Cyber Security
Ransomware Hit 59% of UAE Organizations Surveyed for Sophos’ Annual “State of Ransomware 2022”

Sophos has released its annual international survey and review of real-world ransomware experiences in the State of Ransomware 2022. The report shows that 59% of UAE organizations surveyed were hit with ransomware in 2021, up from 38% in 2020.
The report summarizes the impact of ransomware on 5,600 mid-sized organizations in 31 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The main findings for the UAE in the State of Ransomware 2022 global survey, which covers ransomware incidents experienced during 2021, as well as related cyber insurance issues, include:
- Many organizations rely on cyber insurance to help them recover from a ransomware attack – 85% of mid-sized organizations had cyber insurance that covers them in the event of a ransomware attack – and, in 100% of incidents, the insurer paid some or all the costs incurred.
- Ninety-eight percent of those with cyber insurance said that their experience of getting it has changed over the last 12 months, with higher demands for cybersecurity measures, more complex or expensive policies, and fewer organizations offering insurance protection.
“The findings suggest we may have reached a peak in the evolutionary journey of ransomware, where attackers’ greed for ever higher ransom payments is colliding head-on with a hardening of the cyber insurance market as insurers increasingly seek to reduce their ransomware risk and exposure,” said Wisniewski. “In recent years, it has become increasingly easy for cybercriminals to deploy ransomware, with almost everything available as-a-service. Second, many cyber insurance providers have covered a wide range of ransomware recovery costs, including the ransom, likely contributing to ever higher ransom demands. However, the results indicate that cyber insurance is getting tougher and in the future ransomware victims may become less willing or less able to pay sky-high ransoms. Sadly, this is unlikely to reduce the overall risk of a ransomware attack. Ransomware attacks are not as resource intensive as some other, more hand-crafted cyberattacks, so any return is a return worth grabbing and cybercriminals will continue to go after the low hanging fruit.”
Sophos recommends the following best practices to help defend against ransomware and related cyberattacks:
- Install and maintain high-quality defenses across all points in the organization’s environment. Review security controls regularly and make sure they continue to meet the organization’s needs.
- Proactively hunt for threats to identify and stop adversaries before they can execute their attack – if the team lacks the time or skills to do this in house, outsource to a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) specialist.
- Harden the IT environment by searching for and closing key security gaps: unpatched devices, unprotected machines, open RDP ports, etc. Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions are ideal for this purpose.
- Prepare for the worst. Know what to do if a cyber incident occurs and keep the plan updated.
- Make backups, and practice restoring from them so that the organization can get back up and running as soon as possible, with minimum disruption.
Cyber Security
ESET Research Uncovers Iran-Aligned BladedFeline Spying on Iraqi, Kurdish Officials

The Iran-aligned threat group BladedFeline has targeted Kurdish and Iraqi government officials in a recent cyber-espionage campaign, according to ESET researchers. The group deployed a range of malicious tools discovered within the compromised systems, indicating a continued effort to maintain and expand access to high-ranking officials and government organizations in Iraq and the Kurdish region. The latest campaign highlights BladedFeline’s evolving capabilities, featuring two tunneling tools (Laret and Pinar), various supplementary tools, and, most notably, a custom backdoor Whisper and a malicious Internet Information Services (IIS) module PrimeCache, both identified and named by ESET.
Whisper logs into a compromised webmail account on a Microsoft Exchange server and uses it to communicate with the attackers via email attachments. PrimeCache also serves as a backdoor: it is a malicious IIS module. PrimeCache also bears similarities to the RDAT backdoor used by OilRig Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group.
Based on these code similarities, as well as on further evidence presented in this blogpost, ESET assesses that BladedFeline is a very likely subgroup of OilRig, an Iran-aligned APT group going after governments and businesses in the Middle East. The initial implants in the latest campaign can be traced back to OilRig. These tools reflect the group’s strategic focus on persistence and stealth within targeted networks.
BladedFeline has consistently worked to maintain illicit access to Kurdish diplomatic officials, while simultaneously exploiting a regional telecommunications provider in Uzbekistan, and developing and maintaining access to officials in the government of Iraq.
ESET Research assesses that BladedFeline is targeting the Kurdish and Iraqi governments for cyberespionage purposes, with an eye toward maintaining strategic access to the computers of high-ranking officials in both governmental entities. The Kurdish diplomatic relationship with Western nations, coupled with the oil reserves in the Kurdistan region, makes it an enticing target for Iran-aligned threat actors to spy on and potentially manipulate. In Iraq, these threat actors are most probably trying to counter the influence of Western governments following the US invasion and occupation of the country.
In 2023, ESET Research discovered that BladedFeline targeted Kurdish diplomatic officials with the Shahmaran backdoor, and previously reported on its activities in ESET APT Activity reports. The group has been active since at least 2017, when it compromised officials within the Kurdistan Regional Government, but is not the only subgroup of OilRig that ESET Research is monitoring. ESET has been tracking Lyceum, also known as HEXANE or Storm-0133, as another OilRig subgroup. Lyceum focuses on targeting various Israeli organizations, including governmental and local governmental entities and organizations in healthcare.
ESET expects that BladedFeline will persist with implant development in order to maintain and expand access within its compromised victim set for cyberespionage.
Cloud
SentinelOne Simplifies Secure Cloud Migrations on AWS

SentinelOne today announced its participation in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Workload Migration Program. This initiative supports AWS Partner Network (APN) members with SaaS offerings on AWS to accelerate and streamline workload migrations.
Through the program, SentinelOne will provide AWS customers with accelerated, secure cloud migration support, leveraging modern AI-powered CNAPP capabilities to ensure rapid and protected transitions. With access to AWS funding, technical resources, and go-to-market support, SentinelOne will help organizations reduce migration timelines and costs while maintaining robust security.
SentinelOne’s Singularity Cloud Security delivers real-time visibility and protection throughout the migration journey—whether from on-premises or another cloud—enabling a secure, seamless transition to AWS.
“Through our participation in the AWS ISV Workload Migration Program, SentinelOne is helping customers accelerate secure cloud migrations with end-to-end protection and visibility,” said Ric Smith, President of Product, Technology, and Operations at SentinelOne. “Whether moving from on-prem or another cloud to AWS, organizations can count on us to deliver the security they need throughout their journey—realizing the performance, speed, agility, and cost benefits of the cloud.”
Singularity Cloud Security combines agentless and agent-based protection for deep visibility, continuous posture management, and real-time threat detection across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. By collaborating with AWS and ecosystem partners, SentinelOne ensures seamless integration into migration projects, helping customers move faster, reduce risk, and scale confidently in the cloud.
Availability: SentinelOne’s solutions are available globally.
Cyber Security
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