Email remains the primary attack vector for cybercriminals
Proofpoint, a leading cybersecurity and compliance company, has released new research revealing that more than half (57%) of the Middle East’s most valuable listed companies have implemented the highest level of email protection.
While adoption of email authentication is widespread across the region’s largest organisations, 43% have yet to implement the strongest protection available. As a result, attackers may still be able to impersonate trusted brands in phishing campaigns targeting customers, partners and employees.
These findings are based on a Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) analysis of the 2026 Forbes Middle East Top 100 Most Valuable Companies, which ranks publicly listed organisations by market capitalisation across regional stock exchanges.
Important first step
“Publishing a DMARC record is an important first step, but organisations enforcing the recommended reject policy are best positioned to prevent attackers from abusing their domains to impersonate trusted brands,” stated Emile Abou Saleh, Vice President, Emerging Markets, Proofpoint.
Email remains the primary attack vector for cybercriminals and Proofpoint detects billions of malicious messages every day. As phishing, business email compromise and AI-generated impersonation attacks become increasingly convincing, enforcing strong email authentication is becoming a fundamental component of organisational trust.
Every day, Proofpoint analyses billions of emails to identify advanced threats targeting organisations worldwide, a press statement concluded.
