Cyberattacks Set to Rise in UAE During Ramadan as Online Shopping Peaks

Businesses in the United Arab Emirates are being urged to tighten cyber defences ahead of Ramadan, as a seasonal spike in online shopping is expected to attract more attacks ranging from DDoS disruption to scams targeting consumers

According to Khaleej Times, new analysis from Qrator Labs indicates that attackers increasingly time campaigns around high-traffic periods. During Q1 2025, which included Ramadan, e-commerce was among the most targeted industries for distributed denial-of-service activity, accounting for 21.5% of L3–L4 incidents and 14.4% of L7 application-layer attacks.

The report also points to a rise in automated malicious traffic, with bot activity in March 2025 up 28% month-on-month and online retail platforms absorbing 40.7% of detected bot traffic. One of the most intense episodes was recorded on 9 March 2025, when an e-commerce platform faced up to 56,500 automated requests per second, briefly overwhelming systems at peak shopping time.

Independent specialists cited by Khaleej Times added that UAE authorities have been blocking up to 200,000 cyberattack attempts per day, with 128 confirmed incidents recorded so far in 2026, most linked to financially motivated groups. Experts also warned that phishing, fake shopping sites and fraudulent donation campaigns tend to rise during Ramadan as criminals exploit late-night browsing and increased giving.

Qrator Labs cautioned that traditional tools such as CAPTCHA are becoming less effective as malicious bot traffic increasingly mimics human behaviour, urging businesses to adopt more intent-based detection approaches that filter harmful activity without disrupting legitimate customers.