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Raaga data breach exposes millions of user records

Raaga, a Chennai-based music streaming platform with a large global audience, has confirmed a significant data breach that led to the exposure of personal information linked to more than 10.2 million user accounts, triggering renewed scrutiny of data protection practices across consumer digital platforms. The company acknowledged that a database containing user details was unlawfully accessed and later advertised for sale on an underground hacking forum during […]

France calls G7 meeting to address US tariff standoff

France has moved to convene a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers this week as tensions escalate with the United States over proposed tariffs linked to a high-profile dispute about Greenland. Paris is spearheading coordinated Western efforts to address what it and other European capitals describe as coercive trade threats from Washington, and to explore collective avenues for diplomatic and economic response amidst deepening strain in […]

ESET Launches AI-Powered MDR Service in Singapore with Industry-Leading 6-Minute Response Time

AWS CodeBuild flaw exposes software supply chain risk

A critical security weakness in Amazon Web Services’ CodeBuild service left GitHub repositories vulnerable to hijacking, raising fresh concerns about the resilience of cloud-based development pipelines used by some of the world’s largest technology teams. The flaw, dubbed CodeBreach by security researchers, stemmed from a misconfigured webhook validation process that could be exploited to inject malicious code into trusted repositories. The issue centred on Amazon Web Services […]

Dubai curbs privacy tokens and reshapes stablecoin oversight

Dubai’s financial regulator will bar privacy-enhancing cryptoassets from operating inside its main international finance hub from January 12, 2026, sharpening the emirate’s stance on anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance while tightening how stablecoins can be issued and used. The decision by the Dubai Financial Services Authority applies within the Dubai International Financial Centre and prohibits regulated firms from trading, holding, promoting or facilitating privacy tokens and transaction-obfuscation […]

Instagram says password reset flaw has been resolved

Instagram moved to contain concerns over account security after confirming it had corrected a password reset flaw that cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes described as a breach, signalling a swift response as scrutiny of social media safety intensifies. The platform, owned by Meta Platforms, said the issue affecting its password recovery process had been fixed after being flagged by researchers at Malwarebytes, who warned that the vulnerability could have […]

Hooded Horse draws firm line against AI assets

Publisher Hooded Horse has imposed a blanket ban on the use of AI-generated assets across all games it releases, marking one of the clearest industry rejections of generative art tools at a time when many studios are experimenting with them. The policy applies to every stage of development and is written directly into publishing contracts, making compliance a legal as well as creative requirement. The stance was […]

Polymarket wager on Maduro ouster fuels scrutiny and regulation push

A prediction market investor banked more than $400,000 by wagering on the ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro shortly before U. S. forces captured him, thrusting opaque online betting platforms into the spotlight and renewing debate over insider trading and regulatory oversight. The anonymous trader placed significant bets on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market, in the days leading up to the dramatic U. S. intervention in Venezuela’s […]

Instagram user data leak raises alarm over privacy lapses

A large cache of personal information linked to 17.5 million Instagram accounts is being traded on dark web marketplaces, triggering renewed scrutiny of data protection practices at one of the world’s most widely used social media platforms. Cybersecurity researchers say the dataset, advertised by criminal brokers, contains usernames, email addresses, phone numbers and partial location details, information that could be exploited for identity theft, fraud and targeted […]

US lawmakers press app stores over X and Grok content risks

Pressure is mounting on Apple and Google after a group of United States senators urged the companies to remove the X and Grok apps from their app stores, citing what they described as disturbing failures in content safeguards that allowed the generation and amplification of harmful material. The appeal intensifies scrutiny of how major technology platforms police artificial intelligence tools distributed through mobile marketplaces that reach hundreds […]

EU orders X to preserve Grok files

Brussels has directed European Union regulators to compel X to retain internal records linked to its Grok chatbot through the end of 2026, widening a probe into allegations that the tool surfaced antisemitic material and generated non-consensual sexual content. The preservation order, issued under the bloc’s digital rules, is designed to prevent the loss or alteration of documents while investigators assess whether safeguards were adequate and whether […]

Malicious Chrome add-ons expose AI chats for 900,000 users

Hundreds of thousands of people using popular artificial-intelligence chat tools had private conversations silently harvested after installing seemingly harmless Google Chrome extensions, according to a security disclosure that has triggered takedowns and a broader review of extension safety. Researchers at OX Security said the add-ons were designed to blend into everyday browsing by offering productivity features while covertly extracting content from web pages where users interacted with […]

Integrity as Honour: A Relational Vision of Trust in Arab Culture

Integrity is often spoken of as though it were universal: one definition, one standard, one moral yardstick by which trust is measured everywhere. In reality, integrity is deeply shaped by culture. What one society considers faithfulness, another may experience as rigidity. What one views as flexibility, another may interpret as unreliability. These differences are not signs of moral deficiency; they are reflections of distinct histories, social structures, […]

U.S. intervention stirs global backlash and sovereignty pushback

World leaders have mounted robust diplomatic resistance against Washington’s unprecedented military operation that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face federal charges. Amid escalating rhetoric from President Donald Trump’s administration about extending U. S. influence beyond Venezuela, governments in Latin America, Europe and Asia have criticised what they view as a breach of international norms and a threat to national […]

Meta’s AI policy ignites privacy backlash

Meta’s plan to expand artificial intelligence across private messaging on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has triggered a wave of privacy concerns, as users, civil society groups and regulators question how conversational data will be used and protected under the company’s 2026 policy framework. The update, disclosed as part of Meta’s broader AI roadmap, allows automated systems to analyse interactions in private chats to refine content recommendations and […]

Punkt MC03 spotlights privacy-first smartphone ambitions

Punkt has entered the spotlight at CES 2026 with the launch of the MC03, a smartphone positioned as a deliberate counterpoint to data-intensive mobile ecosystems. The device, priced at $699 with an additional subscription for key services, places privacy, sustainability and intentional use at the centre of its proposition, targeting consumers increasingly uneasy about how personal data is harvested and monetised. Unveiled during the annual technology gathering in Las Vegas, the […]

Altman flags mental health and cyber risks in AI hiring push

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has publicly acknowledged the expanding impact of artificial intelligence on mental health and cybersecurity, signalling a shift in how one of the world’s most influential AI developers frames the social risks of its technology. The remarks came alongside an announcement that OpenAI is seeking a Head of Preparedness, a role designed to anticipate and mitigate potential harms as AI systems grow more […]

Bitfinex hacker credits Trump law for early release

Ilya Lichtenstein, the convict at the centre of one of the largest bitcoin thefts in history, has walked free from federal custody ahead of his full sentence, publicly attributing his early release to the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform law enacted in 2018 under President Donald Trump. Lichtenstein’s abrupt return to civilian life after serving about 14 months of a five-year term for laundering nearly […]

Coinbase links data breach to arrest in India

Coinbase has said a former customer-support agent has been arrested in India following an investigation into a security breach that exposed limited user data on the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, marking a significant step in efforts to trace accountability for one of the platform’s most closely watched incidents. The exchange said the individual, who had worked for a third-party support contractor, was taken into custody by law-enforcement authorities […]

ESA faces fresh breach as hackers tout stolen data

  European Space Agency officials are assessing the impact of another cyber intrusion after a criminal group claimed it is offering around 200 gigabytes of agency data for sale on underground forums, raising fresh questions about the resilience of public-sector space infrastructure to sustained digital threats. The alleged breach, disclosed by the attackers through dark-web postings and shared among cybersecurity monitoring firms, is described as involving internal […]

UK launches sweeping crypto tax enforcement regime

Britain has begun enforcing a far-reaching set of crypto tax disclosure rules, marking one of the most significant shifts in oversight of digital assets to date. From 1 January 2026, authorities started applying the OECD’s Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, a global regime designed to close gaps that allowed gains from crypto trading to fall outside conventional tax reporting. The new framework requires cryptoasset service providers operating in or […]

Meta takedown sharpens alarm over AI deepfake risks

A wave of AI-generated videos circulating on social platforms has drawn regulatory and public attention after Meta removed a cluster of manipulated clips tied to public discourse in India, underscoring the accelerating threat posed by deepfakes and the strain on existing cybersecurity defences. The action has reignited debate over platform accountability, election integrity, and the pace at which safeguards are keeping up with generative tools.

Meta said the videos breached its policies on manipulated media and deceptive practices, adding that enforcement teams had detected coordinated behaviour designed to amplify misleading narratives. The company did not detail the creators or precise reach, but independent analysts tracking social traffic reported that some clips had amassed hundreds of thousands of views before moderation. The removals came amid heightened scrutiny of AI-driven misinformation as synthetic video and audio tools become cheaper, faster and harder to spot.

Security specialists warn that the technical leap in realism has lowered the barrier for malicious actors. Diffusion models and voice-cloning systems can now produce convincing footage with minimal training data, enabling impersonation, fabricated statements and false evidence. The risk profile extends beyond politics to financial fraud, reputational attacks and social engineering. Banks and insurers have flagged a rise in scams that combine deepfake video calls with stolen personal data to bypass verification checks.

India’s digital ecosystem amplifies the challenge. With one of the world’s largest online populations and intense engagement on short-video platforms, manipulated content can travel rapidly across languages and regions. Fact-checking groups say the velocity of sharing often outpaces verification, while takedowns, even when swift, can struggle to contain copies and re-uploads. Researchers at leading institutes have documented how watermark removal, compression artefacts and cross-platform reposting degrade detection signals.

Government authorities have been pressing technology companies to strengthen guardrails. Draft rules under the Information Technology framework emphasise due diligence for intermediaries, traceability of originators in defined cases, and clearer disclosures for synthetic media. Officials have also signalled expectations for labelling AI-generated content and responding promptly to lawful takedown requests, while balancing free expression and privacy. Industry groups argue that clarity on standards and timelines is essential to avoid uneven enforcement.

Meta has highlighted investments in detection and transparency, including classifiers trained to identify AI artefacts, partnerships with academic labs, and labels applied when confidence thresholds are met. The company also points to cross-platform threat sharing through industry forums to flag emerging manipulation techniques. Critics counter that adversarial innovation is moving faster than defensive models and that labels can be stripped or ignored, especially when content is shared outside original platforms.

Election experts say the stakes are rising as campaigns increasingly rely on video to reach voters. Even short-lived false clips can shape perceptions, sow doubt or distract from substantive debate. Studies of prior electoral cycles show that corrections often fail to reach the same audiences as the initial misinformation, leaving residual effects. Civil society organisations have urged a layered response that combines platform enforcement, rapid response hotlines, and public education on media literacy.

Cybersecurity firms are adapting with multi-signal approaches that fuse video forensics, network analysis and behavioural cues. Techniques include analysing eye-blink patterns, head-pose consistency, acoustic fingerprints and temporal anomalies, alongside monitoring coordinated posting patterns. Yet experts caution that no single method is foolproof. As generative systems learn to mimic these signals, defenders must iterate continuously, increasing costs for both sides.

The economic dimension is also coming into focus. Advertising clients are wary of brand adjacency to manipulated content, prompting demands for stronger brand-safety assurances. Meanwhile, startups offering verification, provenance tracking and content authentication are attracting investment. Standards bodies are promoting cryptographic provenance frameworks that embed origin metadata at creation, though adoption remains uneven across devices and platforms.

Precious metals surge as markets chase safety

Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Gold, silver and platinum prices pushed to record levels at the close of the year, extending a powerful rally driven by geopolitical strains, a softer US dollar and thin trading conditions that magnified price swings across commodities markets. Spot gold climbed as much as 1.6% on Friday to trade above $4,540 an ounce, a level unseen before, while spot silver for immediate delivery […]

Trust Wallet users hit by $7 million Chrome hack

Thousands of users of Trust Wallet suffered losses estimated at about $7 million after a malicious browser extension masquerading as the official Trust Wallet add-on circulated on Google Chrome’s extension store, prompting renewed scrutiny of security gaps in decentralised finance tools and browser marketplaces. The attack centred on a fake extension designed to mimic Trust Wallet’s legitimate Chrome interface. Once installed, the malicious software harvested private keys […]