July 1, 2025
Proactive Defense: The Importance of Incident Response Planning in Cybersecurity
Multiple Apache Products Vulnerabilities
October 2, 2024140,000+ Cyberattacks Targeting User Credentials Fueled by Free Sniper Dz Phishing Tools – Active IOCs
October 2, 2024Multiple Apache Products Vulnerabilities
October 2, 2024140,000+ Cyberattacks Targeting User Credentials Fueled by Free Sniper Dz Phishing Tools – Active IOCs
October 2, 2024
Severity
High
Analysis Summary
The United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) area are increasingly becoming targets of cyberattacks and hacktivism. The region's strong economies and status as a hub for trade and commerce, along with the positions of the surrounding countries on key geopolitical problems, probably make it a preferred target.
That's based on data from the Dark Web gathered over 18 months by threat researchers. According to the report, there were 70% more distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in the region during the first half of this year than there were during the same time last year. Hacktivists utilize forums as a means of both publishing proof of their success against particular targets and mobilizing other like-minded cybercriminals to action.
Researchers think that this trend might continue and that hacktivists will launch more attacks. Simultaneously, the intensity of additional attacks will rise, resulting in a rise in risks and adverse effects for businesses inside the area. In a March analysis of two years of attacks in the region, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates topped the list of targeted countries. According to the head of cybersecurity for the UAE government, the country alone experiences 50,000 cyberattacks on average every day, and its attack surface is expanding at a rapid pace.
Additionally, more attacks are being made public: A denial-of-service attack (DoS) campaign that lasted more than 100 hours over six days was launched against a bank in the United Arab Emirates by the pro-Palestinian hacktivist group BlackMeta in July. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia was added to the list of organizations that the suspected China-affiliated group Solar Spider was focusing on in April.
Rather than being a sign of system breaches or web defacements, the rise in DoS attacks could be a sign of new threat actors. The attackers' preferred methods depend on their expertise and experience, and inexperienced hackers can carry out DDoS attacks. Hacktivists' primary objective is to bring specific political, social, and religious issues to the public's attention. DDoS attacks are the most common because inexperienced hackers can carry them out and do not require advanced professional knowledge or resources.
A total of 277 million items from 380 Telegram channels and Dark Web forums make up the researchers’ treasure trove of forum posts and text messages. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait are the six main countries in the region that the cybersecurity experts examined for their GCC report.
Almost two-thirds of conversations amongst GCC threat actors center on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Over half (54%) of the posts discussed stolen data and unauthorized access, with the great majority of users selling or purchasing access. Trade, services, manufacturing, IT, and government agencies were the five industries covered in these posts. The report states that approximately 12% of the posts contained a call to action for hacktivism or proof of a successful hacktivist attack. Free credentials for use in attacks were also advertised in about 9% of hacktivist posts.
Many groups in the region, both nation-states and dissent organizations, now prefer to wage war through cyberattacks. The risks are also rising quickly, as evidenced by Israel's cyber-physical attacks leveraging breached supply chains, Iran's accelerating cyber espionage, and the region's compromised naval information systems. Organizations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as the Middle East at large, should concentrate on bolstering their cybersecurity posture as a result of the countries' growing investments in digitization, artificial intelligence (AI), and the transition to a knowledge-based economy.
Impact
- Denial of Service
- Website Defacement
- Credential Theft
- Exposure of Sensitive Data
Remediation
- Regularly update firmware on all network devices, especially those identified as vulnerable.
- Implement strict access controls to limit the exposure of network device interfaces on the internet.
- Use advanced DDoS mitigation services and solutions that can handle high packet and bit rate attacks.
- Conduct frequent security audits and vulnerability assessments on network infrastructure.
- Employ network segmentation to isolate critical infrastructure and reduce the attack surface.
- Increase monitoring and detection capabilities to quickly identify and respond to unusual traffic patterns.
- Collaborate with device manufacturers to address and patch security vulnerabilities promptly.
- Educate and inform users and administrators about the importance of timely updates and secure configurations.
- Implement robust firewall and intrusion prevention systems to filter malicious traffic.
- Develop and maintain an incident response plan to handle DDoS attacks effectively and minimize downtime.