Summary: A new report on the Middle East cybersecurity landscape has identified “Insider Threats” as the top risk for 2026, surpassing external ransomware. The report cites the rapid adoption of AI tools by employees and the high turnover in tech roles as primary drivers. 70% of GCC CISOs now view internal actors (accidental or malicious) as their biggest blind spot.
Business Impact: For consultants in Bahrain, this signals a shift in budget allocation from perimeter firewalls to “User Entity and Behavior Analytics” (UEBA). Clients will increasingly demand solutions that can detect when a legitimate employee is using AI to exfiltrate sensitive data.
Why It Happened: The “democratization” of hacking tools and the ease of monetizing stolen data on the dark web have lowered the barrier for malicious insiders. Additionally, “shadow AI” usage has created new pathways for accidental data leakage.
Recommended Executive Action: Audit your offboarding procedures. Ensure that access to SaaS platforms is revoked instantly upon termination. Implement “Data Lineage” tracking to see where sensitive documents are moving, especially towards public AI platforms.
Hashtags: #GCC #Bahrain #InsiderThreat #UEBA #CISO #RiskManagement #AI