Middle East cybersecurity market to hit $31bn by 2030 as government initiatives grow

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel have become preferred destinations for the industry's top players

The Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference opened in Dubai on Tuesday. Photo: Gisec

The Middle East's cybersecurity market is projected to be worth $31 billion by 2030 as governments take measures to protect their infrastructure, new data from Frost & Sullivan has shown.

The industry's value, about $7.5 billion in 2022, will grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20 per cent over the next seven years, the US consultancy said at the Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference in Dubai on Tuesday.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel are expected to lead the sector, as their cybersecurity industries and government policies have made them preferred destinations for industry academics, businesses, research and innovation, it said.

The UAE, in particular, is keen on “creating an inner circle for information security leaders to discuss critical challenges and help build the cyberresilience of businesses and enterprises in the UAE and the world”, Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, the UAE government's head of cybersecurity, said in a statement.

The world's transition to digitisation has created an increase in cybercrime.

This has prompted governments to strengthen the protection and integrity of their technological infrastructure.

The global cybersecurity market is estimated to top $500 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 12.3 per cent from 2023, latest data from Grand View Research shows.

In 2023, cybercriminals are expected to use identity-based attacks against organisations, highlighting the need to protect technology entry points, said Roland Daccache, manager for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa US software company CrowdStrike.

“This means that organisations must authenticate every identity and authorise each request to maintain security and prevent a wide range of cyberthreats,” he said.