Taliban returns Iranian oil products, instead doubles purchase of gas from Russia

The supply of Russian liquefied gas to Afghanistan by rail has doubled from January to November 2023, a recent report by Reuters indicates.

Business

2023 11 18T123334Z 1509594892 RC2HE4AZBGWG RTRMADP 3 MIGRATION PAKISTAN AFGHANISTAN Scaled — Taliban's acting commerce minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi speaks during an interview with Reuters, in Islamabad, Pakistan November 16, 2023. REUTERS/Salahuddin NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Maha Mehrgan

Front of mind

From West Africa to Latin America: Why the Global South is ground zero for Bots-as-a-Service

With banks, governments and small businesses under fire, Bots-as-a-Service is exposing the Global South’s digital vulnerabilities.

Cybercrime is no longer the domain of elite hackers working behind closed doors. Today, it has become an open marketplace where criminals can simply rent the tools they need. Known as Bots-as-a-Service (BaaS), this trend is hitting the Global South hardest, turning countries in Africa and Latin America into both prime targets and unwilling enablers of global cybercrime.

The Deepfake Dilemma: Can technology and law catch up with AI fakes?

Detection tools are flawed, regulation lags behind, and platforms evade responsibility. Dr Áine MacDermott argues only a mix of smarter tech, stronger laws and human-centred defences can counter the deepfake threat.

A familiar face on a video call. A trusted voice giving instructions. A social media post quoting a senior executive. Increasingly, these may not be real at all. Thanks to artificial intelligence, deepfakes, convincing but fabricated videos, images and audio, are spreading fast, and their consequences are serious. Dr Áine MacDermott, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics at Liverpool John Moores University, warns that organisations and governments must act now.