By Heba Sayed, Senior Manager, IMETA Markets, Exabeam
What will 2026 bring for cybersecurity? As organisations across Middle East & India brace for another year of fast-evolving cyber threats, Exabeam outlines key trends and predictions that will shape cybersecurity strategies in 2026. From rising OT and supply chain risks to the growing importance of identity, AI and proactive risk management, these predictions highlight the shifting priorities CISOs must prepare for in the year ahead.
Exabeam Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026
OT and Supply Chain Cyber Risks Will Accelerate Vulnerabilities in Regional Economies
Widespread industrial modernization will rapidly expand regional digital attack surfaces, putting increased pressure on the speed that defenses will need to adapt. As GCC nations heavily invest in smart city initiatives, such as NEOM, thousands of new IoT and OT devices are being deployed at scale, many without built-in security. As regional economies become increasingly interconnected with complex supply chains, it will only take one compromised vendor to potentially bring entire critical industries to a standstill.
IT and OT cannot afford to work in silos. CISOs will need end-to-end visibility across OT and partner ecosystems powered by behavioral analytics and AI-driven detection to protect critical industries.
AI in Security Moves from Hype to Strategic Advantage Across India & MEA
Organizations will move past the hype cycle of deploying AI technology without outlined objectives and focus on applying it where it has the most strategic impact. Advancing AI frameworks including the ‘IndiaAI Governance Guidelines’ under the IndiaAI Mission and initiatives like The UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 are putting a tighter emphasis on maximizing AI usage from both an operational and ethical approach.
From a security perspective, the focus will shift from deploying technology for technology’s sake to intentionally improving detection, reducing alert fatigue, and accelerating response. Increasingly, AI will act as a strategic advisor to CISOs, providing insights that support security decision-making and help prioritize risks. With this, there will be a greater focus on responsible AI governance, auditable AI models, and tools that prioritize measurable results over chasing AI trends.
Insider Threats Will Put Identity at the Center of Security in the Middle East
In 2026, the cybersecurity focus will move from external to internal threats, with Exabeam research identifying the Middle East as the region that holds the strongest insider concern globally, with 70% identifying internal actors as the primary threat.
As insider and identity-driven threats become more frequent and even outpace external attacks, the real challenge for security teams will be to build resilience within access, privilege, and misuse of legitimate credentials. With credential compromise rising as one of the most common breach enablers, CISOs will invest in identity visibility and behavior-driven analytics to detect subtle anomalies. This will lead to identity assurance evolving from an IT control to a foundation of organizations’ security postures.
Evolving Data Protection Laws in India and the GCC Will Require Continued Compliance
Local regulatory environments will tighten sharply in 2026. This will vary from region to region. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act will be fully enforced, GCC nations will enhance cybersecurity mandates, and African regulators will strive for stronger data sovereignty controls.
For CISOs, compliance will no longer be a box-ticking exercise, but a strategic security enabler. The organizations that embed automated compliance monitoring and adaptive data governance will be the ones that proactively mitigate risks from data breaches, supply chain vulnerabilities, and cross-border regulatory fines.
CISOs Shift from Reactive Approaches to Proactive Risk Management in the KSA
As national digital transformation accelerates, such as Saudi Vision 2030, CISOs will prioritize proactive cyber resilience over reactive approaches. Historically the role of the CISO was largely preventative and focused on deploying traditional defenses, such as firewalls and anti-virus to stop attacks before they occur.
Looking ahead, CISOs will need to adopt a resilience-first mindset as threat actors embrace AI threat tactics and state-sponsored campaigns become more sophisticated. This will become especially important as regulatory bodies like the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) and Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) increasingly emphasize robust, proactive risk management and business continuity measures.
This will incentivize local CISOs to explore autonomous AI-driven solutions that are capable of making security-based decisions and evolve phishing simulations to reflect advancing deepfake tactics. Measures of success will shift from breaches prevented to how confidently and securely organizations can scale without exposing themselves to emerging cyber risk.
