The Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2026 has highlighted the rapidly evolving global cybersecurity landscape, driven by the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), identity-based attacks and increasingly interconnected digital ecosystems. Against this backdrop, the United Arab Emirates continues to strengthen its use of AI to enhance cybersecurity and protect its digital infrastructure.
According to the report, the UAE ranked sixth globally and second in the Middle East and Africa among countries whose customers experienced the highest frequency of cyber activity during the first half of 2026. The findings come as the country continues to develop a more resilient and proactive cybersecurity framework.
Drawing on Microsoft’s extensive global digital visibility, which includes the analysis of more than 165 trillion security signals daily, the report identified three major shifts shaping cybersecurity in 2026. These include the acceleration of AI-powered attacks and defences, the continued exploitation of digital identities as a primary route into organisations, and the expanding impact of cyber incidents beyond their immediate targets.
The UAE ranked sixth globally for the frequency of cyber threat exposure among customers during the first half of 2026, following the United States, Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
The country also ranked second in the Middle East and Africa among those targeted by state-linked cyber activity and threats, according to Microsoft’s classification for the period from July 2025 to June 2026, behind Israel.
His Excellency Dr Mohammed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Government Cybersecurity Council, said the figures placed a clear responsibility on every organisation to strengthen its cybersecurity measures. He noted that a compromised account could provide attackers with access to sensitive data or services on which people depend in their daily lives.
He stressed the importance of protecting accounts, controlling access privileges and promptly reporting suspicious activity, adding that safeguarding the UAE’s digital environment was a shared responsibility. The ultimate objective, he said, was to ensure the continuity of services, protect business operations and maintain public trust.
The report noted that these indicators reflect the accelerating transformation of the UAE’s cybersecurity landscape as AI becomes more widely integrated into government services, business operations and critical systems. This expansion makes it essential to strengthen cyber resilience in parallel with technological development.
In a move to address these challenges, Microsoft, the UAE Government Cybersecurity Council and Core42 announced plans to deploy Microsoft’s AI-powered cybersecurity capabilities, known as MDASH, across government entities in the UAE.
The initiative aims to help security teams identify vulnerabilities, prioritise risks and respond more rapidly to emerging threats at scale, while supporting requirements relating to sovereign security, privacy and operational resilience.
Yazan Khasawneh, Cybersecurity Director at Microsoft UAE, said the country was entering a phase in which AI was becoming an integral part of operating models across government entities and businesses. Cybersecurity, he emphasised, could no longer be treated as a separate layer added after digital transformation had taken place. Instead, it needed to be embedded from the outset in how organisations adopted AI, managed identities, protected data and maintained business continuity.
He added that Microsoft’s latest Digital Defense Report demonstrated why this approach was essential, as threats were evolving more rapidly and becoming increasingly interconnected. Microsoft’s focus, he said, was on helping organisations establish the security and resilience required to continue innovating with confidence.
The report further highlighted how AI was reshaping cybersecurity for both attackers and defenders. Malicious actors are increasingly using the technology to conduct attacks more quickly and on a larger scale, while security teams are employing AI to detect, investigate and contain threats with greater speed and efficiency.
At the same time, the growing adoption of AI is introducing new data assets, digital identities and access points that require additional protection. Organisations must therefore ensure that security measures evolve alongside the systems and technologies they deploy.
Despite advances in attack techniques, identity remains one of the most important areas of cybersecurity. Accounts, credentials and individuals continue to serve as primary entry points for attackers, making stronger authentication mechanisms and enhanced protection for high-value identities essential priorities.
The report also warned that the growing interconnectedness of digital ecosystems means that a compromised identity, resource, platform or service provider can trigger consequences across multiple organisations, sectors and national borders. This reinforces the importance of sharing threat intelligence, strengthening public-private sector cooperation and embedding operational resilience into organisational security strategies.
To address these challenges, the report recommended that organisations focus on three principal priorities: protecting identities, accelerating threat response and strengthening operational resilience.
Recommended measures include strengthening authentication systems, reducing reliance on passwords, speeding up threat detection and response, regularly testing incident response plans, and designing systems to maintain the continuity of critical operations during disruptions.
