strikeJul 7, 2026

From missiles to malware: Why the Gulf is stepping up its operational resilience | Fortune

Summary

A surge in cyberattacks, physical strikes on cloud infrastructure and the growing use of AI by both attackers and defenders are forcing Gulf states to rethink how they protect critical digital infrastructure. The importance of enhancing operational resilience across the Gulf has taken on new urgency since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war on February 28. In the UAE alone, daily cyberattack attempts surged from roughly 200,000 to as many as 700,000 as geopolitical tensions flared over recent months. Last week, the UAE’s financial sector was targeted by a wave of sophisticated cyberattacks. While they were successfully thwarted, the country’s Cyber Security Council noted that cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to develop more advanced techniques. A report published last month by Help AG, the cybersecurity arm of UAE telecoms operator e&, highlighted how AI has emerged as a force multiplier, enabling attackers to accelerate reconnaissance and adapt techniques in real time. As a result, attack lifecycles are compressing. In the first quarter of 2026, Help AG observed how the use of AI has allowed bad actors to complete attacks 65% faster than before, with some causing damage less than 40 hours after first gaining access. Read more: GCC debt markets have rallied since the ceasefire, but tight liquidity remains a key hurdle “The signal across global research is consistent: attackers are compressing the attack lifecycle,” the report authors noted. “The Middle East reflects the same pattern—but under higher exposure intensity.” The rapid digital transformation taking place across the region has increased its exposure to cyberattacks, often leading to more severe economic consequences. According to a recent IBM report, the average cost of a data breach in the Middle East stood at $7.29 million in 2025—significantly above the global average of $4.44 million. Information security spending across MENA is expected to reach $4.07 billion in 2026, up 10.1% from 2025, according to Gartner. In the GCC, sectors such as financial services, energy, logistics, and government are increasingly operating within automated, highly interconnected digital ecosystems, making them particularly vulnerable to attacks. This vulnerability is accelerating a shift from traditional, reactive security models to continuous, adaptive systems that support broader national security objectives. “Organizations today need security that is continuously adaptive, locally aligned and designed to protect critical infrastructure and citizen data in an AI-driven environment,” said Abdulla Ebrahim Al Ahmed, chief government relations officer at e& UAE. Across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, cybersecurity is increasingly being built into infrastructure planning, with sovereign cloud and locally governed systems becoming core design priorities. Sovereign cloud is a specialized cloud computing environment designed to ensure an organization’s data, metadata, and infrastructure remain entirely within a specific legal jurisdiction. Meanwhile, AI has emerged as a transformative force in cybersecurity, reshaping both offensive tactics and defensive capabilities. While bad actors are increasingly deploying AI to scale and automate their operations, organizations are also leveraging the technology to improve threat detection and accelerate response times. “Across the GCC, AI and sovereignty are already reshaping how digital infrastructure is designed, secured, and governed,” said Aleksandar Valjarevic, acting CEO of Help AG. “The findings of this year’s report show that cybersecurity must now operate continuously, at machine speed, and in direct alignment with national resilience priorities. For organizations, the focus is shifting from adding more tools to building adaptive, measurable and locally aligned security capabilities that can withstand sustained pressure.” The report also noted that collaborative security models are becoming more common across the GCC, particularly in government and critical infrastructure sectors. Cybersecurity spending across the GCC is projected to surpass $9.6 billion by 2032 in response to the increased threat, up from $5.9 billion in 2025, according to business consulting firm P&S Intelligence. For a region that has set its sights on becoming a global AI hub, the U.S.-Iran war has exposed the geopolitical vulnerability of the Gulf’s digital infrastructure. In early March, two Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers in the UAE were directly struck by drones, while one of its centers in Bahrain was damaged by a nearby drone strike. The attacks forced all three centers offline and triggered outages across banking, payments, delivery apps, and enterprise software throughout the region. AWS was forced to transfer computing workloads to other regions and said that it expected the recovery to be “prolonged, given the nature of the physical damage involved.” The strikes were significant for marking the first time that military attacks had directly targeted and disrupted the data center operations of a major U.S. tech company. AWS’ services in Bahrain have since been targeted in further drone strikes and sustained damage as a result. Sam Winter-Levy, technology and international affairs fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, has warned that physical attacks on data centers “are only going to become more common moving forward as AI becomes more and more significant.” Major U.S. technology companies, including Microsoft, Google and Oracle, operate extensive cloud infrastructure across the Gulf. Given Iran’s repeated threats against these facilities, data centers are widely regarded as potential targets in the event of escalating regional tensions. This may lead GCC governments to expand their own data center development plans across multiple sites, instead of relying on a handful of hyperscale campuses, as well as building greater redundancy into networks. Meanwhile, rising security spending and insurance premiums will likely translate into increased costs of building and operating such facilities across the region. “Given the central role of digital infrastructure in national development strategies across the region, the current situation in the Middle East further underscores the need to develop insurance frameworks that account for potential regional instability,” said Elizabeth Heyes, junior technology fellow at the Observer Research Foundation Middle East, in a report published last month. “What makes these risks more challenging is not just their scale, but their interconnected nature: disruptions rarely remain contained, instead cascading across supply chains, financial systems, and physical infrastructure. This raises the question of who ultimately bears the cost, and whether existing systems that insure against disruption are equipped to absorb it.” The Gulf has made significant progress in fortifying its cyber resilience and digital infrastructure, but many argue that its insurance frameworks have not kept pace with the growing systemic risks posed by today’s cybercriminals. While cyber insurance is growing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, penetration remains low compared with more mature markets such as the US and UK. Many businesses, particularly smaller firms, remain underinsured. Furthermore, many cyber policies exclude or limit coverage for acts of war, state-sponsored cyberattacks or widespread infrastructure failures. These exclusions have become more prominent as geopolitical tensions have increased and now need to be addressed.

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Melissa HancockBy Melissa Hancock
A surge in cyberattacks, physical strikes on cloud infrastructure and the growing use of AI by both attackers and defenders are forcing Gulf states to rethink how they protect critical digital infrastructure. The importance of enhancing operational resilience across the Gulf has …

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxy

UK ‘ready to defend itself’ after Iranian threat over US bases

○ 1 source

The government has said the UK is “ready to defend itself” after Iran’s military warned that any bases being used by the US were “legitimate targets”. The UK has allowed the US to launch “defensive” operations from British bases hosting American planes since the start of its war on Iran but has refused to help in offensive operations.

That policy has not been altered by the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, who was notified last week that a decision had been made to extend the agreement with the US. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Thursday that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces”.

In a statement published on the IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency, the group said American bombing missions had been launched from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire two days earlier. The statement came after the US carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes against targets in Iran.

The Ministry of Defence has not commented on whether Fairford was used by the US for operations against Iran this week. The IRGC also accused the “British monarchy regime” of causing being the “primary cause of hardships in our region with a black record of partitioning Islamic nations, widespread massacres, imposing despotic regimes, and organising the occupation of Palestine”.

It warned the government “not to weigh down its record any further”. A spokesperson for the British government said: “Our armed forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it’s on our soil or from abroad. The UK stands ready 24/7 to defend itself.

“This includes through operating a layered approach to air and missile defence, provided by Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force assets equipped with a range of advanced capabilities, working closely with our Nato allies. “We are committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict.

” On 1 March a drone struck the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, hitting a hangar, and prompting a partial evacuation of the facility. On 19 March, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the UK’s Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands. One reportedly failed mid-flight, while the other was shot down by a US airship.

Iran has launched strikes against countries in the Gulf that house US military bases, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, killing American service personnel in some of the attacks. Donald Trump said Iran would “pay a big price” for killing US troops.

On Thursday afternoon, the US president said he was considering ordering a “massive attack” on Iran. “I am close to making a decision,” he told Axios. “We’re all set for it.” He said he believed Iran’s leaders “want to negotiate”, but aren’t yet ready to make a deal.

In another sign of the conflict potentially escalating, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday, as oil topped $100 a barrel.

Hayden Vernon

Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxyRussia

Oil Prices Soar as US-Iran Conflict Expands to Red Sea

○ 1 source

September WTI crude oil (CLU26) on Thursday closed up +5.36 (+6.17%), and September RBOB gasoline (RBU26) closed up +0.0793 (+2.44%). WTI crude oil prices (CLU26) rallied more than +6% on Thursday after the Iran-backed Houthis launched a missile and drone attack on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, expanding the oil disruptions beyond the Strait of Hormuz and threatening oil shipments in the Red Sea.

Sep Brent crude oil prices (CBU26) on Thursday rallied above $100 per barrel for the first time since May. President Trump said in an interview with Axios on Thursday that he is considering a “massive attack” that would be “bigger than ever before” and is “close to making a decision on it.

”Don’t Miss a Day: From crude oil to coffee, sign up free for Barchart’s best-in-class commodity analysis. The Houthis have vowed to blockade shipping linked to Saudi Arabia and warned shipowners against calling at the nation's ports. The move threatens Saudi oil exports from Yanbu, a Red Sea hub that the Saudi's are using to ship crude since the war brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a near halt.

Meanwhile, the US and Iran exchanged attacks for the 12th straight day, and the US maintained its blockade of Iranian oil shipments in the Persian Gulf. Global crude oil supplies are tightening due to reduced flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The International Maritime Organization warned last Wednesday that it is too dangerous to cross the Strait of Hormuz at the moment, and visible transit through the strait has fallen sharply as Iran continues targeting tankers attempting to transit it.

Crude prices also have support as Ukraine intensifies drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. Russian crude production fell to 8.928 million bpd in June, the lowest in 2.5 years, according to monthly OPEC data. According to EA Analytics, Russian crude-processing rates will average 3.

51 million bpd in July, the lowest in 24 years, amid damage to Russian energy infrastructure caused by drone and missile attacks from Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, Ukrainian forces have attacked Russian fuel-producing facilities more than 50 times this year, hitting at least 24 of Russia’s 34 largest refineries.

As of the end of June, around 90% of Russian regions have imposed some form of fuel rationing or reported supply issues, as refining capacity has plunged following damage to facilities. The strikes have deepened a nationwide gasoline shortage, with several major refineries shut down and the government banning almost all gasoline, jet fuel and diesel exports.

Russia is the world’s number two diesel exporter, after the US, according to Vortexa. Stronger Russian crude exports are also adding to global oil supplies, which is bearish for prices. Data compiled by Bloomberg show the four-week average of Russian crude exports rose to 4.

13 million bpd through June 28, the highest since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Russia may be boosting its crude exports as the country’s refining capacity has plunged due to damage at its refining facilities from Ukraine drone and missile attacks.

The outlook for higher US crude output is negative for oil prices. The Department of Energy (DOE) on July 7 raised its US 2026 crude production estimate to 13.78 million bpd from a June estimate of 13.72 million bpd. As a bearish factor for crude, OPEC delegates said on May 14 that the cartel aims to continue a series of oil quota increases over the next few months, completing the return of halted oil production by the end of September.

The group already formally agreed to restore about two-thirds of the 1.65 million bpd supply cutback it made back in 2023 and said it plans to raise output targets further and to revive the final portion in three more monthly stages. On July 5, OPEC+ said it will boost its crude output by 188,000 bpd in August, though that increase might prove difficult due to revived US-Iran military attacks in the region.

OPEC’s June crude production rose by +2.34 million bpd to 18.75 million bpd. Vortexa reported on Monday that crude oil stored on tankers that have been stationary for at least 7 days rose +31% w/w to 90.03 million bbl in the week ended July 17. Wednesday’s weekly EIA report was mostly negative for crude oil and products.

EIA crude inventories unexpectedly rose +2.01 million bbl versus expectations of a -1.95 million bbl decline. Also, EIA gasoline supplies rose by +765,000 bbl versus expectations of a -1.9 million bbl decline. In addition, EIA distillate stockpiles rose by +1.

4 million bbl, a larger build than expectations of +825,000 bbl. On the positive side, crude supplies at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI futures, fell -624,000 bbl. Wednesday’s EIA report showed that (1) US crude oil inventories as of July 17 were -5.

3% below the seasonal 5-year average, (2) gasoline inventories were -7.1% below the seasonal 5-year average, and (3) distillate inventories were -9.6% below the 5-year seasonal average. US crude oil production in the week ending July 17 fell -0.5% w/w to 13.

798 million bpd, just below the record high of 13.862 million bpd posted in the week of November 7. Baker Hughes reported last Friday that the number of active US oil rigs in the week ended July 17 rose by +7 to a 13-month high of 452 rigs, up from the 4.

25-year low of 406 rigs posted in December 2025. However, the number of US oil rigs remains sharply below the 5.5-year high of 627 reported in December 2022. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.

All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Barchart

Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIran

IDF to deal 'crushing blow' to Iran, if it attacks Israel — Ynet

○ 1 source

TEL AVIV, July 23. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will deal "a crushing blow" to Iran, if it attacks the Jewish state, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned, according to the Ynet portal. "We are ready for any development of events. If Iran attacks Israel, we will deal a crushing blow," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he was considering carrying out a massive attack on Iran, and the strikes would be harder than before. According to the American leader, Israel will "join the attack in two minutes" if requested by the United States.

However, he added that Washington "does not need anyone" to launch a new military operation. Trump did not specify a deadline for making a decision. The United States and Israel started a war with Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

However, on the night of July 8, the United States resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the terms of the agreements regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

CurrentsAPI

Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIran

UK 'ready to defend itself' after Iran says bases are 'legitimate targets'

○ 1 source

The British government stated that it stands ready to defend itself following Iranian comments designating UK bases hosting US forces as legitimate targets in response to US military strikes on Iran. Iranian officials described the UK as an accomplice to US operations, while UK policy has allowed US use of bases such as RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia for what the UK has termed defensive purposes.

Permissions for this arrangement, first granted in March, were extended under the current UK government.

Location: Iran

Sean Seddon