CISOs on alert: Strengthening cyber resilience amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East

Rising geopolitical tensions involving Israel, the US and Iran are adding a new layer of complexity for technology leaders across the Middle East. While much of the focus has been on physical security and regional stability, chief information security officers (CISOs) are quietly reinforcing cyber defences to ensure organisations remain operational in an increasingly uncertain environment.

Across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), security leaders say the priority is not panic or drastic shifts in strategy, but readiness. The escalation serves as a reminder that cyber threats often intensify during periods of geopolitical friction, particularly when nation-state actors become more active. For many organisations in the region, the current moment represents less a sudden change in direction and more a stress test of security strategies that have already been evolving for years.

Anoop Kumar, head of information security governance, risk and compliance at Gulf News Al Nisr Publishing, said geopolitical tensions inevitably reshape how CISOs evaluate risk and preparedness.

“It’s all about resilience to continue business, how to withstand disruption and recover as quickly as possible,” he said. “When geopolitical tensions create uncertainty, CISOs must prioritise nation-state threats, identify critical infrastructure, and ensure stronger protection and faster incident response readiness.”

He added that organisations must assume sophisticated, politically motivated cyber attacks could increase during such periods: “Security leaders must ensure organisations can withstand more sophisticated cyber threats while educating all stakeholders about the evolving situation.”

The concern is not theoretical. Cyber security analysts have long warned that geopolitical conflict often coincides with a rise in cyber espionage, disruption attempts and influence operations targeting both public and private sector organisations.

For CISOs, this means ensuring security operations centres (SOCs) can quickly detect emerging threats and respond before attacks escalate. According to Kumar, organisations should focus on practical and immediate measures to strengthen their security posture during periods of global uncertainty.

When geopolitical tensions create uncertainty, CISOs must prioritise nation-state threats, identify critical infrastructure, and ensure stronger protection and faster incident response readiness

“Organisations should immediately enhance threat monitoring, patch critical vulnerabilities, enforce strong access controls, back up critical data and test restore procedures,” he said. “Incident response plans must also be updated so teams can quickly detect and contain emerging cyber threats.”

Beyond technology, communication and awareness are becoming central pillars of cyber resilience. Security leaders increasingly see their role as extending beyond technical controls to ensuring employees, executives and external partners understand the risks.

“Education of all parties involved is critical,” said Kumar. “Security teams must ensure everyone understands the current threat environment and their role in maintaining cyber resilience.”

Another key shift involves how security teams gather and analyse intelligence. When geopolitical risks increase, organisations often expand their monitoring capabilities and deepen collaboration with external intelligence sources.

“Security teams must integrate external threat intelligence on nation-state activity and increase threat-hunting efforts,” he said. “Collaboration with industry partners and government intelligence sources is essential to detect and respond to emerging geopolitical cyber threats faster.”

Alongside stronger monitoring and intelligence capabilities, many organisations are revisiting how they protect and recover critical data in the event of a cyber attack or infrastructure disruption.

According to Johnny Karam, managing director and vice-president for international emerging regions at Cohesity, periods of geopolitical tension require CISOs to place greater emphasis on data resilience as a core element of operational continuity.

“When geopolitical tensions rise, cyber threats inevitably follow, and CISOs must rethink resilience strategies with the assumption that disruption is more likely. The priority must shift from only protecting data to ensuring organisations can maintain genuine business resiliency,” he said.

“This includes segmented backup infrastructure, logically air-gapped and immutable storage, and continuous validation of clean recovery points so operations can be restored,” he added. “Organisations should also reinforce the 3-2-1 rule to ensure cloud data is replicated to secure on-premise environments.”

Karam pointed out that national cyber resilience initiatives across the region are reinforcing this shift in priorities. “The UAE’s national focus on cyber resilience, reinforced by guidance from the UAE Cyber Security Council, supports this approach,” he said. “Ultimately, CISOs must maintain visibility over critical data and recovery capabilities during disruption.”

Across the region, these measures are being implemented alongside broader investments in digital resilience, cloud infrastructure and business continuity planning. Industry analysts note that while geopolitical tensions may introduce short-term uncertainty, the long-term trajectory of technology investment in the region remains broadly positive.

According to IDC, global IT spending is expected to grow by around 10% in 2026 under baseline projections. In a downside scenario linked to geopolitical disruption, growth could slow slightly to around 9%.

In the Middle East and Africa (MEA), IT spending reached $155bn in 2025, representing roughly 4% of the global market. The region is forecast to grow by about 5% in 2026, but that could fall to 3% or 4% if geopolitical tensions temporarily erode business confidence.

While a prolonged conflict could have a greater impact, analysts say the region’s technology sector has become more resilient thanks to ongoing digital transformation programmes and sustained investment in cyber security.

For CISOs, the lesson is clear: geopolitical uncertainty reinforces the importance of preparation rather than fundamentally changing security strategies.