In 2025, ransomware threats have evolved far beyond cloud and endpoint security. Today, attackers increasingly target firmware, BIOS, and processor microcode—the invisible yet essential layers of modern IT infrastructure. For security leaders across the Middle East, this expanded threat landscape demands a reevaluation of traditional risk management strategies, highlighting significant gaps in visibility and defence.
Innovation in the ransomware space hasn’t slowed; it has shifted. From cloud to firmware, threat actors are targeting deeper layers of infrastructure. The most recent evidence of this evolving threat is a proof-of-concept demonstrating ransomware being deployed directly onto a CPU.
A researcher has successfully deployed ransomware directly onto a computer’s central processing unit (CPU). Recent research showcased a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the feasibility of such an attack. Traditional ransomware attacks target software layers, but Beek’s approach involves altering the CPU’s microcode—the low-level instructions governing processor operations.
By modifying microcode, the ransomware can bypass conventional security measures, including antivirus programmes and operating system defences. This makes detection and removal exceedingly difficult. Infected systems might even require complete CPU replacement if the microcode cannot be cleared. Beek’s inspiration stemmed from a known vulnerability in AMD’s Zen processors, which, if exploited, allows unauthorised microcode loading. While Beek has no intention of releasing the ransomware publicly, his work underscores the potential risks posed by such vulnerabilities.
Experts warn that while this threat is currently theoretical, it highlights the need for heightened vigilance in hardware security. Malicious actors could eventually adopt similar methods. The possibility of ransomware operating below the OS layer presents a new frontier, one that today’s enterprise defences are rarely equipped to handle.
Hardware now in the crosshairs
No one should be shocked that ransomware would find its way onto CPUs. At Halcyon, we recently documented a ransomware attack leveraging native AWS tooling to encrypt exposed S3 buckets, highlighting how quickly theory becomes reality. So, if ransomware in the cloud surprised you, then ransomware baked into processor microcode shouldn’t.
This is to be expected when a multi-billion-dollar criminal industry is allowed to operate with near impunity. These threat actors aren’t amateurs; they’re organised, well-funded, and reinvesting their profits into R&D. They’ve got developers and analysts who could hold their own in any Fortune 500 security org. The same kind of talent behind this CPU ransomware proof-of-concept is already being paid handsomely by ransomware crews to push the envelope on new TTPs.
Ransomware is still, fundamentally, a low-tech, low-risk, high-reward game. You don’t need to exploit some exotic bug when sloppy configs or stolen creds will do. But when you can innovate, the returns are even greater. And right now, the ROI on ransomware is too good to ignore.
Across the Middle East, some organisations still rely on OS, or perimeter-level defences, leaving hardware-level innovations like this well outside their visibility. As threat actors professionalise, this detection gap becomes a liability.
A readiness gap emerges
Ransomware crews are hiring elite technical talent, developers and analysts. A 2025 CPX cybersecurity industry report highlights significant skills gaps in firmware forensics and microcode-level defence across Gulf organisations. Similarly, Gartner projects that information security spending in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will reach $3.3 billion by 2025, reflecting a 14% annual increase driven by digital transformation and expanding threats. That disparity, between attacker innovation and defender preparedness, will only grow.
In the UAE, ransomware attacks surged 32% year-on-year in 2024, underscoring just how quickly new tactics move from theory to threat. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, the ECC update issued in early 2025 signals growing awareness of hardware-level risk, though technical enforcement remains an evolving area.
There won’t be a slowdown until either; attacks are made unprofitable, or the risk of getting caught outweighs the reward. Visibility must extend beyond software and cloud infrastructure into the hardware that underpins them. A proof of concept today will quickly become tomorrow’s headline attack pathway. For organisations across the Middle East, the window to build visibility into firmware and hardware-level vulnerabilities is narrowing fast.
Despite recent updates to cybersecurity frameworks across the MENA region—including Saudi Arabia’s Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECC) and the UAE’s national cybersecurity standards—enforcement around firmware and processor-layer threats remains limited. Unless frameworks, talent pipelines, and detection capabilities evolve quickly, CPU-level ransomware threats could soon transition from theoretical risks into real-world breaches. Boards and CISOs across the Middle East must now assume these processor-layer exploits aren’t just possible; they’re increasingly inevitable.
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