UAE 9th Globally in Cyber Impact; Iran Targets Israel Most Frequently
With 166 activities observed, the UAE accounted for about 11.7% of the region's total affected customers to the country. Leading the list of the highest activities observed was Israel with 603.
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[Image source: Pankaj Kirdatt/MITSMR Middle East]
In the first half of 2025, the United Arab Emirates ranked 9th globally (and 2nd in MEA) for the frequency of customers affected by cyber activity, according to Microsoft’s latest report.
Other countries in the Middle East and Africa with considerable activity levels include Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, South Africa, and Ethiopia.
With 166 activities observed, the UAE accounted for about 11.7% of the region’s total affected customers to the country. Leading the list of the highest activities observed was Israel with 603.
Geopolitical objectives continue to fuel a rise in state-sponsored cyber activity. While the scale and scope of these operations largely remain within expected norms—primarily involving cyber espionage against typical targets to support traditional intelligence gathering—there has been a notable expansion in attacks targeting the communications, research, and academia sectors.
Sixty-four percent of Israel’s cyberattacks were led by Iran. Cyber hostilities between the two countries date back at least to 2010. Post the 2025 Iran–Israel war ceasefire, nearly 450 cyberattacks have been recorded against Israeli targets,many linked to pro-Iran hacker groups, as per Marwan Hachem, co-founder of FearsOff.
Iranian actors, despite the ongoing conflict, continued to target organizations and individuals across the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
“The volume of Iranian state-linked cyber activity remains consistently high, with persistent campaigns observed across diverse industries. In late 2024, some national security agencies warned about a surge in Iranian nation state credential harvesting attacks, targeting the healthcare, government, IT, energy, and engineering sectors, reflecting a continuation of Iran’s historically consistent focus on critical infrastructure. At the same time, Iran’s intelligence services continue to focus heavily on regional adversaries, conducting long-term espionage against critical infrastructure,” the report read.
Other regions under Iran’s radar include the United States, the UAE, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Turkeiye, and Iraq.
Data shows that Iranian nation-state threat actors targeted and compromised IT providers, which gave them simultaneous access to sensitive client data, internal communications, and a pathway into multiple downstream organizations.
Considering Israel its “top regional rival,” Iran uses cyber operations to collect intelligence, disrupt services, engage in low-level retaliation, and project ideological resistance regionally and domestically.
