DUBAI: Experts at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity on Tuesday discussed how global cyber defenders are attempting to outsmart cyber criminals by using financial and psychological strategies to anticipate and disrupt attacks before they occur.
The session, titled “Inside the Cyber Criminal Mind,” examined how breakthroughs in 2025 have been achieved through innovative cross sector cooperation, and how these lessons could shape stronger cyber defenses in 2026.
Max Smeets, co-director of Virtual Routes, noted that the line between digital vulnerability and reputational damage is increasingly blurred as cyberattacks evolve.
“Attackers can accelerate access and get into one’s files — what can one do? Do you pay them a ransom to make them go away or refuse to pay and try to get a back up of your files?” he asked the audience.
He described how victims often face a cascade of scenarios following an attack.
“You have leaks and exposure on social media and news,” he said. “Do you start to focus your efforts on IT security or put your resources into your own reputation with a crisis communications team and own the narrative about your leaked incident?”
Smeets said that while cybercrime remains severely underreported, shame and uncertainty are major barriers to disclosure.
“One of the elements is shame, but secondly, one doesn’t immediately know where to go,” he said.
A leading expert in cyber conflict and security, Smeets added that scammers have become increasingly skilled at manipulating human psychology.
“Scammers have to be very good in getting your trust and have the ability to position themselves and they’re learning from each other.”
Global cybercrime has surged in 2025, with damages projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually — making cybercrime the world’s third-largest economy behind the US and China, according to market research company Cybersecurity Ventures.
Ransomware, phishing, financial fraud, and distributed denial-of-service attacks remain prevalent, with government, energy, healthcare, and telecom sectors being prime targets.
The Middle East and North Africa region has also been hit particularly hard.
According to the MENA Cyber Summit 2025 report, the region saw a 183 percent year-on-year increase in DDoS attacks in Q1 2024, triggered by escalating geopolitical conflicts and hacktivism.
The average cost per breach reached $8.05 million — nearly double the global average.
Neal Jetton, who leads the INTERPOL Global Cybercrime Programme, emphasized the critical role of early reporting and international cooperation to prevent attacks.
“I’ve had individuals and businesses reach out to me as victims of data breach and ransom, and the first question I always ask is: which law enforcement agency have you reached out to?” he said. “There’s so much importance in reporting.”
Jetton noted that cybercrime investigations are often hampered by limited resources.
“Cybercrime is tough to investigate, it requires a lot of tools and resources which a lot of countries cannot afford, so INTERPOL steps in to help at times,” he said.
He described a recent multinational operation that brought together experts from across the world to focus on victims, both individuals and businesses.
“We’re bringing countries together, and we went after a whole suite of cybercrime and had over 1,200 arrests of people involved in malicious malware,” he said.
Jetton said the effort succeeded because it prioritized empowerment, strategy, investigation, and prevention.
“Now we will be looking at how to combat phishing and image based sexual abuse and how to stop the industrialization of cybercrime,” he added.
Despite the scale of the threat, both experts agreed there are reasons for optimism.
“It isn’t all doom and gloom,” Smeets said, highlighting how ongoing collaborations are starting to yield real solutions.
“We are getting concrete answers on how to solve such problems effectively. We are cooperating, spreading awareness, there is hope.”
The discussion took place on the second day of the AMGFCC being held in Dubai, where cybersecurity and resilience are among the key themes shaping the global agenda.
