UAE Cybersecurity Council issues National Warning over Cyber Attacks

When the UAE Cybersecurity Council issues a national warning, it is not for general awareness. It is because something is actively happening.

The Council called on public and private sector entities to exercise the utmost caution against cyber attacks targeting the UAE’s national digital infrastructure and assets. It specifically directed organisations to activate their cyber emergency response systems and share threat data with competent authorities to enable proactive defence across the ecosystem.

For businesses in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and across the UAE, this advisory is a direct prompt to review your current security posture – not next quarter, but now.

What the UAE Cybersecurity Council Warning Covers

The advisory focuses on coordinated cyber threats targeting both individual users and business systems. The Council has asked organisations to share threat intelligence with authorities so that patterns can be identified and responses coordinated at a national level.

This type of coordinated advisory is issued when threat activity reaches a threshold that warrants sector-wide action – not isolated incidents. For businesses tracking UAE cybersecurity news, the scale of current threats makes this a critical operational concern.

The numbers reflect an environment that has escalated significantly since earlier advisory cycles. UAE authorities now detect and block between 90,000 and 200,000 cyber attacks every day. In 2026 alone, 128 significant threat incidents were handled under a unified national response protocol. Sectors under active attack include financial services, aviation, energy, and education – not just government infrastructure. Businesses that treat advisory-level communications as background noise are taking on measurable risk.

Recent Cyber Security Incidents Targeting UAE Businesses

Three attack types have been specifically cited in connection with this advisory. Each is distinct in method but shares a common target: your people, your accounts, and your business data.

Hacking and Unauthorised System Access

There has been a significant increase in UAE cyber attacks, with hacking attempts rising sharply against both individuals and businesses across the country. Attackers are probing known vulnerabilities in unpatched systems, exposed remote access tools, and misconfigured cloud services. Businesses running outdated software or operating without active vulnerability monitoring are the primary targets.

Business Email Compromise and Email Spoofing

Cybercriminals are impersonating employees, senior management, and other trusted parties in emails designed to trick recipients into transferring funds, revealing sensitive credentials, or downloading malicious files. These attacks are highly targeted – attackers research the organisation before striking, making the emails convincing enough to fool experienced staff.

Business Email Compromise (BEC) is one of the most financially damaging cyber threats globally, and UAE businesses have been directly affected. A single successful BEC attack can result in losses running into hundreds of thousands of dirhams.

User Impersonation and Account Takeover

Attackers are gaining access to legitimate user accounts and operating as those users – sometimes for financial gain, sometimes to gather intelligence, and sometimes to spread disinformation or malicious content through trusted channels. Once inside an account, an attacker has access to everything that user can see and do.

AI-Enhanced Attacks and Remote Work Exploitation

The threat landscape in the UAE has shifted materially since earlier advisory cycles. Cybercriminals are now deploying artificial intelligence to generate more convincing phishing emails, automate reconnaissance on target organisations, and scale attacks faster than traditional defences can respond.

Remote working has created a parallel vulnerability. The UAE Cyber Security Council recorded more than 12,000 Wi-Fi network breaches in 2025 alone – representing approximately 35% of total cyber attacks reported in the UAE that year. Employees working from home on unsecured routers are an active entry point for attackers targeting the business systems they connect to. Remote work-related cyber incidents have increased by 40% over recent years.

For UAE businesses with hybrid or distributed teams in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or across the GCC, this is a configuration and policy issue – not just an awareness issue. The controls required include device management, VPN enforcement, and network access policies that extend beyond the office perimeter.

Cyber Security Attack Prevention in the UAE: How Businesses Should Respond

The following measures address the specific attack vectors identified in the advisory. None of them are optional if you operate a business in the UAE with digital systems, cloud services, or staff who use email.

• Update software and systems immediately. Always use genuine, licensed software and apply all outstanding security patches to your operating systems, applications, and security tools. Unpatched systems are the primary entry point for the hacking activity referenced in the advisory. Research shows 61% of hackers exploit new vulnerabilities within 48 hours of public disclosure – and approximately 50% of vulnerabilities exploited in the UAE are more than five years old.
• Use strong, unique passwords. Every account needs a distinct strong password. Reusing passwords across systems means that one compromised credential can cascade across your entire environment. A password manager deployed across your team removes the burden of managing this manually.
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on all accounts. This is the single most effective control against account takeover. Enable 2FA on email, financial systems, cloud platforms, and any system that holds sensitive business data. If an attacker obtains a password, 2FA stops them at the login screen.
• Be cautious with email links and attachments. Verify the sender’s email address carefully – not just the display name. Never open attachments or click links from unexpected sources without confirming with the sender through a separate channel. The email spoofing attacks cited in this advisory are designed to appear legitimate.
• Train and brief your team. Your people are both your greatest vulnerability and your most effective defence. Ensure every employee understands how to identify phishing emails, what business email compromise looks like, and what to do if they suspect a threat. A one-hour security awareness session can prevent a six-figure loss.
• Regularly back up all business data. Ensure you have current, tested managed backups of all critical business data stored securely – either on a hardened physical device or in the cloud with appropriate access controls. Backups are your recovery mechanism if an attack succeeds.

How Burhani™ Helps UAE Businesses Stay Protected

Issuing internal advisories and updating passwords are necessary first steps. For UAE businesses that need ongoing, structured protection – not just a reactive response to each new warning – a managed security approach provides continuous coverage rather than point-in-time fixes.

Burhani™ provides Managed Security Services for UAE businesses, covering threat monitoring, detection and response, network and cloud security, and vulnerability assessment. Our security capabilities are built around the Microsoft security stack – Microsoft 365 Defender, Azure Sentinel, and Conditional Access policies – which are the same platforms your business likely already uses for email, documents, and cloud infrastructure.

For businesses specifically concerned about the ransomware and account takeover threats cited in this advisory, our ransomware protection and endpoint security services address the technical controls that prevent attackers from gaining and maintaining access to your systems.

If you would like to discuss your current security posture or understand what immediate steps your business should take in response to this advisory, our IT support team in Dubai is available to help. Dubai businesses and organisations across the UAE face the same IT security threats – and protecting against them requires the same foundation of patched systems, monitored networks, and trained staff.

Final Thoughts

The UAE Cybersecurity Council advisory is a signal, not a background update. When national authorities coordinate a public warning of this kind, the threat level is real and the exposure is broad. UAE cyber attack activity does not pause between advisories – and neither should your defences.

The UAE National Cyber Security Strategy 2025-2031 signals a deliberate shift from voluntary compliance to mandatory resilience for organisations operating in the Emirates. The direction is clear: continuous monitoring, documented incident response capability, identity-centric controls, and supply chain security. Businesses that wait for the next advisory before acting are already behind.

The protective measures listed above – patching, 2FA, email vigilance, staff awareness, and reliable backups – are the minimum response. For businesses that handle sensitive client data, financial transactions, or critical operational systems, the appropriate response is a structured security review rather than individual control updates.

We encourage every UAE business to review their current posture against this advisory. If you have questions or need assistance implementing any of the recommended measures, our team is ready to help. Contact our cyber security experts here.

Source: Arabian Business – UAE issues warning over cyber attacks

Frequently Asked Questions

These questions address the most common concerns UAE businesses raise following a national cybersecurity advisory.