Recent cybersecurity events underscore a dramatic shift in how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping digital threats worldwide - from high-level nation-state attacks to AI-augmented campaigns by low-skill hackers.

UAE Foils Major AI-Powered Government Cyberattack

The United Arab Emirates successfully thwarted a coordinated, AI-assisted cyber offensive targeting its government digital systems and critical national infrastructure. Authorities described the operation as highly sophisticated, involving AI-enhanced tools used to automate phishing, network infiltration, and ransomware deployment attempts. Thanks to advanced monitoring and layered cyber defences, the UAE detected and neutralised the attacks before they could disrupt services or compromise data. Investigations into the attackers’ identity are ongoing, but the incident highlights how AI is being leveraged in complex digital warfare scenarios.

AI Lowers the Barrier for Global Cybercrime: 600+ Firewall Breaches

In a separate but related development, Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported that an “unsophisticated” Russian-speaking threat actor used commercial generative AI tools to breach over 600 Fortinet FortiGate firewall devices across more than 55 countries in just five weeks. Rather than exploiting advanced technical vulnerabilities, the attacker used AI to:

• Plan and automate the entire attack chain
• Generate offensive tools and scripts
• Scale operations for mass scanning and credential exploitation

By automating planning, payload creation, and execution, AI enabled a relatively small team with limited skills to carry out large-scale breaches, highlighting how generative models are lowering the technical barrier to cyberattacks.

What This Means for Global Cybersecurity

Taken together, these incidents illustrate two converging trends:

1. AI in Cyber Warfare: Advanced attackers (whether nation-state-linked or ideologically motivated) are incorporating AI into highly organised campaigns aimed at critical national infrastructure. The UAE example shows that even sophisticated defences must continuously adapt to AI-powered tactics.
   
2. AI Democratises Threat Capabilities: At the opposite end of the spectrum, AI reduces the expertise required to launch impactful attacks. Tools that once demanded deep technical knowledge can now be generated or orchestrated via AI, enabling smaller actors to achieve disruptive scale.

Together, these developments point to a new cybersecurity landscape in 2026 where AI accelerates both offensive capabilities and defensive imperatives:

• Defenders must invest in AI-enabled detection and resilience
• Organisations need stronger basics like multi-factor authentication, patching, and credential hygiene
• Global policy and cooperation become more urgent as threats scale rapidly across borders