UAE Ransomware Attack Tracker
Ransomware groups have claimed 112 organisations in the United Arab Emirates since 2020, of which 31 were claimed in 2026. Professional Services is the most targeted sector with 24 claimed organisations, and 8 distinct groups have claimed two or more UAE organisations. Figures are drawn from leak-site monitoring as of 21 October 2026 and exclude claims that carry no verifiable link to the UAE.
Data as of , drawn from 192 leak-site claims collected by ransomware.live. Of those, 80 carried no verifiable UAE link and are excluded from the headline count. How this data is collected and filtered.
Which sectors UAE ransomware groups target
Professional Services absorbs the largest share of claimed UAE organisations at 24 of 112. The table below counts every attributed claim by the sector label assigned by the upstream feed. A further 2 attributed claims carry no sector label from the upstream feed and appear in the total but in no sector row.
| Name | Relative volume | Incidents | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Services | 24 | 21.4% | |
| Government and Defense | 13 | 11.6% | |
| Technology | 13 | 11.6% | |
| Financial Services | 12 | 10.7% | |
| Retail and E-Commerce | 10 | 8.9% | |
| Manufacturing | 8 | 7.1% | |
| Transportation | 7 | 6.3% | |
| Healthcare | 6 | 5.4% | |
| Energy and Utilities | 4 | 3.6% | |
| Hospitality | 4 | 3.6% | |
| Other | 4 | 3.6% | |
| Education | 3 | 2.7% | |
| Agriculture and Food Production | 2 | 1.8% | |
| Total (all rows) | 112 | 100% |
Showing the top 13 of 112 total.
How UAE ransomware activity changed by period
Claimed UAE organisations rose from 7 across 2020 to 2022 combined to 35 in 2025. Counts for 2026 cover a partial year and will rise as the year completes.
Which ransomware groups claim UAE organisations
All groups| Name | Relative volume | Incidents | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| LockBit 3.0 | 10 | 8.9% | |
| Stormous | 10 | 8.9% | |
| Everest | 9 | 8% | |
| Coinbase Cartel | 6 | 5.4% | |
| DragonForce | 5 | 4.5% | |
| INC Ransom | 5 | 4.5% | |
| Medusa | 5 | 4.5% | |
| RansomHub | 5 | 4.5% | |
| The Gentlemen | 4 | 3.6% | |
| FunkSec | 3 | 2.7% | |
| APT73 | 2 | 1.8% | |
| Arcus Media | 2 | 1.8% | |
| Blacknevas | 2 | 1.8% | |
| BQTLock | 2 | 1.8% | |
| DarkVault | 2 | 1.8% | |
| Total (all rows) | 112 | 100% |
Showing the top 15 of 112 total.
How UAE attribution is decided
Not every claim tagged "AE" involves a UAE organisation.
The upstream feed returned 192 records for the United Arab Emirates. Of those, 65resolve to a domain in the .ae zone and 47 carry an explicit UAE reference in the record text. The remaining 80carry neither signal and are excluded from every headline figure on this site. Read the full method.