International Holding Company, the Abu Dhabi-based investment conglomerate known as IHC, has posted full-year 2025 revenue of AED111.4 billion, a rise of 29.1 per cent from a year earlier, while profit after tax climbed 35.1 per cent to AED34.7 billion, reflecting what the group described as disciplined execution and tighter cost management across its expanding portfolio. The audited results mark another year of strong expansion for […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Supy, the Dubai-based provider of AI-driven inventory management, procurement and business intelligence software for multi-branch restaurant operators, has reported that its revenue more than tripled in 2025 as demand for data-powered back-of-house technology accelerates across the Middle East and beyond. The company, founded in 2021 and now operating in over 30 countries, described the performance as reflecting strong uptake of cloud-based restaurant systems […]
Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company has unveiled plans to establish Judan Financial Holding, an artificial intelligence-enabled global financial services platform expected to oversee more than AED 870 billion in assets under management, marking one of the most ambitious consolidation moves in the Gulf’s financial sector. The proposed entity will bring together financial services assets held by IHC, Alpha Dhabi, 2PointZero Group and Sirius International Holding, spanning banking, […]
China has unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered vehicle inspection system capable of scanning more than 1,000 functions within three hours, a move officials say could reshape quality control standards across the automotive sector and accelerate the country’s push towards smart manufacturing. Developed as part of a broader national drive to integrate advanced computing into industrial processes, the system combines machine vision, real-time diagnostics and automated performance testing to […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi Arabia is accelerating a transformation of Mecca’s property market, opening parts of the holy city to foreign investment as lower oil prices strain state finances and flagship mega projects such as Neom undergo recalibration. Cranes line new promenades leading towards the Grand Mosque, where swathes of older neighbourhoods have been cleared to make way for high-rise hotels and mixed-use towers designed to […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai AD Ports Group has reported a sharp rise in revenue and profit for the year ended 31 December 2025, underlining the resilience of Abu Dhabi’s maritime and logistics sector amid shifting global trade patterns. Preliminary unaudited results released on Friday show revenue climbed 20 per cent year on year to AED20.8 billion, while net profit rose 17 per cent to AED2.1 billion. Earnings […]
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have been thrust into a privacy storm after two Harvard students demonstrated how the device can be modified to identify strangers in real time and pull up personal information, raising fresh concerns about how wearable technology intersects with facial recognition. The students, who detailed their experiment publicly, created a system they called I-XRAY, linking Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses to facial recognition software and […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Orient Insurance posted a net profit of AED 836 million for 2025, marking a 14.4 per cent rise from the previous year, as the Dubai-based insurer strengthened underwriting performance and investment income amid steady demand across the UAE and Gulf markets. The company, part of the Al-Futtaim Group, said its annual financial results reflected disciplined risk management, prudent reserving and a diversified portfolio […]
Khaleeji Bank has rolled out a Ramadan promotional campaign across six major shopping malls in Bahrain, aiming to deepen customer engagement and reinforce its retail banking footprint during one of the Kingdom’s busiest commercial seasons. The Islamic lender said the initiative, branded “Spin & Win”, will run throughout the holy month and offers visitors the chance to participate in an interactive draw featuring a range of prizes. […]
Siemens has completed the purchase of Canopus AI, a Grenoble-based specialist in artificial intelligence-driven metrology and inspection software, signalling an intensified push into semiconductor manufacturing software as device geometries shrink and production volumes grow. The acquisition, announced on 4 February and finalised on 12 January, brings AI-enhanced wafer and mask measurement capabilities into Siemens’ electronic design automation portfolio, aimed at helping chipmakers achieve higher precision and manufacturing […]
Solana’s blockchain has recorded a dramatic expansion in payment activity, with on-chain volumes rising 755 per cent year on year even as the token’s market price struggles to mirror that growth. Data compiled by blockchain analytics firms show total payments processed on the network exceeding $1.8 billion, while business-to-business transactions have climbed ninefold over a 16-month period to about $3.84 billion. The figures place Solana among the […]
XRP is back at the centre of market attention as Ripple’s chief executive takes on an advisory role in Washington, fuelling speculation that a clearer regulatory path for digital assets could reshape the token’s prospects even as exchange-traded products tracking it post their first net outflows in weeks. The digital token, closely associated with Ripple Labs, has seen volatile trading through February, hovering below its late-2024 highs […]
Elon Musk’s social network X is advancing plans to embed cryptocurrency and stock trading features directly into users’ timelines as part of a broader push to transform the platform into a financial ecosystem. Executives at the company have signalled that a limited external beta of its integrated financial services, known as X Money, is anticipated within weeks, marking a major milestone in Musk’s vision of merging social […]
A coalition of major Hollywood studios and industry bodies has accused ByteDance of exploiting copyrighted film and television material to train its artificial intelligence video tools without permission, intensifying a widening legal confrontation between the entertainment sector and generative AI developers. The dispute centres on ByteDance’s fast-evolving video generation systems, integrated into platforms linked to TikTok and its editing suite CapCut, which allow users to create cinematic […]
Truth Social Funds, the investment arm linked to Trump Media & Technology Group, has filed registration statements with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission for two exchange-traded funds focused on major cryptocurrency assets. The proposed products, if approved, would give investors exposure to Bitcoin and Ether in one fund and to Cronos in a second fund that also seeks to generate yield through network staking rewards. […]
Blackstone’s private equity fund tailored for wealthy investors registered a hefty net 20 per cent return last year, propelled by strategic investments tied to artificial intelligence platforms and infrastructure, according to financial industry figures. The performance marks one of the strongest showings across alternative asset strategies targeting individual high-net-worth portfolios amid a broader industry push to deliver private markets access beyond institutional clients. The Blackstone Private Equity […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government convened policymakers, academics and technology leaders in Dubai to examine how governments can prepare societies for the rapid workforce shifts driven by artificial intelligence, positioning the emirate at the centre of a wider regional debate on skills, productivity and social stability. The dialogue, held at the school’s headquarters, served as an official pre-summit event for the AI […]
Businessman and television personality Kevin O’Leary has been awarded $2.8 million in a federal defamation lawsuit against prominent crypto influencer Ben “BitBoy” Armstrong after a judge handed down a default judgment against the defendant for failing to mount a substantive defence. The ruling by a US District Court judge in Florida came after Armstrong published a series of false and defamatory claims online that accused O’Leary of […]
Bitcoin surged past 69,000 dollars on major exchanges on Tuesday, regaining a price level that has carried both symbolic and technical weight since the previous market cycle. The move marks a rebound from a bout of volatility that had pulled the world’s largest cryptocurrency below key support zones earlier this quarter, drawing renewed attention from institutional investors and retail traders alike. Data from leading trading platforms […]
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 13 February 2026 – As cyberattacks grow increasingly complex, cybersecurity has become a critical domain of global concern and a talent shortage. According to the latest “Hong Kong Cybersecurity Outlook 2026” released by the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) under the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), nearly 30% of the 622 surveyed enterprises still lack dedicated cybersecurity staff. Specifically, only 26% of SMEs have a dedicated cybersecurity role, significantly lower than the 59% of large enterprises, reflecting a gap in resource allocation and technology adoption among SMEs.
To cultivate practical talent for the cybersecurity sector, the sixth “HKCERT Capture The Flag Challenge 2025” (HKCERT CTF Challenge) was successfully organised by the Digital Policy Office (DPO), HKPC, and HKCERT. This year’s competition was elevated to the first-ever adoption of an attack–defence mode, closely replicating the network setup of real enterprises. Participants experienced first-hand hacking techniques, system vulnerability analysis, threat intelligence gathering, and coordinated response in a simulated real-world environment. Through completing multiple tasks within a limited time, the competition also allowed them to break through the traditional classroom theoretical framework, gain practical experience and build confidence. The event attracted around 1,940 young contestants, an increase of nearly 40% from last year’s 1,385 participants, reaching a record high for the competition. Contestants included teams from Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, Asia, and Europe, fostering cross-regional exchange and collaboration. In the finals, three local teams and one overseas team were awarded gold prizes in the Secondary School, Tertiary Institution, Open Category, and International Category respectively, while Sing Yin Secondary School received the “Best School Award”. The full list of awardees is available on the event website.
Participants Share Practical Experience Integrating AI into Attack and Defence
The competition was well received by contestants for its innovative format and realistic offensive and defensive environment, offering a valuable platform for learning and exchange. The winning team in the International Category, W&M, commented, “Our members are from Shanxi, Guangdong and Beijing. This was our first time competing together in the HKCERT CTF Challenge. The atmosphere and experience of the finals were excellent. The tasks were centred on an attack‑defence simulation, requiring us to find all vulnerabilities while patching our own systems and attacking other teams at the same time. Some vulnerabilities were discovered and exploited by other teams first, which kept the scores very close and made the competition incredibly tense and exciting”.
They added, “During the competition, we also applied lots of AI techniques for assistance, such as applying AI to analyse vulnerabilities and refine attack methods. In the future, AI may play a deeper role in areas like vulnerability detection and code analysis, but for now it cannot be fully relied upon—human oversight is still essential”.
HKCERT CTF Challenge has now been held for six consecutive years, with its scale expanding annually and participants showing continuous growth. Many secondary school students gain their first hands‑on exposure to cybersecurity through the competition and connect with university mentors, helping them shape their academic and career paths. Several past participants have gone on to compete in local and international events, committing to a future in the cybersecurity field. Beyond attracting overseas talent to exchange ideas in Hong Kong, HKCERT continues to build connections between cybersecurity professionals in Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland. Top‑performing teams can gain direct entry into equivalent finals in Chinese Mainland. For example, participants from the previous HKCERT CTF Challenge 2024 advanced directly to the finals of the “Greater Bay Area Cup Cybersecurity Challenge”, where they secured the top four places in the Hong Kong and Macao category. This also provided local contestants with access to world‑class cybersecurity techniques, effectively promoting cross‑regional elite collaboration and talent development.
Finals Format Upgraded: Attack-Defence Mode Mirrors Real Enterprise Operations
The finals were comprehensively upgraded this year. In addition to increase the overall technical difficulty, the competition introduced an attack‑defence format for the first time that closely mirrors real enterprise cybersecurity operations. Teams played dual roles—both attackers and defenders—in an environment created with reference to the real-world systems. The tasks simulated incident response and live attack-defence scenarios commonly encountered in the cybersecurity field. Within a limited timeframe, participants had to do penetration testing, exploit vulnerabilities and attack, while patching their own systems and monitoring threats in real time against attacks from other teams. This parallel attack‑defence setup reflects actual workflow patterns in the industry, effectively training participants’ analytical abilities and adaptability under pressure. Through hands‑on practice in a likely enterprise environment, contestants developed multifaceted, industry‑aligned capabilities—laying a solid foundation for their future careers in cybersecurity.
Ms Candy CHAN, Assistant Commissioner (Project Governance and Cybersecurity) of the DPO, highlighted the DPO’s commitment to enhancing Hong Kong’s cyber resilience, with one of its key initiatives being the nurturing of the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. She emphasised that the DPO has been collaborating closely with academia and industry partners to foster a robust talent pipeline and build a safer digital environment in Hong Kong. She noted that this year marks the sixth edition of the HKCERT CTF Challenge, which has grown into one of Hong Kong’s most respected and anticipated cybersecurity competitions over the years. Beyond being a contest of technical prowess, the Challenge serves as a dynamic platform for networking, knowledge exchange and community building among the new generation of cybersecurity experts.
Ir Samson SUEN, General Manager of Digital Trust and Transformation Division of HKPC, stated, “HKCERT CTF Challenge has consistently aimed to build an international platform for technical exchange. Through high-intensity simulated contests, we enhance participants’ cyber defence skills and promote cross-regional interaction among emerging cybersecurity talents. This cultivates a new generation of globally competitive professionals in Hong Kong and strengthens the local talent pipeline. This year’s finals first introduced a simulation of real-world cybersecurity operations, enabling teams to experience both offensive and defensive roles in a recent cybersecurity team. This hands-on approach is crucial for developing practical skills and incident response capabilities”.
Fostering Cybersecurity Awareness Across All Sectors of Society
To further enhance cybersecurity awareness across the community, HKCERT has partnered with the DPO and the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of The Hong Kong Police Force, to launch the “Building a Secure Cyberspace 2026” campaign to promote cybersecurity awareness. The initiative includes various educational activities, such as an “AI-Generated Four-Panel Comic”contest, which encourages the public to make good use of AI tools while strengthening their understanding of cybersecurity. At the corporate governance level, HKCERT will publish a series of practical guidelines addressing emerging risks —such as AI applications and supply chain security—highlighted in the “Hong Kong Cybersecurity Outlook 2026”, to support business in establishing a robust protection framework. In particular for AI governance, the guidelines will offer actionable recommendations covering AI system security assessments, compliance rules for employees using public AI platforms, controls over sensitive data input, and methods for monitoring and defending against AI‑assisted attacks. These resources aim to help enterprises systematically enhance their cyber resilience across governance, technology, and awareness.
As Hong Kong accelerates the development of innovation and technology and advances its digital economy, strengthening cyber defence capabilities has become a key talent need. HKCERT will continue to support businesses and the public through incident response, security guidance, and cybersecurity awareness programmes. The HKCERT CTF Challenge continues to play a vital role in nurturing local talent, fostering cross-regional collaboration, and advancing public education. By enhancing the overall level of protection, the competition contributes to the sustainable development of the digital economy and reinforces Hong Kong’s long‑term competitiveness.
The seventh edition of HKCERT CTF Challenge will be held in November 2026, featuring more innovative attack-defence challenges and continuing to set up an international category to provide local contestants with a platform for technical exchange with top teams from Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, and overseas. Registration opens in September 2026, with finalists competing in the live finals in February 2027.
Hashtag: #HKCERT
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The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) is a statutory body established in 1967, dedicated to enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of Hong Kong enterprises through world-class applied R&D, innovative technology services, and integrated manufacturing solutions. As a market-oriented, international R&D organisation, HKPC leverages its deep expertise and extensive industry experience in key areas such as AI, advanced manufacturing, life and health technology, green technology and new energy to drive new industrialisation and support the growth of emerging and future industries.
HKPC focuses on addressing businesses challenges and industrial technology needs, promoting the full integration between technological and industrial innovation. Through technology transfer, product innovation, intellectual property protection and commercialisation of R&D outcomes, the Council fosters collaboration with the local business community as well as top global R&D institutions, delivering added value to industries and advancing the development of new productive forces. HKPC’s world-class R&D achievements have been widely recognised over the years, winning an array of local and overseas accolades, reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as an international innovation and technology centre and a smart city.
To help enterprises capitalise on Hong Kong’s strengths in international connectivity to expand into global markets, HKPC offers comprehensive overseas expansion services tailored to critical areas including product development, technology, manufacturing, and management, enabling businesses to successfully go global from Hong Kong.
HKPC is also committed to providing timely and practical support to SMEs and startups with timely and practical , assisting them in accessing Government funding programmes. Through its FutureSkills training initiatives, HKPC helps both industry and academia stay ahead in latest digital and STEM technologies, nurturing a future-ready talent pool for Hong Kong.
For more information, please visit HKPC’s website: 
www.hkpc.org/en.
Berlin is tightening controls on its defence sector as it expands military spending and confronts strategic risks posed by deep economic ties with China and reliance on foreign suppliers, especially from the United States. The federal government’s action reflects growing anxiety that Germany’s defence companies, including key suppliers and manufacturers, could be exposed to undue influence or supply chain disruptions if anchored too closely to geopolitical rivals. […]
Investigators allege Lodha, appointed to the company board in 2015 with authority limited to land acquisitions, abused his position by orchestrating a complex web of unauthorised transactions that siphoned funds and assets from the developer. The Enforcement Directorate’s case stems from a cheating and forgery complaint filed with Mumbai police under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which provided the predicate offence for the money-laundering inquiry.
The probe suggests that Lodha, in collusion with his son Sahil and several associates, manipulated company land and transferable development rights through shell entities and front companies. One scheme of alleged manipulation involved purchasing parcels of land through intermediaries and later reselling them to the company at inflated prices, creating financial losses estimated at more than Rs 85 crore.
Investigators also outline the use of fabricated memoranda of understanding to designate false possession holders, enabling the accused to divert company funds under the guise of legitimate land transactions. In one instance cited by authorities, a 4,150-square-metre plot in Panvel was reportedly sold to an entity linked to Lodha for a fraction of its market value, resulting in a direct loss of around Rs 9.5 crore to the developer.
The Enforcement Directorate’s action follows months of coordinated inquiry involving searches and forensic analysis. Teams previously executed search operations at multiple locations across Mumbai and the wider metropolitan region to trace the alleged proceeds of crime and associated assets. These raids, conducted in the latter part of last year, targeted residential and business premises of individuals connected to the case as well as intermediary firms suspected of facilitating fraudulent transfers.
Law enforcement documents indicate that the probe has unearthed evidence of cash withdrawals, benami transactions, and the misuse of corporate resources for private benefit, augmenting the central agency’s view that the alleged laundering extended beyond routine bookkeeping irregularities. Officials have emphasised that the investigation remains active, with further custodial interrogation intended to identify additional participants and recover assets linked to the alleged illicit gains.
The case traces its origins to a complaint lodged by Lodha Developers — which has since evolved into one of India’s largest property firms — after its internal audits flagged a series of suspicious transactions that could not be readily explained through normal corporate activity. Following the filing of the police complaint in 2025, the Crime Branch initiated its own investigation under charges including fraud, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy, leading to the initial detention of Lodha and others.
Statements obtained by police during the early stages of the inquiry, including witness accounts, have been cited as instrumental in mapping the pattern of alleged diversion of funds. One individual who worked in Lodha’s employ reportedly provided details of large cash movements, while digital evidence extracted from electronic devices is said to have helped establish links between the transactions and the accused associates.
Industry observers noted that the unfolding of events has prompted renewed scrutiny of governance and oversight mechanisms within major real estate developers. Corporate governance experts point out that the case underscores the importance of transparent land acquisition processes and robust checks on executive authority to safeguard shareholder interests. While Lodha Developers has not publicly commented on the specifics of the case, companies facing internal fraud investigations often review compliance systems to reassure investors and regulatory bodies.
Nexon Co., Ltd. reported revenue of $3.1 billion for 2025, a 6.5 per cent increase on the previous year, marking its third consecutive year of record-breaking sales as strong performance from key titles, including the much-anticipated Arc Raiders, bolstered earnings. The Tokyo-listed gaming group said operating income also rose year on year, supported by sustained engagement across its core franchises and improved monetisation in overseas markets. Management […]
Russia has moved to block WhatsApp across its territory, citing alleged breaches of domestic legislation, in a decision that signals a sharper turn towards state-aligned digital platforms and tighter control over online communications. Telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor said access to the Meta-owned messaging service had been restricted following what officials described as repeated failures to comply with data localisation and content moderation rules. The regulator argued that foreign […]
