A new intelligence report by cybersecurity research group FearsOff, titled The 72 Hours That Redefined Cyber Warfare in the Middle East, warns that the region has entered a new era of “Integrated Theater” warfare, where cyber operations and kinetic military strikes are executed in synchronized campaigns.
Covering the period between February 28 and March 3, 2026, the report documents more than 900 missile strikes coordinated alongside large-scale cyber operations targeting telecommunications, financial systems, industrial control systems and state infrastructure.
The UAE is directly referenced as part of the regional spillover. According to the report, pro-Iranian actors launched targeted offensives, including an operation identified as “Olalampo”, against AWS data centers in Dubai and Bahrain, describing the activity as part of a broader doctrine of “punitive cyber warfare” against Gulf nations perceived to support Western forces.
FearsOff recorded 128 verified high-impact incidents against Iran, with a reported 90% paralysis rate of targeted IRGC command nodes Digital_Firestorm. In parallel, 45+ verified high-impact incidents targeted Israel, with more than 200 opportunistic cyber claims monitored during the same window Digital_Firestorm. Israel accounted for 21% of all global cyber incidents tracked during the escalation period Digital_Firestorm. Gulf states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar, were drawn into the digital conflict sphere.
Marwan Hachem, Co-Founder of FearsOff, said: “This conflict is demonstrating that digital dominance is now a prerequisite for military success. Before the first missiles landed, communications were crippled, command systems disrupted, and infrastructure destabilized. Cyber operations are no longer supporting acts in war – they are the opening move.