71.4 percent of cyber threats targeting UAE are state-sponsored, says Al Kuwaiti

Dr. Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Government Cybersecurity Council, has affirmed that the UAE possesses an advanced and integrated national cybersecurity ecosystem capable of detecting and countering digital threats with high efficiency.

In a statement to WAM, Al Kuwaiti revealed that state- /APT accounted for 71.4 percent of tracked threat actors (15 of 21 groups), while eCrime/Criminal and hacktivist groups each accounted for 14.3 percent.

“Over 90,000 to 200,000 breach attempts strike the UAE infrastructure every single day,” Al Kuwaiti said, adding that all are proactively thwarted without impacting service continuity or data security.

Since the beginning of 2026, 128 confirmed cyber threat incidents have targeted entities across the UAE, including ransomware attacks, government breaches and data leaks or breach incidents. Al Kuwaiti stressed that all incidents were addressed under unified national response protocols to ensure rapid containment and risk mitigation.

He explained that government administration and the financial services and banking were among the most targeted sectors, alongside other vital sectors. Threats included website defacement, data leaks, data breaches, initial access, ransomware, denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and state- /APT, among others.

He added that threat intelligence analysis showed that a significant proportion of these attacks were carried out by state- advanced threat groups, in addition to cybercriminal activities and hacktivist groups. These are continuously monitored and tracked through national monitoring systems in coordination with the relevant authorities.

On digital rumours and the use of deepfake technologies, he said such threats are being actively used to erode public trust, manipulate markets and damage the UAE’s international reputation. He noted that the UAE continuously monitors attempts to publish misleading or fabricated content, particularly targeting the financial, economic and banking sectors or exploiting the names of official figures.

Al Kuwaiti added that there is no official figure for deepfake cases related to the UAE, but fabricated videos are increasingly being used, including content depicting public figures promoting fraudulent schemes or issuing false decisions, aimed at undermining public trust, influencing markets and harming the country’s international reputation.

“Regional geopolitical tensions across North Africa, the Gulf, and broader Middle East information spaces have intensified online narratives targeting the UAE. Conflict-driven discourse, diplomatic friction and AI-enabled disinformation activity have increased rumor propagation and hacktivist mobilization across regional digital ecosystems,” he said.

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He noted that 21 actively tracked APT threat actor groups and 60 unique hacktivist and cybercriminal actors indicate that attacks on UAE infrastructure originate primarily from Asia, Europe and South America.

In terms of operational networks, 49.2 percent of tracked incidents were coordinated via Telegram, 40.6 percent through the open web and 10.2 percent through Tor-based dark web infrastructure.

Al Kuwaiti explained that the UAE addresses these cyber threats through an integrated technical and legislative framework that includes early detection, advanced content analysis, community awareness and the development of regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence to limit misuse.

The national strategy for 2025–2031 , approved in February 2025, represents a comprehensive roadmap to strengthen cybersecurity in the country. He also referred to the centralized National Security Operations Center, which serves as a hub for monitoring alerts and detecting threats across multiple operations centers nationwide, enabling real-time threat intelligence sharing and coordinated response.

On the most targeted sectors, Al Kuwaiti said Government Administration ranked first at 9.4 percent, followed by Financial Services & Banking at 9.3 percent and Real Estate at 5.5 percent. Construction & Engineering accounted for 4.7 percent, Professional Services, and Transportion & Logistics 3.9 percent each, while Hospitality & Tourism, Education, and Marketing & Advertising each recorded 3.1 percent. Luxury Goods & Jewellery, architecture and planning, and management consulting each stood at 2.3 percent.