Arab Cybersecurity Ministers Advance 2026 Strategy

Casablanca – The Executive Bureau of the Arab Cybersecurity Ministers Council held its third meeting on Tuesday via videoconference, bringing together representatives from member states along with Secretary-General Ibrahim Bin Saleh Al-Furaih.

The meeting focused on a packed agenda and wrapped up with a set of decisions that will feed into the council’s third ordinary session later this year. Key outcomes included the adoption of the council’s 2026 annual plan and a structured framework to guide the work of its committees and specialized groups.

The Arab Cybersecurity Ministers Council operates under the umbrella of the Arab League, bringing together ministers responsible for cybersecurity across the region. Its mandate is broad: shaping policy, setting regional priorities, and tracking developments in cybersecurity across security, economic, developmental, and legal fronts. It also oversees the rollout of joint Arab cybersecurity plans tied to those strategies.

Beyond the formal framework, the meeting comes as the region faces an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving cybersecurity threat landscape.

Over the past few years, several Arab countries have faced high-profile cyber incidents. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has been repeatedly targeted by state-linked attacks—like the resurfacing of variants of the Shamoon malware, which previously crippled parts of its energy sector. In the UAE, government and private entities have dealt with phishing campaigns and ransomware attempts tied to global cybercrime networks.

At the same time, there’s been a noticeable shift from reactive defense to actual strategy-building. Saudi Arabia has established the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) and invested heavily in local talent and threat intelligence. The UAE launched its Cybersecurity Council and national cyber strategy, alongside partnerships with global tech firms.

Egypt has rolled out a national cybersecurity strategy and strengthened its legal framework around data protection and cybercrime. Even smaller states like Jordan are building national CERTs (Computer Emergency Response Teams) to better handle incidents.

A recent example in Morocco came in April 2025, when the National Social Security Fund suffered a major cyberattack that led to the leak of sensitive data affecting over a million users. Personal and payroll information was circulated online, raising concerns about how public data is stored and protected.

Moroccan authorities, including the General Directorate for Information Systems Security (DGSSI), launched investigations and increased monitoring, while also expanding audits of public systems—76 applications were reviewed in 2025 alone, revealing critical vulnerabilities in at least 20 of them.

The incident exposed specific structural gaps such as weak security in third-party platforms handling public data (like outsourced or semi-public systems), delayed public communication around breaches, and a shortage of highly skilled cybersecurity professionals—an issue Moroccan officials themselves acknowledge as attacks continue to rise.

In the first half of 2025, Morocco recorded 879 cyber incidents , while also facing over 75,000 DDoS attacks, many targeting telecoms and research sectors.

Morocco is also seeing a rise in phishing campaigns this year, many of which impersonate public institutions and target both citizens and businesses. The trend points to a shift from isolated incidents to a sustained, high-volume threat environment, while gaps remain in coordination, transparency, and the availability of skilled cybersecurity professionals.

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