Ransomware Attacks on Government and Defense in the UAE
Ransomware groups have claimed 13 government and defense organisations in the United Arab Emirates since 2020, which is 11.6% of all attributed UAE claims. Everest accounts for 3 of them. The earliest claim in this sector was recorded on and the most recent on .
Data as of , drawn from 192 leak-site claims collected by ransomware.live. How this data is collected and filtered.
Which groups claim UAE government and defense organisations
All groups| Name | Relative volume | Incidents | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everest | 3 | 23.1% | |
| Stormous | 3 | 23.1% | |
| FunkSec | 2 | 15.4% | |
| APT73 | 1 | 7.7% | |
| Daixin | 1 | 7.7% | |
| FLocker | 1 | 7.7% | |
| LockBit 2.0 | 1 | 7.7% | |
| LockBit 3.0 | 1 | 7.7% | |
| Total | 13 | 100% |
How Government and Defense claims spread across periods
UAE Government and Defense recorded 13 claimed organisations, peaking at 6 in 2024 and falling to 1 in 2026.
Government and Defense is the second most claimed UAE sector
Government and Defense ranks second of 13 UAE sectors, above the average of 8.6 claims per active sector. Eight distinct groups appear here. The sector carries the heaviest regulatory scope in the country, which changes what an incident costs beyond downtime.
Government and Defense claims peaked in 2024 and have fallen since
The sector recorded 1 claim across 2020 to 2022 and 1 in 2023. Claims then rose to 6 in 2024 and 4 in 2025, before falling to 1 in 2026. Everest and Stormous lead the sector with 3 claimed organisations each, and FunkSec follows with 2.
That shape is unusual on this site. Most UAE sectors rose into 2025 or 2026, while Government and Defense moved the other way after 2024. The 2026 figure covers a partial year and may still rise before the year closes.
What this means for UAE organisations
- Establish which regime you fall under, because Dubai entities answer to DESC ISR v3 while critical national infrastructure answers to the UAE Information Assurance Standard.
- Work through the 39 Priority One controls in UAE IAS v2 first, since those are mandatory for everything inside the standard’s scope.
- Map your estate against the 13 control domains of DESC ISR v3 if you are a Dubai government or semi-government entity.
- Note that UAE IAS v2 carries 188 controls in total, split into 60 management and 128 technical, so plan the technical work separately.
- Extend the same expectations to suppliers holding government data, because contractual reach is how these regulations touch most private firms.
- Keep evidence that technical controls were tested, not only documented, since assessors ask for demonstration rather than description.
