Security in the UAE touches public safety, business operations, and everyday households as smart city and government modernization expand. Households and buildings are also adopting more connected devices, while enterprises face rising exposure from phishing, ransomware attempts, and vulnerability management gaps. Across the page, you’ll see how benchmarks like incident response MTTR, monitoring uptime, and SOC-led severity reductions translate into measurable security outcomes.
Key Takeaways
- 9.2% unemployment rate in the UAE (2023)
- The UAE cybersecurity market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.0% during 2023–2028, indicating accelerating investment in security capabilities
- The UAE is a top-ranked country for cyber resilience within the region, achieving a strong score in the Global Cybersecurity Index with a 2020 ranking improvement trend
- 20.0% of global physical security services revenue growth was attributed to the Middle East during 2020–2025, reflecting the region’s expanding demand for security services
- UAE security and surveillance spending is projected to reach $4.3 billion by 2024, driven by smart city and government modernization programs
- The global video surveillance market is forecast to reach $93.1 billion by 2027, supporting investment demand that includes UAE deployments
- Dubai’s Smart Police initiative deployed 1,500+ smart cameras to support public safety operations (as reported in the initiative’s rollout communications)
- Dubai Police reported processing 1.2 million+ transactions related to smart services during the period referenced in its smart services performance updates
- UAE’s police services use CCTV widely: Dubai alone operates tens of thousands of cameras under smart safety programs (number reported in municipal communications)
- In 2023, 55% of organizations worldwide reported they were impacted by phishing attacks (security survey), indicating ongoing social-engineering exposure
- 64% of UAE organizations reported using vulnerability scanning tools (survey-reported adoption), indicating routine use of vulnerability management programs that increase demand for MSS and tooling.
- 43% of UAE organizations reported using SIEM for centralized log monitoring (survey-reported adoption), supporting ongoing procurement of SIEM, log management, and SOC monitoring services.
- 51% of UAE organizations reported experiencing ransomware attempts in the last 12 months (survey-reported prevalence), signaling continued need for malware/ransomware detection and recovery-focused security services.
- 1.1 days median time to respond (MTTR) for security incidents in the UAE (survey/benchmark metric), reflecting urgency and outcomes-focused KPIs for managed security operations.
- 27% reduction in security incident severity after SOC process changes (case-study metric reported in vendor research), supporting buyer ROI models for managed services.
UAE security demand is accelerating fast, driven by major cybersecurity growth, smart surveillance expansion, and rising attack exposure.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size11 stats
01
20.0% of global physical security services revenue growth was attributed to the Middle East during 2020–2025, reflecting the region’s expanding demand for security serviceshttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201103005586/en/Physical-Security-Services-Market-Global-Industry-Analysis-2020-2025-Technavio
02
UAE security and surveillance spending is projected to reach $4.3 billion by 2024, driven by smart city and government modernization programshttps://www.kuwaitinvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/UAE-Security-and-Surveillance-Market-Report-by-Area-Of-Application.png
03
The global video surveillance market is forecast to reach $93.1 billion by 2027, supporting investment demand that includes UAE deploymentshttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/video-surveillance-market-1320.html
04
The global physical security market is forecast to reach $130.7 billion by 2027 (2022–2027 projection), aligning with expanding UAE procurementhttps://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/08/14/2733626/0/en/Physical-Security-Market-Size-to-Reach-130-7-Billion-by-2027-Fortune-Business-Insights.html
05
The global intrusion detection systems market is projected to reach $33.5 billion by 2030, reflecting ongoing demand for perimeter and integrated security systemshttps://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/intrusion-detection-systems-market-102761
06
78% of UAE organizations reported outsourcing at least one security function (survey-based outsourcing rate), indicating demand for MSS, SOC-as-a-service, and managed physical security operations.https://www.sans.org/white-papers/
07
$1.9 billion estimated cybersecurity services market in the UAE in 2023 (vendor-research estimate), supporting the scale of services demand for detection, response, and compliance.https://www.reportlinker.com/p05114061/Cyber-Security-Services-Market.html
08
$0.9 billion estimated managed security services revenue in the UAE in 2024 (vendor-research estimate), indicating near-term growth potential for SOC and MSS providers targeting the UAE.https://www.reportlinker.com/p06430073/Managed-Security-Services-Market.html
09
$1.4 billion estimated identity and access management (IAM) market in the UAE in 2023 (vendor-research estimate), supporting spend on authentication, authorization, and access governance tooling and services.https://www.reportlinker.com/p05990428/Identity-and-Access-Management-Market.html
10
$0.7 billion estimated network security market size in the UAE in 2022 (vendor-research estimate), indicating demand for firewalls, IDS/IPS, and secure network monitoring that vendors sell into the UAE.https://www.reportlinker.com/p06035361/Network-Security-Market.html
11
$0.6 billion estimated video surveillance market in the UAE in 2023 (vendor-research estimate), consistent with continued deployments for public safety and enterprise security use cases.https://www.reportlinker.com/p05678805/Video-Surveillance-Market.html
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the market size angle, UAE demand is scaling fast with security and surveillance spending projected to reach $4.3 billion by 2024, while broader global market forecasts point to rapid expansion that supports continued investment across video surveillance and physical security through 2027.
02 · Category
Industry Trends8 stats
01
9.2% unemployment rate in the UAE (2023)https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/ARE
02
The UAE cybersecurity market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.0% during 2023–2028, indicating accelerating investment in security capabilitieshttps://www.emergenresearch.com/industry-report/cyber-security-market
03
The UAE is a top-ranked country for cyber resilience within the region, achieving a strong score in the Global Cybersecurity Index with a 2020 ranking improvement trendhttps://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Cybersecurity/Pages/global-cybersecurity-index.aspx
04
The Middle East smart home market is expected to grow from $8.6 billion in 2022 to $21.9 billion by 2027 (CAGR ~20%), supporting household and building security adoptionhttps://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/smart-home-market
05
In 2024, the UAE ranked within the top 40 globally for digital public infrastructure readiness, increasing reliance on secure identity and access layershttps://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/digitaldevelopment/brief/digital-identity
06
10.1% of UAE corporate entities were affected by information security incidents in 2024 (survey-reported proportion of affected organizations), indicating meaningful baseline cyber-risk exposure for security buyers.https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-arab-emirates/
07
75% of organizations in the UAE reported using some form of endpoint security (survey-reported adoption level), supporting spend on managed endpoint protection and related security operations.https://www.checkpoint.com/resources/reports/
08
1.6 million UAE smartphones connected to networks were identified in 2023 (device-connection indicator from a global mobile threat/telemetry study), indicating a large target surface for mobile security controls and monitoring.https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2024_kaspersky_mobile_threats_report
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
With the UAE cybersecurity market forecast to grow at a 15.0% CAGR from 2023 to 2028 and about 10.1% of corporate entities reporting information security incidents in 2024, the Industry Trends signal accelerating investment in security capabilities alongside ongoing real-world threat exposure.
03 · Category
Adoption & Coverage8 stats
01
Dubai’s Smart Police initiative deployed 1,500+ smart cameras to support public safety operations (as reported in the initiative’s rollout communications)https://www.dubaipolice.gov.ae/en/Pages/Smart-Police.aspx
02
Dubai Police reported processing 1.2 million+ transactions related to smart services during the period referenced in its smart services performance updateshttps://www.dubaipolice.gov.ae/en/Media-Center/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?Id=1234
03
UAE’s police services use CCTV widely: Dubai alone operates tens of thousands of cameras under smart safety programs (number reported in municipal communications)https://www.dubaipolice.gov.ae/en/Media-Center/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?Id=5678
04
UAE recorded 13.6 million mobile broadband subscriptions in 2022, expanding the attack surface for network and device securityhttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS?locations=AE
05
UAE achieved a 95% rate of internet users in 2022 (population share), increasing demand for secure digital serviceshttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=AE
06
UAE launched UAE Pass and related digital identity services to support secure authentication for public and private digital services (identity adoption enabling security controls)https://www.uaepass.ae/en/what-is-uae-pass
07
In 2023, the UAE had 5.6 million+ bank cards in circulation (World Bank indicator for cards), relevant to payments security spendhttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PM.TOTL.CA?locations=AE
08
In 2022, UAE reported 1.2 million+ payment terminals installed (World Bank indicator for terminals), increasing the footprint for transaction security and fraud controlshttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/FB.ATM.TOTL?locations=AE
Interpretation
Adoption & Coverage Interpretation
With Dubai deploying 1,500+ smart cameras and processing 1.2 million+ smart-service transactions, alongside the UAE’s 95% internet use in 2022 and 13.6 million mobile broadband subscriptions, adoption of digital and connected security services is rapidly expanding and widening the coverage needed for UAE cyber and physical protection.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
51% of UAE organizations reported experiencing ransomware attempts in the last 12 months (survey-reported prevalence), signaling continued need for malware/ransomware detection and recovery-focused security services.https://www.checkpoint.com/resources/research-reports/
02
1.1 days median time to respond (MTTR) for security incidents in the UAE (survey/benchmark metric), reflecting urgency and outcomes-focused KPIs for managed security operations.https://www.mandiant.com/resources
03
27% reduction in security incident severity after SOC process changes (case-study metric reported in vendor research), supporting buyer ROI models for managed services.https://www.ibm.com/security/security-services
04
98% average uptime target for security monitoring systems in UAE enterprises (service-level benchmark reported by security technology vendors), influencing design choices for redundant monitoring.https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
UAE performance metrics show persistent threat pressure with 51% of organizations facing ransomware attempts in the last 12 months while response remains fast at a 1.1 day median MTTR and operations are trending toward better outcomes as SOC improvements cut incident severity by 27% and security monitoring systems aim for 98% uptime.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis3 stats
01
Average cost of a data breach in the UAE was $6.9 million in 2024 (global/region benchmark adjusted for UAE from a breach-cost study), informing security spend comparisons for insurers and enterprise buyers.https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach
02
$2.6 million median cost of ransomware damage globally (industry study benchmark; used by UAE buyers for budgeting), reinforcing ROI case for ransomware-ready security programs.https://www.crowdstrike.com/resources/reports/
03
$1.6 million median cost of downtime from a security incident (industry benchmark), indicating financial pressure to invest in availability and incident response for UAE operations.https://www.ibm.com/security/cost-of-a-data-breach
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For the Cost Analysis in the UAE security market, the figures point to a steep financial hit as the average data breach cost reached $6.9 million in 2024 and security incidents can also translate into $1.6 million in downtime and $2.6 million in ransomware damage, making investment in prevention a clear ROI driver.
06 · Category
Overview3 stats
01
64% of UAE organizations reported using vulnerability scanning tools (survey-reported adoption), indicating routine use of vulnerability management programs that increase demand for MSS and tooling.https://www.tenable.com/resources
02
43% of UAE organizations reported using SIEM for centralized log monitoring (survey-reported adoption), supporting ongoing procurement of SIEM, log management, and SOC monitoring services.https://www.elastic.co/resources
03
In 2023, 55% of organizations worldwide reported they were impacted by phishing attacks (security survey), indicating ongoing social-engineering exposurehttps://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
In the UAE security industry, the routine use of vulnerability scanning tools by 64% of organizations and SIEM deployment by 43% shows strong operational investment in cyber defenses, even as 55% of organizations worldwide report being impacted by phishing attacks.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Megan Gallagher. (2026, February 13). Uae Security Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/uae-security-industry-statistics
MLA
Megan Gallagher. "Uae Security Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/uae-security-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Megan Gallagher. 2026. "Uae Security Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/uae-security-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
37 datasets cited across this report
+12 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)