Saudi Arabia, UAE Top List of APT-Targeted Nations in the Middle East

Positive Technologies analyzed 141 successful attacks by 16 APT groups against Middle Eastern organizations (primarily Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Israel) over two years, identifying phishing and exploitation of public-facing applications as primary initial access methods, extensive use of application-layer protocols for command-and-control or tool distribution, and a focus on long-term control of critical government, manufacturing, and energy infrastructure; the report maps observed techniques to MITRE ATT&CK, links several groups to nation-state sponsors, and recommends asset prioritization, monitoring, incident response, and staff training.