UAE Cybersecurity Council Strengthens Digital Defence as Cyber Threats Rise
The UAE is blocking up to 200,000 cyberattacks every single day — and the strategy behind that defence is getting sharper in 2026.
The UAE Cybersecurity Council, established in 2020 and chaired by Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, has become one of the most active cyber defence bodies in the world.
Ranked 5th globally in the ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, the UAE achieved a perfect score across all five assessment pillars — and it’s not slowing down.
What’s Happening in 2026
- Authorities detect and block between 90,000 and 200,000 cyberattacks daily, handling 128 significant threat incidents in 2026 under a unified national response protocol — including ransomware, phishing and AI-assisted intrusions targeting government and critical infrastructure.
- In May 2026, the Council partnered with QuantumGate to launch a national Crypto Discovery Tool, making the UAE one of the first countries globally to operationalise a large-scale post-quantum migration strategy.
- New Centres of Excellence in OT and IoT cybersecurity have been established through partnerships with Dragos and Nozomi Networks, covering critical sectors including energy, utilities, transportation and smart infrastructure.
- The Council has also warned that 25% of publicly accessible files in the UAE contain sensitive personal data — a risk driven largely by poor file-sharing habits and misconfigured cloud storage.
The Strategy Behind It
The UAE National Cyber Security Strategy (2025–2031) has shifted the country’s posture from capacity building to active defence, structured around five pillars: governance, resilience, innovation, international cooperation and a skilled cyber workforce.
The outlook for 2026 is defined by a shift from voluntary compliance to mandatory resilience — businesses now face enforceable requirements or risk heavy penalties.
The UAE isn’t just defending against cyberattacks — it’s setting the regional benchmark. For businesses operating here, aligning with the Cybersecurity Council’s frameworks isn’t optional. It’s the cost of doing business digitally in the UAE.
