50% of cyberattacks in Gulf targeted UAE, Saudi Arabia in first half of 2026: Report

The UAE and Saudi Arabia together accounted for half of all cyberattacks recorded across the Gulf region in the first half of 2026, according to a study by information security research company Positive Technologies.

The UAE was the most targeted country in the region, accounting for 35 per cent of all attacks, followed by Iran at 17 per cent and Saudi Arabia at 15 per cent, the report found.

Alexey Lukatsky, Chief Evangelist Officer at Positive Technologies, told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of Gisec Global.

He said that the UAE and Saudi Arabia were heavily targeted for their “different companies from IT, from telco, from banks, and so on.”

The industrial sector ranked third at 17 per cent, with half of these attacks targeting organisations in Saudi Arabia, according to the report.