Middle East Cyber Threat Environment Worsens Amid Ransomware Surge

The Middle East is facing an increasingly complex cyber threat environment, with criminal groups and politically motivated actors using evolving technologies to target organizations, governments, and critical systems.

According to a report by CloudSEK, financial crime remains widespread in the region, with ransomware, fraud, and theft accounting for a significant share of cyberattacks across the Middle East.

The report found that ransomware is the most common form of cyberattack in the region, with the majority of reported extortions conducted by groups Nova, Handala, and Qilin. These groups also engage in payment card theft, botnet, phishing, data encryption, and CAPTCHA-based theft, among other activities.

The report also highlighted the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) by cybercriminals to execute attacks more quickly and efficiently. CloudSEK noted that AI is now influencing almost every stage of a cyberattack, making them faster and harder to detect.