Cloudflare has released its Q1 2026 Global Internet Trends & Insights Report, highlighting significant developments in global and regional Internet activity. The report provides a comprehensive view of traffic growth, cybersecurity trends, and the evolving threat landscape across the globe – including a detailed look at two key markets in the Middle East – United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
The report reveals a sharp rise in cyber threats across the Middle East, as organizations continue to face growing volumes of malicious traffic targeting critical industries and digital services.
Q1 2026 Global Numbers:
- Cloudflare handled an average of 7 trillion daily requests globally, an 11% quarter-over-quarter increase, and 30% year-over-year. About 3.3% of all requests were blocked as potential attacks.
- Cloudflare blocked an average of 234 billion cyber threats each day, a 9% quarter-over-quarter increase.
- In North America (NAMER), Cloudflare blocked an average of 52 billion cyber threats every day, a 7% quarter-over-quarter increase.
- In Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Cloudflare blocked an average of 86.5 billion cyber threats every day, a 22% quarter-over-quarter increase.
- In Latin America (LATAM), Cloudflare blocked an average 23.3 billion cyber threats every day, a 34% quarter-over-quarter increase.
- In Asia-Pacific (APJC), Cloudflare blocked an average of 70.3 billion cyber threats every day, a 9% quarter-over-quarter decrease.
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) – Regional Internet Trends Snapshot
Internet Traffic & Spikes:
- Overall Traffic Increase / Decrease:
- The KSA saw a 7% increase in Internet traffic in Q1 2026, compared with Q4 2025.
- Mitigated traffic originating in the KSA increased 36% QoQ
- Daily Request Traffic:
- In Q1 2026, Cloudflare served an average of 56 billion daily content requests to the KSA.
- Of those daily requests, an average of 1.3 billion (2%) were blocked as cyber attacks each day, a 36% increase QoQ.
DDoS Attacks/ Online Attacks:
- Cyber Threats Blocked Per Day
- Cloudflare blocked an average of 172 million cyber threats per day targeting the KSA, a 37% increase QoQ.
- Top Targeted Verticals:
- Consumer Goods
- Information Technology and Services
- Media Production
- Education
- Real Estate
United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Regional Internet Trends Snapshot
Internet Traffic & Spikes:
- Overall Traffic Increase / Decrease:
- The UAE saw a 12% increase in Internet traffic in Q1 2026, compared with Q4 2025.
- Mitigated traffic originating in the UAE increased 1% QoQ
- Daily Request Traffic:
- In Q1 2026, Cloudflare served an average of 23 billion daily content requests to the UAE.
- Of those daily requests, an average of 529 million (2%) were blocked as cyber attacks each day, a 1% increase QoQ.
DDoS Attacks/ Online Attacks:
- Cyber Threats Blocked Per Day
Cloudflare blocked an average of 1.2 billion cyber threats per day targeting the UAE, a 51% increase QoQ.
- Top Targeted Verticals:
- Transportation
- Leisure, Travel & Tourism
- Online Media
- Gaming
- Computer Software
“Organizations across the Middle East are embracing digital innovation at remarkable speed, but that growth is also expanding the attack surface for cybercriminals,” said Ercan Aydin, AVP, Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Cloudflare. “The sharp rise in threat activity we observed across the UAE and Saudi Arabia reflects how critical cybersecurity resilience has become for governments, enterprises, and digital service providers. Sectors such as transportation, tourism, media, education, and IT are increasingly being targeted, making proactive security, network visibility, and attack mitigation essential components of modern digital infrastructure.”
