Retail Sector Emerges as Prime Cyberattack Target in Middle East and Africa

Retail Industry Faces Unprecedented Cyber Threats

While political tensions and nation-state cyber operations often dominate headlines in the Middle East and Africa, a more immediate threat has been steadily targeting an unexpected sector: retail businesses. Recent comprehensive threat intelligence reveals that retailers across the region face cyberattack frequencies rivaling even critical infrastructure sectors like telecommunications and banking., according to technological advances

The 2025 MEA Threat Landscape Report demonstrates that retail attacks have maintained consistent prominence in the region’s cyber threat landscape, with threat actors specifically targeting businesses ranging from small local shops to established e-commerce platforms., according to industry developments

Understanding the Retail Cyberattack Epidemic

Between September 2024 and September 2025, retail consistently ranked among the top five most targeted industries in the Middle East and North Africa region. This positioning becomes particularly significant when considering that retail ranked as the second most targeted sector in the previous year’s report, indicating sustained interest from cybercriminals despite a slight decline in ranking.

The types of attacks affecting retailers are diverse and damaging:, according to technology insights

• Phishing campaigns targeting retail employees and customers
• Data extortion schemes involving stolen customer information
• Payment card breaches affecting both physical and online stores
• Ransomware attacks crippling retail operations

Why Retailers Are Particularly Vulnerable

According to cybersecurity experts, the retail sector’s vulnerability stems from a perfect storm of factors that make these businesses attractive targets for financially motivated threat actors.

“Small to medium retailers process significant volumes of credit card transactions but often lack the resources to implement robust security measures,” explains Certis Foster, senior threat hunter lead at Deepwatch. “Attackers recognize they can breach these systems relatively easily and immediately monetize stolen payment card information on dark web marketplaces.”, according to recent innovations

The operational nature of retail businesses creates additional pressure points. Unlike some industries that can sustain extended downtime, retailers cannot afford prolonged closures without significant financial consequences. This reality makes them more likely to pay ransoms quickly to restore operations, creating a vicious cycle that encourages repeated targeting., according to industry news

Regional Ransomware Patterns Defy Expectations

The threat landscape report uncovered surprising patterns in regional ransomware distribution that challenge conventional assumptions about cyber threat distribution.

Pakistan emerged as the overwhelming leader in ransomware incidents, experiencing twice as many attacks as any other country in the region. The concentration of attacks in Pakistan suggests that threat actors perceive the country as offering high returns, likely due to inconsistent cybersecurity defenses across key industries.

Even more concerning is the attribution gap: 71.4% of ransomware attacks in the MENA region were executed by unknown threat actors, smaller groups, or one-off operations. This pattern indicates the democratization of cybercrime tools and techniques, enabling less sophisticated actors to launch damaging attacks., as our earlier report

The Convergence of Political and Criminal Motives

While many retail attacks are purely financially motivated, the lines between criminal and political operations are increasingly blurred in the region. The report highlights several incidents where retail breaches served dual purposes:

• Massive data theft from shopping malls in politically sensitive regions
• Compromised e-commerce platforms serving as entry points for broader attacks
• Retail supply chain disruptions affecting national economies

One notable example involved the advertisement on dark web forums of 259GB of data allegedly stolen from Israeli shopping malls, demonstrating how retail environments can become proxies in broader geopolitical conflicts.

Addressing the Retail Security Gap

The persistent targeting of retail establishments underscores the urgent need for improved cybersecurity measures tailored to the sector’s specific challenges and constraints. The comprehensive regional threat analysis suggests several priority areas for improvement:

Cost-effective security solutions designed for small and medium retailers must become more accessible. Many current enterprise security solutions remain financially out of reach for typical retail operations.

Payment security modernization represents another critical frontier. As threat actors increasingly target payment processing systems, retailers need to implement more robust encryption and transaction monitoring capabilities.

Regional collaboration and information sharing between retailers could help create early warning systems and collective defense mechanisms against emerging threats.

The retail cyber threat landscape in the Middle East and Africa continues to evolve rapidly, demanding increased vigilance and adaptive security strategies from businesses operating in this vital economic sector.

References

• https://socradar.io/resources/report/mea-threat-landscape-report-2025/#:~:tex…
• https://socradar.io/…/SOCRadar-MEA-Regional-Threat-Landscape-Report.pdf

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