UAE Says Its Cyber Defence Team Blocked an Average of 700,000 Attacks a Day

The figure was disclosed at the UAE Government Annual Meetings in Abu Dhabi on November 9, where Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, presented the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Medal to five national teams. Alongside the cyber security team, the honourees were the UAE Armed Forces, the National Operations Center team of the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA), aviation teams in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the national logistics network team.

For banks, airlines, utilities and other operators of critical systems in the Emirates, the number is the clearest official measure yet of the pressure the conflict has put on the country's digital infrastructure. The government said the cyber team worked around the clock with the Cyber Security Council and other authorities to detect and stop threats, protect national digital assets and keep vital services online. It did not say over what period the daily average was calculated, which sectors were targeted or whether any attacks got through.

The figure sits at the top of a range given earlier this year by Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, chairman of the UAE Cyber Security Council. In March he said the country was facing between 500,000 and 700,000 attacks a day, mostly aimed at strategic sectors, according to a Gulf News report citing Emarat Al Youm. He said hostile actors, including Iran, had used AI tools such as ChatGPT for reconnaissance, finding vulnerabilities, phishing and writing malware, and described national defences built on a zero-trust security model, a National Cyber Security Operations Centre and nationwide crisis simulation exercises.

The other honoured teams were recognised for keeping the physical economy connected. Dubai's airports handled more than 32,000 flights, nearly six million passengers and 213,000 tonnes of cargo between late February and late April 2026, despite restrictions on regional airspace, according to the government. By late June, Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport was serving more than 93,000 passengers a day across about 500 flights. Etihad Airways, whose crisis and emergency response team worked with authorities to keep flights running, carried 2.1 million passengers in September 2026, a 10% increase, and served 119 destinations.

The national logistics network team was credited with keeping food, medicines and other essential goods available by moving shipments through ports, land routes and alternative transport corridors, including the east coast ports of Fujairah and Khorfakkan. The government said container handling at the east coast ports grew 316% to 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units, though it did not give the comparison period.

NCEMA's National Operations Center coordinated federal and local government entities and the private sector to keep essential services going, and handled public communication through official alerts and safety guidance.

Sheikh Saif said the teams' effectiveness showed in how quickly they responded to challenges while keeping public confidence. "It is also measured by the impact they create and the trust they inspire across the community," he said.

The government has not published a breakdown of the attacks by origin, method or target, and the Cyber Security Council has not said whether the daily volume has eased as regional tensions have shifted.