Connecting the Unconnected: Huawei & ITU Collaborate for a third Smarter Village, More Connected Swabi

Connecting the Unconnected: Huawei & ITU Collaborate for a third Smarter Village, More Connected Swabi

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

After the successful launches and implementation of two smart villages in Gokina and Sambrial, The Ministry of IT and Telecommunication (MOITT), in collaboration with Huawei Technologies and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), inaugurated the much-anticipated third Smart Village Swabi today. The Smart Village Pakistan initiative is designed to digitally transform rural and remote communities across…

North Korea behind $1.5 bln crypto theft, says FBI

North Korea behind $1.5 bln crypto theft, says FBI

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday accused North Korea of being behind the theft of $1.5 billion worth of digital assets last week, the largest crypto heist in history. “(North Korea) was responsible for the theft of approximately $1.5 billion USD in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit,” the FBI said in a public…

US could cut Ukraine’s access to Starlink internet services over minerals: Sources

US could cut Ukraine’s access to Starlink internet services over minerals: Sources

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

US negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Ukraine’s continued access to SpaceX-owned Starlink was brought up in discussions between US and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Volodymyr…

Sensitive DeepSeek data exposed to web: Cyber firm

Sensitive DeepSeek data exposed to web: Cyber firm

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

New York-based cybersecurity firm Wiz says it has found a trove of sensitive data from the Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek inadvertently exposed to the open internet. In a blog post published Wednesday, Wiz said that scans of DeepSeek’s infrastructure showed that the company had accidentally left more than a million lines of data available unsecured. Those…

US grounds SpaceX’s Starship after fiery mid-air explosion

US grounds SpaceX’s Starship after fiery mid-air explosion

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

The United States on Friday grounded SpaceX’s Starship and ordered Elon Musk’s company to investigate why the spaceship spectacularly disintegrated in a c over the Caribbean during its latest test mission. Authorities in the Turks and Caicos Islands confirmed they diverted all flights from their airspace during the incident and urged residents not to touch fallen debris,…

Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan government averaged 2.4 million a day in 2024, report says

Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan government averaged 2.4 million a day in 2024, report says

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

Cyberattacks on Taiwan government departments doubled in 2024 from the previous year to an average of 2.4 million attacks a day, the island’s National Security Bureau said, adding most of them were launched by Chinese cyber forces. Taiwan has in recent years complained about what it sees as China’s “grey-zone harassment” – from daily military…

Justice Department urges Supreme Court to reject Trump request to delay TikTok ban law

Justice Department urges Supreme Court to reject Trump request to delay TikTok ban law

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

The US Department of Justice DOJ asked the Supreme Court late on Friday to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay implementation of a law that would ban popular social media app TikTok or force its sale by Jan. 19. Last week, Trump filed a legal brief arguing he should have time after taking office on Jan….

China slams US over potential Chinese drone ban

China slams US over potential Chinese drone ban

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

China said on Friday it would take “all necessary measures” in response to the United States announcing it was considering restrictions on commercial Chinese drones for national security reasons. On Thursday, the United States Commerce Department said it was considering new rules to address risks posed by drones made with technology from foreign adversaries such…

US treasury says its workstations hacked in cyberattack by China

US treasury says its workstations hacked in cyberattack by China

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

The US Treasury Department said Monday that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach resulting in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP. The incident happened earlier this month, when the actor compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the Treasury workstations…

Trump asks Supreme Court to pause law that could ban TikTok

Trump asks Supreme Court to pause law that could ban TikTok

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

President-elect Donald Trump has urged the US Supreme Court to pause implementation of a law that would ban popular social media app TikTok or force its sale, arguing he should have time after taking office to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. The court is set to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 10. The law would require…

Finland investigates outage of undersea power link to Estonia, Finnish PM says

Finland investigates outage of undersea power link to Estonia, Finnish PM says

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said on Wednesday authorities in his country were investigating an undersea power cable outage on a line connecting Finland and Estonia. An unplanned break in service on the Estlink 2 interconnector occurred at 1026 GMT, operator Fingrid said in a statement on the Nordpool regulatory web site, reducing its available…

TikTok turns to US Supreme Court in last-ditch bid to avert ban

TikTok turns to US Supreme Court in last-ditch bid to avert ban

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

TikTok made a last-ditch effort on Monday to continue operating in the United States, asking the Supreme Court to temporarily block a law intended to force ByteDance, its China-based parent company, to divest the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban. TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency request to the justices for an…

Trump muses about drones, wars and TikTok in first news conference as president-elect

Trump muses about drones, wars and TikTok in first news conference as president-elect

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

In his first news conference since his election victory six weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump covered the Ukraine war, mysterious drones flying over New Jersey, the future of TikTok and lawsuits aimed at the media he often loves to hate. Trump displayed the loquaciousness and bravado of his 2017-2021 White House years as he held court in…

Trump taps Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes to lead intelligence board

Trump taps Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes to lead intelligence board

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named ally Devin Nunes, a former US lawmaker who now runs Trump’s Truth Social social media platform, to serve as chairman of President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. Nunes, a longtime Trump defender who led the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee during part of Trump’s first White House term, will…

US court rejects TikTok request to temporarily halt pending US ban

US court rejects TikTok request to temporarily halt pending US ban

ByFarhan Hameed Qaiser

A US appeals court on Friday rejected an emergency bid by TikTok to temporarily block a law that would require its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban on the app. TikTok and ByteDance on Monday filed the emergency motion with the US Court of Appeals for the District of…