France, Ukraine
French court hands prison sentence to former Parrot consultant in Ukraine

The former consultant of the French drone maker was given a four-month prison sentence and a further 20-month suspended sentence for threats and attempted extortion targeting company employees.

France, United States
US 'diplomat' bungles French Russia expert's 'bump'

The US embassy has taken an interest in certain French specialists in Russian intelligence. At least one attempted ‘bump' encounter took place earlier this year.

France
ChapsVision and French justice ministry battle over legal interceptions platform

The French software firm ChapsVision is determined to fight the justice ministry's efforts to bypass its Elektron legal interception solution in favour of the government's own PNIJ platform. The company has responded with massive price hikes and legal proceedings.

France
Turbulent times for DCI's aeronautical activities

With Défense Conseil International recently suffering setbacks, the director of its aeronautical activities is set to leave.

UAE, United Kingdom
Omar Mir, G42's man in London: a master salesman with royal connections

G42's newly appointed UK chief has seemingly come out of nowhere, boasting an array of impressive government and tech-sector contacts.

Saudi Arabia
The al-Aiban clan, one foot in intelligence and the other in oil

The shadow of Saudi spymaster Musaad al-Aiban looms large over a major oil deal recently concluded between Algiers and Riyadh. It was signed by his brother, who is the director of the group that will co-develop the Illizi basin field on the border with Libya.

Syria
Riyadh's men tasked with gaining foothold in Syria reconstruction

Replenishing Syria's state coffers (4/4) – While Doha has taken the lead in financing the new Syrian authorities, Saudi Arabia is hoping to quickly catch up thanks to a group of businessmen close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

France
French mine-clearing firm Geomines attracts interest of DCI, Ariane, Eurenco

Iraq, Kurdistan, United States
Revealed: Iraqi Kurdistan PM's secret attempt to purchase US spyware

A former Washington consultant has filed a case in the United States against the current prime minister of the Kurdistan regional government and two of his brothers. The compliant alleges that the clan tried to buy American spyware and also laundered money into US real estate.

United States, Vietnam
Vietnamese cyber command toughens up with US tech

The Vietnamese People's Army is turning to US-made technology to set up a dedicated unit to fight disinformation on social media and counter Chinese cyber attacks.

Germany, Ukraine
Lancelot Systems, the start-up at the heart of the drone algorithm war

Ghost data (2/2) – Behind the drone war in Ukraine, another battle is raging over video feeds. German start-up Lancelot Systems has industrialised the harvesting of front line imagery to provide its prototypes with identification models so they can operate semi-autonomously.