Help AG Report Reveals 857% Surge in DDoS Attacks, Transforming Cybersecurity Strategies Across the GCC

The cybersecurity landscape within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has experienced a profound transformation, according to the latest findings from Help AG’s State of the Market Report 2026. This sixth edition of the annual report offers an in-depth analysis of cybersecurity trends in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, underscoring a critical shift in how organizations must enhance their cyber resilience.

A New Operational Reality

The report leverages intelligence from Help AG’s Security Operations Centres located in Dubai and Riyadh, supplemented by insights from cybersecurity experts, technology partners, and clients throughout the GCC. A pivotal finding reveals that the region’s cybersecurity has entered a new operational phase, marked by the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), a focus on sovereign cloud infrastructure, and the rise of machine-speed attacks. These factors are compressing traditional response times and challenging existing security frameworks.

Sovereign cloud infrastructure is increasingly acknowledged as essential for operational resilience strategies across the region. Organizations are reevaluating their cybersecurity frameworks, control over infrastructure, and continuity planning in light of changing geopolitical and cyber risks.

Surge in Cyber Threats

Data from Help AG indicates a sustained and alarming increase in cyberattack activity and complexity over the past six years. Between 2019 and 2025, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks surged by 857%, with over 371,000 incidents recorded in 2025 alone. The nature of these attacks is evolving; the longest DDoS attack documented lasted more than 85 consecutive days, signifying a shift from short-term disruptions to prolonged operational strain.

Moreover, the speed of attack execution has escalated significantly. In the first quarter of 2026, Help AG reported a 65% increase in the speed at which attacks are completed, with several major breaches affecting operations in under 40 hours. This trend intensifies during periods of geopolitical tension, as illustrated by the UAE Cybersecurity Council’s report indicating that daily cyberattack attempts surged from approximately 200,000 to between 500,000 and 700,000 amid heightened regional developments in early 2026.

These trends reflect a fundamental shift in the cyber risk landscape, where threats are no longer sporadic but continuous, adaptive, and closely tied to geopolitical and technological changes.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is emerging as a crucial element in the cybersecurity sector, transforming both offensive and defensive strategies. On the attack side, AI empowers adversaries to automate reconnaissance, scale phishing campaigns, accelerate exploitation chains, and enhance credential-based attacks with unprecedented speed and precision.

Conversely, organizations are increasingly utilizing AI throughout the security lifecycle. This encompasses alert prioritization, automated investigations, adaptive detection, and predictive response. Help AG’s Security Operations Centres currently manage over 145 automated security scenarios, resulting in a reduction of response times by more than 50%, with zero-day protections operationalized within approximately 45 minutes of identification.

The report also introduces the concept of “defensive learning,” which involves the continuous transformation of incident intelligence into improved security performance. This capability is becoming vital for the maturity of modern Security Operations Centres (SOCs) and is a critical response to ongoing shortages in cybersecurity talent.

As AI adoption accelerates, governance frameworks are also evolving. The report highlights a transition from static policy frameworks to continuous operational oversight, addressing risks such as shadow AI and ensuring real-time visibility in dynamic environments.

Cyber Sovereignty as a Design Principle

Cyber sovereignty is increasingly recognized as a significant factor influencing the design and operation of digital infrastructure across the GCC. Once primarily viewed through the lens of compliance and data residency, sovereignty is now integrated into broader operational resilience strategies. It affects cloud architecture, security operations design, AI governance models, and decisions regarding infrastructure ownership.

The report identifies a growing trend toward sovereign cloud and locally governed infrastructure models in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly embedded in national resilience planning and long-term digital infrastructure strategies. This evolution necessitates a balance between regulatory alignment, operational continuity, resilience requirements, and infrastructure visibility across complex hybrid and sovereign cloud environments.

As the UAE progresses with its digital government agenda, artificial intelligence and sovereign digital infrastructure are becoming central to the delivery, security, and trustworthiness of public services. This shift is redefining cybersecurity as a continuous operational layer that supports critical infrastructure, citizen data protection, and public-sector resilience at scale.

Abdulla Ebrahim Al Ahmed, Chief Government & VVIP Relations Officer at e& UAE, emphasized the importance of trust, resilience, and national capability in the UAE’s digital ambitions. He stated that as AI becomes more integrated into government services and sovereign digital ecosystems expand, cybersecurity must operate at the same speed and scale. Organizations require security measures that are continuously adaptive, locally aligned, and designed to protect critical infrastructure and citizen data in an AI-driven environment.

Post-Quantum Security in Strategic Planning

Beyond immediate operational threats, the report highlights post-quantum security as an emerging long-term infrastructure priority. As quantum computing technology advances, existing cryptographic standards that underpin identity systems, financial infrastructure, cloud environments, and secure communications may face significant disruption.

Organizations developing sovereign digital ecosystems intended to operate over multi-decade horizons must now consider post-quantum readiness as a critical aspect of their planning. This transition is positioned as a foundational element of future digital trust infrastructure across the region.

Key Structural Shifts in Cybersecurity Strategy

Help AG identifies five key shifts that are shaping cybersecurity strategy across the GCC in 2026 and beyond:

• Transitioning from fragmented security tools to integrated resilience architectures.
• Moving from reactive defense to continuously adaptive, AI-driven operations.
• Shifting from compliance-led programs to measurable operational resilience.
• Evolving from talent-centric models to automation and institutional learning.
• Advancing from isolated national frameworks to coordinated GCC-wide resilience alignment.

These shifts collectively define a broader transition towards what Help AG describes as Sustainable Cybersecurity—an always-on, adaptive security model designed to function under continuous pressure, at machine speed, and in alignment with national resilience priorities.

Dr. Aleksandar Valjarevic, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Help AG, noted that AI and sovereignty are already reshaping how digital infrastructure is designed, secured, and governed across the GCC. The findings of this year’s report indicate that cybersecurity must now operate continuously, at machine speed, and in direct alignment with national resilience priorities. Organizations are shifting focus from merely adding more tools to building adaptive, measurable, and locally aligned security capabilities that can withstand sustained pressure.

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Published on 2026-06-11 23:13:00 • By the Editorial Desk