AI agents make cybercrime cheaper and the UAE is a top target now

Security experts warn that AI agents are making cybercrime cheaper, and the UAE is a top target. Cybersecurity specialists say AI agents enable criminals to research victims, handle conversations and carry out parts of attacks with fewer people and less technical knowledge than before, The National reported on 31 October 2026. Unlike fixed scripts, AI agents can adapt responses mid-conversation, remember earlier exchanges and manage multiple victims at once. They can make an approach feel personal, answer questions and keep trying when the first request fails. Traditional warning signs such as poor spelling and grammar are no longer reliable indicators of scam messages. The UAE ranks sixth globally as a cyber attack target, according to Microsoft’s Digital Defense Report. The report monitored cyber crime activity affecting customers from January to June 2026. The United States ranked first, followed by Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the UAE. Farid Zahran of FTI Consulting said agents are now doing the work, not just advising. Premchand Kurup of ParamountAssure said this made some scams easier and cheaper to run. A September 2026 Anthropic report described cases in which AI helped carry out attacks and steal data. Human operators still selected targets and reviewed the stolen information. One example involved a criminal with basic coding skills who used AI to develop ransomware packages offered to others for between $400 and $1,200. The UAE Cyber Security Council has reported daily breach attempts on infrastructure climbing past 800,000. Positive Technologies has placed the UAE at 35 per cent of attacks in the region. The council logged 128 confirmed incidents spanning ransomware, data leaks and website defacement. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, head of the council, has said AI has accelerated cyber attacks dramatically. The Dubai Financial Services Authority published a paper examining how frontier and agentic AI could change cyber resilience in finance. The paper, developed with the Cambridge Digital Innovation and Regulation Initiative, looks at speed, reach, authority and trust. It notes that agentic systems can use connected tools and take actions under delegated authority, making activity faster and harder to trace. For organizations in the UAE the practical change is that lower-cost attacks can reach more targets. The value of the warning depends on whether defenders raise the cost of success for attackers. The experts have not published a full breakdown of how many incidents in the UAE involved AI agents or the average cost reduction per attack. Other markets face similar shifts. The UAE’s ranking and high daily attempt volumes make the cost reduction more relevant for local banks, government entities and businesses. The announcement does not list specific UAE incident volumes tied directly to AI agents or the exact tools criminals are using. If the next Microsoft or council update shows a measurable rise in agent-assisted attacks against UAE targets, the warning has a follow-through. If the next figures show only the same ranking without agent-specific data, the change remains the expert assessment. The figures missing are agent-linked incident counts and cost data. The warning is one part of the broader discussion on how AI changes the economics of cybercrime in a high-target market. A UAE-led operation earlier in 2026 targeted AI-enabled fraud. KnowBe4 has reported higher rates of mobile-focused phishing in the UAE. Defenders are also using AI to speed detection and response. Cisco has reported AI improving detection speed for many UAE organizations. Global losses from cyberattacks reached $10.5 trillion in 2024. Forecasts put the figure at $15.6 trillion by 2029. The Microsoft ranking places the UAE among the most frequently targeted markets.