One piece of code can stop flights, shut down a power grid or paralyse a water network, warned the UAEs top cybersecurity official while the country battles hundreds of thousands of attempted attacks each day.
Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cybersecurity for the UAE Government told Khaleej Times that digital conflict has expanded beyond its earlier scope. The UAE now faces an average of six hundred thousand cyberattacks each day, a number that rose to eight hundred thousand during recent regional tensions. He said the rise is directly linked to conflict in the region and that wartime conditions always increase attempts to steal or pull sensitive data.
According to Al Kuwaiti, the threat landscape splits into three categories: cybercrime, involving theft, fraud and disinformation; cyberterrorism, which uses social media and online platforms to spread extremist narratives and erode social cohesion; and cyberwarfare, the most severe tier, aimed squarely at disabling the digital systems that keep essential services running.
Electricity, water, aviation and energy networks are increasingly at risk precisely because they now rely on interconnected digital infrastructure, he said, warning that even a minor intrusion into an aviation system could ground an aircraft and disrupt an entire sector.
He also flagged a shift toward “lone wolf” radicalisation, where individuals are influenced online to act alone rather than as part of an organised group, and raised concern over violent content in children’s online games, arguing that families and communities, not just government agencies, must serve as a first line of defence.
On artificial intelligence, Al Kuwaiti cautioned that AI-generated content has made it increasingly difficult to separate authentic information from fabricated material, urging the public to verify messages, links and applications before acting on them, especially where money or personal data is involved.
He pointed to community outreach efforts such as the Cyber Run initiative, which pairs sport with cybersecurity awareness campaigns for families, as part of a broader “whole nation” approach the UAE is pursuing. His closing advice to residents was direct: pause and verify before making any online decision.
