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GCC firms shift focus to cyber resilience, sovereignty as AI reshapes threat landscape
Organisations across the UAE and Saudi Arabia are reworking cybersecurity strategies, prioritising resilience, sovereign infrastructure and AI-driven defence amid evolving digital risks
- PUBLISHED: Wed 10 Jun 2026, 6:45 PM
Organisations across the Gulf are increasingly prioritising operational resilience and digital sovereignty as cybersecurity strategies adapt to faster, more complex threats, according to a new industry report.
The latest annual State of the Market Report 2026 by Help AG highlights a shift away from traditional, reactive security models towards continuous, adaptive systems aligned with broader national and infrastructure goals.
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Cybersecurity is increasingly being embedded into infrastructure planning, with sovereign cloud and locally governed systems emerging as key design priorities across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The trend reflects a wider reassessment of how organisations manage data, regulatory compliance and operational continuity in a more volatile geopolitical and technological environment.
Abdulla Ebrahim Al Ahmed, Chief Government & VVIP Relations Officer at e& UAE, said the shift is closely tied to the country’s broader digital ambitions. “The UAE’s digital ambitions are built on trust, resilience and national capability… organisations today need security that is continuously adaptive, locally aligned and designed to protect critical infrastructure and citizen data in an AI-driven environment.”
The report also points to the growing influence of artificial intelligence in both cyberattacks and defence systems. While attackers are using AI to scale and automate attacks, organisations are increasingly deploying it to improve detection, automate responses and reduce reaction times.
Against this backdrop, cyber threats are rising in both scale and intensity. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks have climbed sharply in recent years, increasing by about 857% between 2019 and 2025, with over 371,000 incidents recorded last year. In the UAE, daily cyberattack attempts surged from roughly 200,000 to as many as 700,000 during periods of heightened geopolitical tension earlier this year.
At the same time, attacks are happening faster, with some incidents reaching operational impact in less than 40 hours, reflecting a significant compression in response windows.
Dr Aleksandar Valjarevic, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Help AG, said the changes require a fundamental rethink of cybersecurity strategy. “Across the GCC, AI and sovereignty are already reshaping how digital infrastructure is designed, secured and governed… the focus is shifting from adding more tools to building adaptive, measurable and locally aligned security capabilities that can withstand sustained pressure.”
The report identifies a broader industry transition towards what it describes as “sustainable cybersecurity” — systems designed to function continuously under pressure, integrating automation, AI and resilience planning into core operations.
Looking ahead, emerging areas such as post-quantum security are also entering long-term planning cycles, particularly for organisations building infrastructure expected to operate for decades.
Overall, the findings suggest cybersecurity in the Gulf is evolving from a technical function into a central component of national resilience and digital development strategies.
Associate Editor Somshankar Bandyopadhyay brings more than three decades of experience to the KT newsroom. Currently, he manages the news production of the business section, ensuring that the top economic and business news of the day reaches its readers.