Why Cyberattacks in UAE Surged 862% in Five Years — What Businesses Must Know
By OREL IT
It sounds almost too wild to be real: over the last five years, cyberattacks in the United Arab Emirates have soared by a jaw-dropping 862 per cent. That’s not a typo — from just under 39,000 attacks in 2019, the number rocketed to more than 373,000 by 2024. Aletihad Newspaper+2Khaleej Times+2
As your trusted IT partner, OREL IT believes this trend isn’t just alarming — it’s a massive wake-up call for any business with digital assets, data flows, or online operations. Here’s a deep dive into what’s really going on, why it matters, and what steps you should be taking now.
What’s driving the surge
A booming digital economy = A bigger bullseye
The UAE is transforming at breakneck speed — financial services, smart cities, AI startups, fintech, digital government services — you name it. With growth comes complexity. More tech, more connectivity, more data, more APIs. And unfortunately — more attack surface for cybercriminals. Analysts at the launch of the 2025 report from Help AG (the cybersecurity arm of e&) pointed out that this digital boom makes the UAE an attractive target. Aletihad Newspaper+1
But it’s not just quantity. The nature of the threats is shifting too.
Smarter, stealthier attacks — AI, bots and new tricks
According to Help AG, many of the new attacks are powered by artificial-intelligence, bot networks, and cunning tactics like impersonation or AI-enhanced phishing. Khaleej Times+2info.cpx.net+2
In 2024 alone:
- Phishing triggered roughly 90% of incidents. Aletihad Newspaper+1
- Credential-based breaches contributed to about 45% of reported cases. Aletihad Newspaper+1
- Ransomware is on the rise, with a growing number of ransomware-gangs (new names like DarkVault, Qilin, RansomEXX, RansomHub) becoming active in the region. info.cpx.net+1
Meanwhile, traditional volumetric attacks (the kind that just flood a network) are being complemented by far more targeted, persistent, harder-to-detect campaigns — including ones aimed at critical infrastructure, government systems, and high-value enterprises. In fact, there was a reported case where a single DDoS attack lasted more than 35 days straight in 2024. Khaleej Times+1
Add to that an expanding “attack surface”: more connected devices, more cloud adoption (often with misconfiguration issues), rising use of IoT and operational-technology systems, and a rapid shift to AI-powered tools across corporate environments. Gulf News+2Dark Reading+2
All that equals a perfect storm for cyber adversaries.
Who’s getting hit — and why it matters
The list of targeted victims isn’t small — or limited to just one sector.
- Government and public sector organisations remain prime targets. CPX+2Al Arabiya English+2
- Critical infrastructure and energy firms are under increasing threat as industrial control systems and IoT networks expand. dubaiglobalnews.com+2Zawya+2
- Financial services, insurance firms, healthcare providers, retail and e-commerce platforms — all report growing numbers of incidents. CPX+2uaedigitalnews.com+2
For businesses operating in the UAE (or doing business with UAE-based firms), the cost isn’t just downtime or inconvenience: many data breaches in the region have translated into losses in the millions — in reputation, fines, data theft, and immediate financial impact. CPX+2dubaiglobalnews.com+2
Moreover, beyond the obvious data theft, there are ripple effects:
- Disruption to business operations that rely on cloud, automation, or interconnected systems.
- Breach of trust with customers or partners, especially when personal data or sensitive financial data is involved.
- Regulatory and compliance headaches — particularly for sectors like finance, healthcare, or critical infrastructure.
In short: being unprotected or under-prepared is no longer an option.
What organisations must be doing — and fast
At OREL IT, we’ve been watching these developments closely. Based on what the data (and real-world incidents) show, here’s our take on what businesses must do to stay ahead of the wave.
- Treat security as foundational, not optional
Cybersecurity can’t just be an afterthought. Waiting for a breach before investing is a dangerous game. Instead, think of security as part of your business infrastructure — like electricity, or data connectivity.
- Harden identity,accessand endpoint security
Since phishing and credential-based attacks remain dominant, strong identity and access management (IAM) practices — multi-factor authentication (MFA), adaptive auth, behavioural-based monitoring — are non-negotiable. Likewise, endpoint devices (laptops, mobiles, desktops) must be protected with enterprise-grade security solutions, including real-time detection and automated response.
At the same time, cloud environments — often misconfigured — need robust cloud-security posture management (CSPM) strategies. This helps prevent accidental exposure of sensitive data or overly permissive access that threat actors could exploit.
- Invest in proactive detection and response
With AI-powered attacks on the rise, static, reactive defences won’t cut it. Instead, organisations should adopt modern detection tools: user- and entity-behaviour analytics (UEBA), network detection and response (NDR), continuous monitoring of cloud and API usage, and threat-intelligence-backed alerting.
- Adopt a “resilience by design” mindset
Breach prevention is critical — but breaches will happen. That’s why building resilience matters just as much: solid backup, disaster-recovery, digital forensics, incident response capabilities, and well-defined cyber incident protocols should be part of the plan.
Additionally, companies should consider partnering with managed-security providers for 24/7 threat monitoring and rapid response — particularly if they lack a dedicated in-house security operations capability.
- Educate people — because many attacks start with human error
One recurring finding: weak credentials, careless configuration changes, unpatched software, social-engineering — these often underlie successful breaches. Make cybersecurity awareness and training a part of your corporate culture. Simple awareness can foil many common attack vectors before they reach higher levels.
Why now is the moment — not tomorrow
As the UAE continues to evolve into a global technology hub — with AI, cloud, fintech, smart infrastructure — the value of its data, systems, and connectivity will only grow. With that growth, the incentives for attackers grow too.
If you haven’t revisited your security posture lately — or if your defences rest on outdated assumptions — your business might already be exposed.
At OREL IT, we’re committed to helping clients build cyber resilience that keeps pace with digital transformation. We see security not as a burden, but as a foundation for trust, growth, and future-ready business.
Because in a landscape where cyberattacks rose 862 per cent in five years — standing still means being left behind.






