Mastercard released its inaugural Cyber Pulse report, offering a comprehensive view of the evolving cyber threat landscape across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EEMEA) over the last year.
The report combines regional threat intelligence from Mastercard’s Cyber Insights platform with organizational cyber health assessments from RiskRecon, a tool which allows companies to evaluate the level of security of their internet-facing assets. This also includes advanced threat intelligence from Recorded Future – acquired by Mastercard in December 2024 – which continuously analyzes data to identify emerging cyber threats and risk patterns.
With visibility across evolving threat activity and the practical impact on businesses and governments, the report translates cyber risk into insights that matter for operational resilience, economic continuity, and longterm trust in the digital economy.Global research underscores just how material cyber risk has become for businesses in our region. Analysis cited IBM cost of data breach report 2025 shows that the average cost of a data breach in the Middle East is nearly US$7.29 million per incident – 64% higher than the global average – reinforcing why cyber resilience today is firmly a leadership and board-level concern.The findings show that cybercrime across the region increased in early 2026 following a period of geopolitical instability, underscoring the need for organizations to move beyond awareness and towards sustained cyber readiness and resilience. The report also identifies that financially motivated and disruptive activity accounts for 71% of observed cybercrime across EEMEA, reinforcing the need for stronger cyber readiness across sectors. “Cyber resilience is synonymous with business resilience and operational wellbeing.
Our first Cyber Pulse report highlights the importance for organizations adopting a proactive and integrated approach to cybersecurity alongside consistent vigilance. At Mastercard, we are committed to empowering our partners and customers with the intelligence, tools, and expertise they need to navigate the complex cyber landscape, secure their digital assets, and build a more secure digital future for everyone who engages in the digital economy,” said Selin Bahadirli, Executive Vice President Services, EEMEA, Mastercard.
