E-Business
Report Indicates ‘Must Do’ By Wearables to Capture Middle East & Africa

The wearables growth story continues unabated in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, with shipments reaching an all-time high of 746,000 units in the final quarter of 2016, according to the latest figures compiled by International Data Corporation (IDC).
The global ICT research and consulting services firm says shipments were up 29.0% year on year in Q4 2016, spurred by new launches from leading vendors and the entrance of new players to the market.
When looking at 2016 as a whole, IDC’s data shows that wearables shipments for the MEA region were up 52.2% year on year.
This was primarily driven by the strong performance of low-cost basic wearables (i.e., devices that do not support third-party applications), which grew 67.9% year on year in 2016. The growth for smart wearable devices (i.e., devices that do support third-party applications) was not quite as spectacular, with shipments up 20.7% over the same period.
“Health and fitness are the only areas currently addressed by wearable tech, and these are areas that smart and basic wearables perform equally well in,” said Nakul Dogra, a senior research analyst for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC MEA. “As such, users do not receive any incremental benefit in terms of functionality from investing the additional cost required for a smart wearable device. There is therefore a need for wearables to evolve from basic functionalities like counting steps and analyzing sleeping patterns to more complex functionalities that rely on the use of third-party apps. Such apps are clearly underutilized in the current scenario, which is limiting the growth of smart wearables.”
Besides functionality, Dogra also anticipates a shift in the way wearables are bought. “With fashion hogging much of the limelight, utility is being pushed into the shadows,” he said. “As such, sales of wearables will increasingly be driven by fashion labels that are partnering with tech brands, a move that will help take wearables to a new audience and broaden the retail of these gadgets beyond traditional electronics stores and into fashion outlets. New product launches are expected in the clothing segment in 2017 and this will inevitably accentuate the focus on fashion within the wearables space.”
IDC expects the MEA wearables market to grow 24.1% year on year in 2017 to reach a total of 2.9 million units. And looking further ahead, IDC’s latest forecast shows the market expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.3% over the 2016–2021 period.
“The wearables market is continuously evolving,” said Dogra. “Going forward, we expect the smart watch space to become further segmented, with each brand/product catering to a niche audience (i.e., kids watches, sports watches, luxury watches, fashion watches) and addressing the particular needs of specific users in a more effective way. Currently, the majority of smart watches are generic in nature, with a single device trying to cater to the multiple needs of a varied set of consumers, often with poor results. This segmentation is therefore a positive move for the wearables industry, with customer satisfaction and stickiness likely to increase if these niche products are able to address their needs better.”
Dogra also believes that wearables vendors must look to differentiate their products from smartphones and create a compelling need for wearables within the broader ecosystem of gadgets. “Without this differentiation, wearables will stagnate and be viewed as little more than fashion accessories for your smartphone,” he said. “Wearables have the potential to form an integral part of the Internet of Things ecosystem, so it is imperative that vendors come up with innovative solutions that move beyond health and fitness to enable consumers to perform day-to-day tasks in an easier way.”
To keep pace with the changes taking place in this fast-moving market, IDC has launched its Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, which assists vendors that are looking to enter this market, promote new product developments, or accelerate the growth of their wearables divisions.
The tracker includes details on products, vendors, and technology trends at both global and country levels, as well as historical market data and five-year forecasts. The report also provides valuable insights into the adoption of core wearable features, such as form factor, connectivity, sensors, operating systems, and applications, and offers invaluable assistance to tech firms looking to develop successful long-term business strategies for wearable devices.
E-Business
Kaspersky Brings AI-driven Context to Cloud Workload Security

Kaspersky has updated its Cloud Workload Security (CWS) offering, introducing AI-powered workload analysis, enhanced integrations and performance optimisations designed to help organisations better secure complex cloud and hybrid environments.

The latest update brings integration with OpenAI API in the Kaspersky Container Security (KCS) part of the offering, also resulting in the creation of a new Advanced Pro license within the product.
The new capability provides contextual descriptions of detected vulnerabilities and potential risks, helping accelerate investigations, reduce knowledge gaps and support faster decision-making.
Designed for modern DevOps and hybrid cloud environments, Kaspersky CWS provides centralised visibility across workloads, Kubernetes clusters and cloud platforms, while supporting runtime protection, shift-left security practices and regulatory compliance requirements.
AI-driven visibility and improved workload protection
The update allows organisations to enrich container image scanning results with automated explanations and risk context generated by third-party large language models integrated via OpenAI API. By transforming technical scan data into actionable insights, the feature helps teams prioritise remediation and streamline security operations.
Additional improvements include single sign-on (SSO) integration and multi-domain Active Directory support, enabling more seamless deployment across distributed enterprise environments.
To optimise performance, Kaspersky CWS now also enhances image scanning efficiency by skipping oversized images when needed and avoiding rescans of identical images within a predefined timeframe. Expanded security policy capabilities and UX/UI updates further simplify workload protection and policy management.
Enhanced protection across cloud environments
The new release also updates Light Agent components, now leveraging the latest versions of Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Windows (version 12.12) and Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Linux (version 12.4) to improve overall security and integration capabilities.
“As AI adoption accelerates across industries, organisations are increasingly relying on containerised environments – placing additional pressure on security teams.
“To help ease this burden, we introduced AI integration within Kaspersky Cloud Workload Security that enables security professionals, including those just beginning their journey in container security, to make faster decisions and gain deeper insight into potential risks and vulnerabilities,” comments Anton Rusakov-Rudenko, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Cloud & Network Security at Kaspersky.
“Combined with performance optimisations and expanded integration capabilities, the solution helps organisations to protect cloud environments more efficiently while maintaining operational resilience.”
E-Business
SARS Denies Being Hacked by Nullsec Nigeria, Hacker Group

South African Revenue Service (SARS) has dismissed claims that its systems were breached, following allegations by a hacker group that it had compromised the tax authority’s digital infrastructure.

The controversy emerged after Nullsec Nigeria, a threat actor also known as Anonymous Nigeria, claimed to have breached both SARS and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).
The hacktivist group allegedly posted links to download what it claimed was compromised data on the Breached hacker forum on Saturday, 23 May 2026, sparking concerns over a possible cyberattack targeting government systems.
However, SARS said it had conducted a thorough investigation into the claims and found no evidence that its systems had been compromised.
“SARS continuously monitors its systems for any suspicious activity and has conducted a thorough investigation in response to these reports. These claims are false and unsubstantiated,” the revenue service said in a statement.
“At this stage, there is no evidence that SARS’s systems have been compromised. SARS wishes to reassure the public regarding the integrity of its systems.”
The tax authority stressed that safeguarding taxpayer information remains one of its core responsibilities and forms part of its broader efforts to maintain public confidence in South Africa’s tax administration system.
SARS said the “protection of taxpayer information and the security of its digital platforms” is treated as “sacrosanct”.
The agency also urged South Africans to avoid sharing unverified claims and instead rely on official channels for accurate information.
“Members of the public are urged to verify information before sharing and not to circulate unverified claims or rely on information from unofficial sources,” SARS said.
At the same time, SARS warned taxpayers to remain vigilant against phishing scams and fraudulent messages falsely claiming to be from the tax authority.
For guidance on identifying scams and phishing attempts, SARS directed the public to its official online resource page: SARS scams and phishing guidance
SARS said it would continue monitoring its digital environment and communicate any developments through official platforms should the need arise.
E-Business
Pope Calls for ‘Disarming’ of AI, Warns of “New Forms of Slavery”

Pope Leo XIV called Monday for the “disarming” of artificial intelligence in his long-awaited manifesto on the rapidly developing technology, and warned of “new forms of slavery” behind its rise.

Leo, warned against “a race for ever more powerful algorithms and larger datasets, driven by the desire to secure geopolitical or commercial dominance”.
He presented his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity) in person at the Vatican, alongside AI experts including Christopher Olah, co-founder of US giant Anthropic.
Anthropic is embroiled in a legal battle with the US military after opposing the use of its technology for lethal autonomous warfare and mass surveillance.
At the presentation, Olah said AI companies operate “inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing”.
He welcomed input from outside actors like the Catholic Church, to “push events in a better direction” saying that “the questions raised by AI are bigger than the AI research community”.
In the encyclical, Leo also sounded the alarm over AI-directed weaponry, saying it was “not permissible to entrust lethal” decisions to tech.
Leo has repeatedly clashed with the White House over the Iran war and its use of religion to justify conflict.
The “just war” theory — espoused recently by the Trump administration — was “outdated”, Leo wrote, adding that “no algorithm can make war morally acceptable”.
AI could be worth up to $4.8 trillion by 2033, a 25-fold increase in a decade, while concentrating its profits in the hands of a limited few, according to the United Nations.
“Disarming AI means freeing it from the mentality of ‘armed’ competition,” the pope wrote.
“To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity,” Leo wrote.
AI should be “human-friendly”, accessible to all, and open to discussion and debate, he added.
The head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics has made the hot-button issue a cornerstone of his papacy by dedicating to it his first encyclical — a document that lays the basis for Church teaching and longer-term debate.
The manifesto references a range of cultural giants, from Greek philosopher Plato to Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony, even citing a character from JRR Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”.
“Magnifica Humanitas” was signed on May 15, the 135th anniversary of an 1891 encyclical by Leo XIII, which laid the foundations of the Church’s social doctrine during the Industrial Revolution.
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