For thousands of years, armies have tried to weaken their enemies by destroying the systems that keep societies running. In ancient wars, attackers poisoned wells or destroyed food supplies. Later conflicts targeted bridges, railways and industrial factories. In modern warfare, oil refineries, power plants and airports have become common strategic targets.
Today, another type of infrastructure is joining that list. In the escalating tensions across the Middle East, data centers become strategic targets in the Middle East conflict, reflecting how digital systems now underpin national security, economic stability and military operations.
Recent drone strikes have damaged three facilities operated by Amazon in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. At the same time, joint strikes by Israel and the United States reportedly hit at least two data centers in Tehran, according to the nonprofit monitoring group Holistic Resilience. One of the targeted facilities was allegedly linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
These incidents illustrate a new phase of modern conflict, where digital infrastructure is no longer considered neutral commercial territory but part of the strategic battlefield.
Daniel Efrati, chief executive officer of NED Data Centers, says attacks on such facilities could have far-reaching consequences beyond the immediate military objectives.
According to Efrati, disabling a data center can quickly disrupt the daily operations of entire nations. Banks, government services and critical industries rely heavily on cloud computing systems. Even a brief interruption can cause massive financial losses.
“If you have one minute of downtime, it can cost any organization millions,” he said.
The growing importance of cloud computing explains why data centers become strategic targets in the Middle East conflict. Server farms that store and process vast amounts of information are now essential to both civilian life and military planning.
Modern defense systems increasingly rely on artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure. Surveillance networks, drone navigation systems and real-time analysis of satellite images all depend on powerful computing platforms. The same technology used by businesses and governments to manage data is also integrated into military decision-making systems.
This trend has been visible in other recent conflicts. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, cyber infrastructure and data networks have repeatedly come under attack. Digital systems are now widely viewed as essential strategic assets.
Henry Sutton, founder of the Gulf Data Centre Association, believes such facilities are increasingly vulnerable.
“Data centers are a natural target,” Sutton said, noting that they sit at the center of modern communication networks and economic activity.
The Persian Gulf region has become one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for cloud computing. Major technology companies have invested heavily in the area in recent years, drawn by abundant energy resources, favorable regulations and large-scale development opportunities.
Companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft have expanded their digital infrastructure across the region, often working in partnership with local operators. However, these partnerships can sometimes make it difficult to determine which facilities are directly linked to American technology companies.
Research firm DC Byte estimates that around 230 data centers are currently built or under development across several Arab countries bordering the Persian Gulf. Yet only a small portion of those facilities are fully owned and operated by US technology giants.
Among those few directly controlled by American companies are the three centers reportedly damaged in recent attacks.
Analysts say it remains unclear whether the targeted facilities were directly involved in military operations. However, the links between major cloud providers and government institutions have drawn increasing scrutiny.
Amazon and Google, for example, signed a contract worth approximately $1.2 billion with the Israeli government to provide cloud services and artificial intelligence technology to various agencies, including the Israel Defense Forces.
Ed Galvin, founder of DC Byte, believes that connection may have influenced the choice of targets.
He suggested that facilities linked to Amazon’s cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, may be easier to identify compared with other digital services that operate inside facilities owned by local data center companies.
“It would be easier to target AWS,” Galvin said, referring to Amazon’s global cloud infrastructure network.
Despite the visibility of US technology companies, they are not the largest operators in the Gulf region.
That distinction belongs to Khazna Data Centers, a company established by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company. Khazna works closely with Microsoft to provide cloud infrastructure across the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications sector has also expanded rapidly into the data center business. Center3, a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company, has developed a significant portion of the kingdom’s digital infrastructure.
Many international cloud providers rely on such regional partners. Instead of building their own facilities, they often rent computing capacity from local operators to deliver cloud services to businesses and governments across the Middle East.
However, some of those partnerships may create new risks. Several technology companies maintain contracts with the US military, which could draw additional attention to the infrastructure supporting their services.
Representatives of Microsoft and Google declined to comment on the reported attacks. Amazon also did not provide direct remarks about the drone strikes.
The company has, however, advised customers to activate contingency plans in case regional disruptions affect cloud services.
In a statement, Amazon recommended that organizations “enact their disaster recovery plans, recover from remote backups stored in other regions, and update their applications” to protect their data.
The possibility that multiple data centers could be attacked simultaneously during wartime is forcing companies to reconsider their security strategies.
Traditionally, protecting data centers has focused primarily on cybersecurity threats and preventing unauthorized access. Facilities are usually designed to defend against hackers, power failures or physical intrusion.
They are rarely built to withstand missiles, drones or large-scale military strikes.
Most cloud networks are designed with redundancy systems that allow computing workloads to be transferred between multiple locations. If one data center fails, the system can often redirect traffic to another facility.
However, large-scale attacks targeting several locations at once could strain those safeguards.
Insurance costs represent another growing concern. If data centers become strategic targets in the Middle East conflict, insurance providers may raise premiums for facilities operating in regions exposed to military risks.
Security expenses could also increase as operators consider stronger protective measures. These might include reinforced buildings, restricted airspace zones or even military-grade defense systems.
The implications extend beyond immediate security concerns. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have ambitious plans to transform themselves into global hubs for artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Large investments have been directed toward building data center campuses, attracting technology companies and expanding digital infrastructure.
But ongoing regional instability could slow those efforts if investors begin to see digital facilities as potential wartime targets.
Noah Sylvia, an analyst at the UK defense think tank Royal United Services Institute, said the visibility of such infrastructure makes it difficult to conceal.
“You can’t hide data centers,” Sylvia said.
However, he noted that governments and companies still have options to protect them.
“You can put air defense systems on them.”
As digital infrastructure becomes increasingly central to national security, the role of cloud computing in global conflicts is likely to grow. The emergence of data center attacks suggests that future wars may be fought not only across land, sea and air, but also through the networks that power the digital world.
