Microsoft

UAE
Injazat management team swept away in UAE cyber sector restructuring

The wind of change sweeping through the Emirati cyber sector has finally caught up with cyber defence leader Injazat. It has replaced its top management team with cloud and smart city experts recruited from Western leaders in these sectors.

Spotlight | France, United States
Intelligence world heads into the metaverse

With a growing number of companies offering virtual-world simulation technology, Western armies and intelligence services are starting to get in on the game, branching out into the "metaverse" to optimise their operations and plan for a future where information will be gathered in this alternate space.

Spotlight | China, UAE, United States
Abu Dhabi's AI champion at crux of Sino-US cross-interest

In joining forces with US research centre Petuum, Group 42's AI lab is reinforcing the growing cooperation between Abu Dhabi and Washington in this area, which is increasingly based on Chinese financial interests.

The Tech Telegraph
Rayzone founder goes solo, Grayshift in the EU, AmCham Abu Dhabi cloud, EU maritime security GEOINT

From SIGINT to GEOINT and OSINT and a dose of cyber, each week we report on events both big and small that matter in the community of technical intelligence providers.

Tel AvivRayzone co-founder Ron Zilka goes solo.

Atlanta/HelsinkiUS Grayshift joins forces with Finland's Moonsoft as it spreads its European wings.

Abu Dhabi/WashingtonAmCham Abu Dhabi ropes in more cloud specialists with Red Hat and Trend Micro.

MadridSpain's GMV to provide algorithms to European Maritime Safety Agency for GEOINT data analysis.

BrusselsAndreas Constantinides, former APCO and Amcham EU, turns European lobbyist for the US cloud.

Saudi Arabia
Emad Krimly, the engineer behind the scenes on Neom mega project

Nadhmi al-Nasr, the man in charge of Mohammed bin Salman's colossal Neom project, has quietly been calling on the US engineer for help with the technical aspects of the new city, a project propelling him close to the inner circle of Saudi power.

Switzerland
Huawei's French strategic affairs director heads to CyberPeace Institute in Geneva

Adding to its line-up of senior Western cyber experts, the NGO CyberPeace Institute, of which Microsoft is a major donor, has hired Huawei executive and former French special forces officer Vincent de Crayencour.

UAE, United States
Washington focuses on Talal Al Kaissi in its new UAE cloud offensive

Appointed head of G42 Cloud in January, Talal Al Kaissi has been receptive to a charm offensive by US companies and that of their business contacts, providing a ray of hope for Washington that's alarmed by the inroads into the UAE by China's Huawei.

United States
NGA's intelligence cloud contract signals ultimate demise of JEDI project

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) award of a cloud contract to General Dynamics Information Technology marks the end of ambitions to create a unified cloud for the entire US defence community. Interoperability is the new watchword.

France
Ben Scott and Pierre Omidyar's anti-disinfo lobby monitoring French elections

Luminate and Reset are about to reveal the existence of their task force GVNIE, which is tracking fake news and hate speech in the run-up to the presidential election. Meanwhile, Viginum, the French agency dedicated to fighting foreign digital interference, is struggling to take off.

Ukraine
Anglo-Dutch alliance to monitor Russian cryptocurrency transactions for Ukraine

Thanks to its local contacts, the crypto investigation firm Crystal Blockchain has signed a new contract with the Ukrainian government, another milestone in its conquest of the former Soviet republics. It will monitor Russian blockchain transactions, which are subject to international sanctions, on its opponent's behalf.

Serbia, UAE
Serbia not fussy in choice of partners to boost national digital programme

The Belgrade government is as happy to call on China and the US as it is on the Emirati firm G42 to develop its digital and technological arsenal, largely funded by its Chinese partner. The UAE cloud firm, itself traditionally close to Beijing, has also turned westward for new opportunities.

Poland, Ukraine, United States
Warsaw and Pinchuk join forces in Washington

The Polish government has hitched its wagon to a pro-Eastern European Washington think-tank connected with Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk.

Spotlight | Europe, Ukraine, United States
EU and US add muscle to still headless Ukrainian cyber defence

The cyber troops deployed by the Ukrainian president for the country's 30 years of independence in August have no commander as yet even as Kyiv's Western partners continue to offer generous levers for its cyber tools and Russia tries to impose its own red lines.

Europe
Slinf, a new firm of German SIGINT veterans, takes a bow at ISS

In 2019, Dreamlab, a one-time partner of British-German venture Gamma Group, teamed up with the technical expert of Innosystec to set up a threat intelligence firm called Slinf.