the UAE, cyber security planning must move beyond traditional point controls. Protecting critical services, internet-facing assets and connected infrastructure requires continuous exposure management, real-time threat intelligence and automated prevention across the full digital estate, from network and cloud to users, third parties and AI systems.
What organisations should take from the first half
The first half of 2026 does not point to one specific cyber challenge. Instead, it reflects a broader shift in how organisations need to think about risk.
A bank, manufacturer, healthcare provider, logistics company and government entity will each have different priorities and systems. However, all organisations need a clear understanding of their exposure, including where sensitive information resides, which digital assets are most critical, how AI tools are being used and which external partners have access to their environments.
The objective is not simply to respond faster after an incident occurs. It is to prevent attacks earlier, reduce exploitable exposure continuously and give security teams one clear view of risk across the organisation.
The first half of 2026 showed that cyber risk in the UAE is no longer defined by one major incident or an unusually difficult month. It is a continuous business challenge shaped by persistent attack activity, evolving ransomware operations, expanding digital ecosystems and rapid AI adoption.
As the UAE continues its digital transformation journey, organisations that embed prevention-first security into everyday decisions will be better positioned to protect operations, data and long-term growth while adopting AI and new digital services securely.