GCC’s xIoT networks pose biggest risk, says Phosphorus VP

Osama Alzoubi, Middle East and Africa VP at Phosphorus Cybersecurity

Cyber threats across the GCC are accelerating at an alarming pace, fueled by three converging forces: the explosion of connected devices, the rapid rise of AI-generated cyberattacks, and the widespread accessibility of plug-and-play hacking kits. From airport surveillance cameras to smart oil refinery sensors, the region’s infrastructure now leans heavily on xIoT — an extended network of devices spanning printers, displays, drones, robotics, and beyond. Alarmingly, enterprises in the Gulf now average 13 xIoT devices for every traditional IT asset, many of which were never designed with security in mind.

Generative AI has transformed the cyber threat landscape, allowing even unskilled attackers to launch sophisticated offensives. As recently reported by BleepingComputer and Cointelegraph, hackers are now deploying AI-written malware that adapts in real time, using natural language interfaces to craft polymorphic code and develop customised exploits. These innovations reduce the technical barrier to entry and allow anyone with access to malware-as-a-service platforms to compromise endpoints with alarming ease — whether it’s a thermostat left online, a printer with outdated firmware, or an unsecured smart camera.

For CISOs and decision-makers across the region, the message is unequivocal: xIoT represents the most vulnerable flank of our digital infrastructure. Without rapid adoption of intelligent, automated defences tailored to this unique attack surface, we risk exposing our most vital systems to catastrophic disruption.

Why xIoT Security Is Harder and More Urgent Than Ever

While securing traditional IT has always been a challenge, the xIoT landscape presents a new level of complexity. The reason? Massive fragmentation and exponential scale. Unlike IT systems that typically revolve around a handful of major vendors, xIoT ecosystems can involve devices from hundreds of manufacturers, each with its own firmware, communication protocol, and update cadence. There is no standardisation, no common language, and no room for error.

Worse, the sheer number of devices is overwhelming. Hospitals rely on connected infusion pumps and imaging systems, smart buildings run on digital thermostats, lighting, and access controls, and critical infrastructure uses embedded sensors to manage oil production and monitor water systems. These devices often run on firmware instead of operating systems like Windows or Linux, making traditional IT tools useless. You can’t install an agent, you can’t use a scanner, and most go unmanaged and unnoticed until it’s too late.

This scale creates an operational nightmare. One IT professional may oversee 100 traditional endpoints, but applying the same model to xIoT would require teams of hundreds. That’s impossible, and with a global cybersecurity talent shortage, it’s unsustainable.

The risk is real; in 2025, several breaches across the GCC exploited outdated or misconfigured xIoT devices. Attackers used old firmware and default credentials to move laterally across networks — a printer, a CCTV, a smart HVAC panel — these seemingly harmless devices became gateways into high-value targets.

Between March and May 2025, multiple attacks in the region illustrated how real and urgent the risk has become. In one case, attackers exploited a printer running outdated firmware to move laterally into a building’s control systems — a tactic made possible in part because 36 per cent of IT teams delay printer updates, according to an HP Wolf Security report.

In another, hackers hijacked exposed security cameras in a smart city project using open ports and default credentials. Research from Trend Micro and Security Magazine found more than 40,000 such cameras accessible on the public internet as of June 2025.

Intelligent Security at Scale: The Phosphorus Approach

At Phosphorus, we’ve engineered a platform that redefines what xIoT security can be — simple, scalable, and surgical. Our solution delivers precision defence without disrupting the network, there’s no need for additional hardware, agents, or mirrored traffic; it’s intelligent protection at machine speed.

Our platform leverages Intelligent Active Discovery. It safely scans millions of IP addresses in hours, identifying every connected device in the network. We interrogate each endpoint, detect the protocol it uses, and uncover whether it still runs on default credentials. We build complete profiles that include vendor, model, firmware version, and exposed ports.

The Phosphorus Enterprise Platform goes beyond device visibility — empowering security and IT teams to execute scalable remediation across the extended IoT (xIoT) ecosystem. With the ability to patch firmware, rotate credentials, and correct misconfigurations at machine-scale, the future of the GCC is being shaped by smart cities, autonomous systems, AI-driven healthcare, and hyper-connected enterprises, each powered by the expanding world of xIoT.

Every smart streetlight, connected medical device, or industrial sensor represents a potential entry point for threat actors. In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, securing this new digital frontier demands more than traditional defences. It requires a new level of governance, comprehensive auditing, enforceable policies, and regulatory frameworks designed to safeguard national infrastructure at scale and with over one million device types. Phosphorus delivers security with speed, efficiency, and scale unmatched in the industry. This is not just security; this is operational transformation. Our clients gain full visibility, accelerated control, and measurable risk reduction. The result? Stronger defences, smarter operations, and safer futures.

The Gulf’s Smart Cities Are Built on xIoT

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have emerged as global powerhouses in smart services and smart city innovation, and their airports are the crown jewels of this digital evolution, these hubs are more than transit points, they’re showcases of xIoT synergy. From biometric check-ins and AI-powered immigration gates to real-time baggage tracking and autonomous kiosks, every element is connected, responsive, and designed for speed and precision, it’s a frictionless experience made possible by a dense web of devices, all orchestrated to work in concert, this isn’t just innovation, it’s national ambition brought to life, setting a global benchmark for smart mobility.

Beyond the airport terminals, the smart city landscape across the Gulf is rapidly evolving into one of the most connected environments on the planet, IoT and xIoT devices form the digital backbone of modern urban infrastructure, these technologies power adaptive traffic systems that learn from congestion patterns and reroute flows in real time, they enable predictive energy management by monitoring and adjusting usage across city grids, they support waste management, water conservation, environmental sensing, and even digital public safety networks. From connected streetlights that respond to movement to smart parking systems that guide drivers to available spots, the smart city of today is alive with devices that sense, respond, and optimise.

Across Riyadh, Jeddah, Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi, this vision extends beyond airports, cities are wired with IoT and xIoT devices that optimise traffic, manage utilities, and support emergency response, sensors monitor energy grids, actuators adjust traffic lights, AI systems coordinate services dynamically, it’s a new standard for digital living — responsive, resilient, and ready for what’s next.

This connected evolution didn’t happen overnight, it is the result of strategic investments, public-private partnerships, and visionary leadership, the Gulf is not reacting to the future, it is building it.

Building on Strong Foundations: The Critical Imperative to Secure xIoT

Governments in the region have already proven themselves as proactive leaders in cybersecurity. Saudi Arabia’s National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) has put in place guidelines, including the Cybersecurity Guidelines for IoT (CGIoT), Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECC), and OT Cybersecurity Controls (OTCC). Similarly, UAE’s Cybersecurity Council is spearheading activities in the protection of digital services and critical infrastructure.

However, the current threat landscape is evolving. With the future of the GCC relies on smart cities, autonomous systems, AI-powered healthcare, and ultra-connected businesses all powered by xIoT. Every security camera, connected medical device or industrial sensor is a potential inroad.

This new wave of assault surface demands a higher degree of governance, including auditing, with policies and regulations set in place to enforce them.

AI Will Redefine Cybersecurity Resilience

The sheer volume and diversity of IoT devices render human-centric security operations impossible. Devices come in every form, limited compute capacity, proprietary communication protocols, decades-long lifespans, and are often installed and forgotten by third parties.

Ownership has been unclear. Monitoring has been minimal. Security hygiene has been inconsistent at best, until now.

Phosphorus is taking a new approach to defend the most vulnerable parts of our customer’s infrastructure through its xIoT Security and Management Platform — an AI-powered, agentless solution that delivers proactive, enabling protection across IoT, OT, IIoT, and IoMT, or xIOT environments. Imagine if every device on your network could be discovered, assessed, and remediated automatically, at scale, with minimal manual effort. AI-driven device discovery and assessment. Policies defined by humans with AI-driven deep insights and context, enforcement carried out by AI-driven automation. 

With our patented Intelligent Active Discovery engine, Phosphorus achieves precision in device identification and deep, contextual classification at unprecedented scale, enabling real-time visibility and continuous posture monitoring. Our engines identify vulnerabilities and prioritise risk stemming from outdated firmware, default credentials, insecure configurations, and digital certificate gaps, while automated remediation capabilities allow organisations to rotate credentials, patch firmware, and quarantine vulnerable assets.

We see a world where your current dilemma of not having the proper staff to manage your current deployments is not a problem. When the manual tasks become automated, technicians can be more strategic. Your staff can inventory, perform risk assessments, remediate vulnerabilities, monitor, and manage millions of devices. No more manual grind. With automated operations, their impact becomes much greater. And your staff goes from being overwhelmed to being effective and efficient.

As nations across the GCC and the MENA region accelerate digital infrastructure and smart city initiatives, Phosphorus delivers the cyber-physical resilience demanded by CISOs, CIOs, and government leaders tasked with protecting national assets and critical systems from escalating adversarial threats.

Strategic Partnerships in the Gulf

Phosphorus is not a vendor, we are a partner, across the Gulf, we’ve forged strategic collaborations with government entities, investment ministries, and leading enterprises, we’ve contributed to high-level dialogues between US and GCC stakeholders, aligning innovation with national priorities.

Our engagements are long-term, confidential, focused on outcomes, not optics, whether in healthcare, finance, logistics, or smart infrastructure, we’re helping organizations secure what matters most.

Real-World Impact: At Scale, Without Disruption

A top-tier healthcare network faced hidden risks from untracked infusion pumps, weak passwords and outdated firmware made them vulnerable, Phosphorus platform discovered every device, assessed their risk, and applied fixes, all without disrupting care.

A financial powerhouse with 30,000 connected endpoints had zero visibility into their xIoT footprint, we scanned the environment, mapped every device, and closed critical gaps, the result was not just compliance, it was confidence.

In a major Gulf smart city, devices were deployed faster than they could be secured, we provided live asset mapping, change alerts, and real-time control, the city’s infrastructure is now monitored, protected, and future-proofed.

Final Thought: The Time Is Now

The GCC is redefining what’s possible in digital infrastructure, pushing the boundaries of innovation across sectors, but with this remarkable progress comes an urgent responsibility to protect the very systems that power this transformation, the rise of xIoT is not just a technological evolution — it’s a seismic shift that demands a new, intelligent security paradigm built for speed, scale, and sophistication.

At Phosphorus, we’re proud to stand at the forefront of this shift, we are not waiting for tomorrow — we are delivering cutting-edge protection today, together, let’s ensure that the Gulf & MENA’s digital future is not only visionary, but also secure.