Canadian cybersecurity executive Edward Dubrovsky has been arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with alleged extortion activity that multiple reports have linked to the FBI’s ongoing crackdown on the ShinyHunters hacking group.

Dubrovsky, 54, has had senior roles at cybersecurity firms that help data breach and ransomware victims negotiate extortion payments with cybercriminals.

Yesterday, FBI Director Kash Patel announced that agents had arrested “another suspected co-conspirator of the ShinyHunters group”.  The New York Times reported that the suspect was a Canadian citizen arrested in Pennsylvania and believed to be a primary co-conspirator in the recent ShinyHunters FBI Jobs hack.

Last night, both Politico and KrebsOnSecurity reported that Dubrovsky was arrested in Pennsylvania, where he was attending a cybersecurity conference.

Publicly available court records show that Dubrovsky appeared in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after being taken into custody. A later court order says he was transferred to the Eastern District of Texas, where the charges were filed, with the order stating that he remains in custody.

While the complaint is currently under seal, the docket lists conspiracy and extortion-related charges.

“18:371 AND 1030(a)(7)(B) – CONSPIRACY TO THREATEN TO IMPAIR THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION WITH THE INTENT TO EXTORT MONEY; 18:1951(a) AND (b)(2) – INTERFERENCE WITH COMMERCE BY THREATS (HOBBS ACT EXTORTION AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT HOBBS ACT EXTORTION),” reads the case docket.

While the FBI has not publicly confirmed that Dubrovsky is the suspected ShinyHunters co-conspirator, KrebsOnSecurity reports that multiple sources linked Dubrovsky’s arrest to the ShinyHunters investigation.

Dubrovsky previously co-founded Canadian cybersecurity company CYPFER and has also been associated with CyberSteward, another firm specializing in ransomware negotiation and cyber-extortion response.

Politico reports that CyberSteward is a trade name used by CYPFER and that the firms help organizations negotiate and send extortion payments to cybercriminals.

Dubrovsky also recently published a book, “Cyber Extortion Strategic Response,” about handling cyber extortion.

According to KrebsOnSecurity, Dubrovsky had previously posted on LinkedIn that he planned to attend the NetDiligence Cyber Risk Summit in Pennsylvania with the CyberSteward team.

ShinyHunters is an extortion group known for stealing data from web applications and cloud-based SaaS platforms, then demanding ransom payments from victims or the stolen data would be published.

Over time, the ShinyHunters name has been used by numerous threat actors involved in data theft and extortion campaigns worldwide.

In addition to conducting its own breaches, the group has also operated as an extortion-as-a-service operation, helping other hackers extort organizations they had already compromised into paying ransom demands.

More recently, ShinyHunters has increasingly targeted cloud environments and enterprise SaaS platforms, often using stolen credentials, authentication tokens, phishing, and social engineering to gain access to corporate systems and steal data.

According to the FBI, ShinyHunters and associated actors have breached more than 140 organizations and collected more than $70 million in extortion payments over the past year.

The FBI has stepped up pressure on the group since the breach of its jobs portal, with multiple arrests and detentions linked to alleged ShinyHunters members in recent weeks.

Because the complaint against Dubrovsky remains sealed, it is still unclear what he is accused of doing or whether the case is connected to the FBI breach.

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Apple could add a personal touch to its upcoming iPhone Duo launch, letting buyers see their names on the screen the first time they turn on their new phones. According to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, Apple retail stores in the US will have a system to customise the device’s initial greeting, so it displays a message such as “Hello, Mark” instead of the usual generic welcome.

The feature is expected to be exclusive to the iPhone Duo and limited to the US, with support for English and Spanish. It is a small change, but one that could make unboxing a new iPhone feel a little more personal.

Apple is adding a personal touch to the iPhone Duo experience

The custom greeting is a small software detail, but it fits Apple’s broader approach of making its products feel personal from the moment users start using them. Instead of seeing the same welcome screen as everyone else, buyers could see their own names appear during the initial setup.

According to Gurman, the feature will be available only at Apple retail stores in the US, and only on the iPhone Duo. Customers can choose between English and Spanish. Apple has not announced whether the personalisation will extend to online orders or other iPhone models.

The feature is also a reminder that Apple’s first foldable iPhone is being treated as a special launch. The iPhone Duo opens into a 7.6-inch display and has a 5.4-inch outer screen when folded. Apple has positioned it as a device for multitasking, gaming, and watching content, rather than simply a conventional iPhone with a hinge.

iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 in the US

The timing is notable because Apple’s first foldable iPhone is approaching its retail launch. The company says US pre-orders begin on October 16, with availability starting October 23. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 for 256GB, with higher-capacity versions costing more.

The device opens into a 7.6-inch inner display and has a 5.4-inch outer screen when folded. Apple is pitching it as a device for multitasking, gaming and watching content, combining the flexibility of a larger screen with a phone-sized design.

For US buyers considering a $2,000 phone, a personalised greeting will hardly be the deciding factor. Still, it is a memorable flourish for a product that marks Apple’s entry into the foldable-phone market. The bigger questions remain how well the folding design holds up, how useful the larger display proves in everyday use, and whether buyers think the price is justified.

For now, the name-on-screen feature remains an unconfirmed retail detail. Apple has yet to explain exactly how stores will set it up or whether the option will expand to other devices.

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[This is a sponsored article with MDEC, but the editorial team had full control over the content. ]

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’d know that Malaysia is now at the centre of Southeast Asia’s AI infrastructure boom.

New data centres are continuously being announced across Johor and the Klang Valley, with the most recent ones being China’s Alibaba and Singapore-based Digital Decarbonization Solutions Platform (DDSP). 

As more and more global technology firms expand their cloud and AI capabilities here, it’s easy to get awed by the billion-ringgit investment flowing into our digital economy. These investments also reflect Malaysia’s growing strengths under the Malaysia Digital (MD) national strategic initiative, which is accelerating the development of a robust digital and AI ecosystem.

But have you ever wondered why Malaysia is chosen for these expansions?

Out of all our SEA-blings, why Malaysia?

Today, Malaysia is one of the few countries in the Southeast Asia region that has built something worth betting on before the hyperscalers arrived.

NationGate, a Penang-based manufacturer, had spent years quietly qualifying for one of NVIDIA’s most exclusive global partnerships. They’re currently one of only four companies across all of Asia that have earned the right to assemble NVIDIA’s most advanced AI servers. 

Similarly, SNS Network in Cyberjaya is making high-performance GPU computing accessible to businesses that would otherwise struggle to afford the hardware themselves.

MDEC’s Founders Center of Excellence (FOX) programme has also assembled a cohort of high-growth Malaysia Digital (MD) status software companies, giving them the strategic support to scale, expand regionally and contribute to Malaysia’s growing AI ecosystem.

So how does each layer actually work? Let’s break it down.

The hardware layer: Building the machines that power AI

You probably won’t see NationGate’s name on your AI tools, but their systems run on the infrastructure the firm helped build.

Founded in 2010 by Datuk Ooi Eng Leong and his wife Tan Ah Geok, NationGate started as a general electronics manufacturing services provider before pivoting into AI server assembly. That pivot proved timely. 

As demand for AI infrastructure accelerated worldwide, NationGate emerged as one of its beneficiaries. In just 2024 alone, the firm’s revenue reportedly surged from RM638 million to RM5.27 billion, an increase of more than eightfold.

Beyond the NVIDIA partnership, what makes NationGate’s position defensible is its operational depth. The company assembles servers using NVIDIA’s H200 and B200 AI GPU chips—among the most sought-after in the world—and ships them primarily to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. 

It also offers servers using the older H100 chips and Intel rack servers, positioning NationGate to serve both cutting-edge AI workloads and more cost-sensitive enterprise deployments. This diversification is highly important as AI infrastructure demand continues to expand faster than supply can keep up.

The access layer: Putting GPU power within local (and global) reach

As one of Malaysia’s leading ICT distributors and super server suppliers, SNS Network is far from a new player in the AI boom.

The Ipoh-founded company built its name in the local tech supply chain as a distributor of hardware and servers to businesses. But as competition in AI server distribution grew, SNS Network shifted its focus into GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS).

Called SNS AI Factory, it’s a fully managed AI cloud infrastructure service built with NVIDIA and Dell Technologies. Instead of buying expensive hardware, companies can rent computing power for workloads across industries like financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and telecommunications. 

Its GPUaaS also addresses another challenge facing AI adoption: data sovereignty.

For banks, hospitals, and government agencies, sensitive data often cannot be freely stored or processed overseas due to regulatory and security requirements. By keeping the infrastructure in Malaysia, companies can easily overcome these barriers to adopting AI.

Pricing starts at around RM35,000 per GPU per month, as SNS Network aims to offer more companies access to AI infrastructure without large upfront costs. “[This] allows (companies) flexibility to scale their computing needs on demand,” stated its Managing Director, Ko Yun Hung.

The intelligence layer: What gets plugged in

Hardware alone doesn’t build an AI economy. Data centres and GPU clusters are only the foundation. What matters is what gets built on top of them.

That’s where Malaysia’s MD status ecosystem and the MDEC Founders Centre of Excellence (FOX) programme come in. An invitation-only initiative, FOX provides Malaysian companies with strategic support, investor access, and regional expansion opportunities to scale up.

Three MD status companies show how this plays out.

Glem.ai tackles the deployment gap. Its AI platform helps large organisations, regulated industries, and government users scale AI deployments without being locked into a single vendor. 

This addresses the practical roadblocks that often prevent AI projects from moving past the pilot stage. As its CEO, Ryan Tay, puts it plainly: “Our focus has always been on solving the real barriers that stop enterprises and institutions from deploying AI at scale: data sovereignty, governance, and production reliability.” 

Since its launch last year, the company has won the Talent Innovation Award at ITEC 2025 in Beijing, showing what’s possible when local innovation is nurtured with the right support and opportunities to scale internationally.

On the other hand, DeltaSpike addresses the blind spot that tends to get discovered too late. As AI becomes more integrated in critical business workflows, it also becomes a target. This gap is what DeltaSpike aims to fill with its Agentic SOC: an intelligence-drive, automation-first security operations model designed to proactively contain security threats.

“Our goal is to embed intelligent, proactive protection into the DNA of business growth. This investment serves as a mandate to accelerate Malaysia’s cybersecurity capability while providing a robust security anchor for Southeast Asia,” shared its Chairman,Taufik Othman.

DeltaSpike’s vision has since attracted institutional backing. In April 2026, DeltaSpike secured a strategic investment from VentureTECH to accelerate its capabilities and regional expansion across Southeast Asia.

Last but not least is Cloud Space, a cloud and AI infrastructure solutions provider focused on helping businesses deploy scalable digital systems across regional markets.

As Malaysia’s 2025 Google Cloud Country Partner of the Year, Cloud Space helps enterprises modernise legacy systems, migrate to cloud infrastructure, and deploy AI-enabled applications at scale.

Google Cloud’s President of Global Partner Ecosystem, Kevin Ichhpurani, commended the firm in 2025, stating, “Cloud Space’s commitment to delivering innovative cloud solutions and measurable outcomes for clients has made a significant impact over the past year.”

More than the sum of its parts

Taken on their own, NationGate, SNS Network and MD status companies Glem.ai, DeltaSpike, and Cloud Space are already strong stories. But what makes Malaysia’s position interesting is how they connect.

Each layer feeds the next. Easier access to GPU infrastructure lowers the barrier for enterprises to experiment with AI, which drives demand for local AI applications. As adoption grows, it increases the need for more computing capacity underneath. 

Over time, this builds a full ecosystem that continues to attract foreign investment, accelerate AI adoption and reinforce Malaysia’s position as a regional digital hub.

As Malaysia’s AI ecosystem continues to grow, the capabilities being built today will help advance the aspirations of Malaysia Digital 2030 (MD2030) while laying the foundations for Malaysia’s vision of becoming an AI Nation by 2030.

• Learn more about MDEC and the MD Status here.

Featured Image Credit: NationGate / Pixabay

Turkey will bar social media platforms from serving children under 15 from 1 November, under rules published in the country’s Official Gazette, Inci Ozbek reported for Bloomberg.

Platforms must check users’ ages when they sign up, using a token from Turkey’s e-government system. Anyone found to be under 15 must be blocked.

Existing accounts must be checked by 31 March 2027, and those held by under-15s shut down.

Strict limits for older teens

Accounts for 15 to 17-year-olds will be private by default and filtered. They cannot show personalised ads or offer livestreaming, and platforms must block screenshots of them.

Teens can only message accounts they already follow, and endless scrolling feeds must be switched off, Daily Sabah reported.

Parents must get tools to manage settings, limit screen time and approve purchases.

The rules cover platforms including Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and Reddit, Daily Sabah said.

Fines of up to 3%

Firms that break the rules face fines of up to 3% of global revenue, ad bans and cuts to their internet bandwidth under Turkey’s internet law.

Parliament passed the law in April, a week after a school shooting.

Turkey joins a growing list of countries trying to keep children off social media. Australia led the way, but its under-16 ban has struggled with enforcement.

If your webcam turns on when you did not expect it, investigate the activity before assuming someone has hacked your computer. A Windows camera light or notification, or the green camera indicator on a Mac, can confirm that the camera is active, but you still need to identify what is using it and whether that use is legitimate.

Start with ordinary causes such as a video-call app, browser tab, or facial sign-in feature. If those do not explain the activity, check camera permissions and then move to malware checks only when the evidence justifies it.

What an Unexpected Webcam Indicator Can Tell You

A camera-use indicator answers one important question: is the camera active? It does not automatically tell you who started it or why.

On Windows 11, a hardware camera light turns on when the camera is active if the device has one. On computers without a camera light, Windows shows a notification when the camera turns on or off. That activity may come from software you intentionally opened, a website, a Windows feature, or something you do not recognize.

Windows Hello is one legitimate example that can cause confusion. If you use facial recognition to sign in, Windows Hello can use the camera even when ordinary app camera access is turned off. Camera activity during a normal facial sign-in therefore does not, by itself, point to unauthorized access.

On a Mac, a green privacy indicator means a camera is being used. Opening Control Center may also show which app is currently using the camera. For the built-in Mac camera specifically, Apple says the hardware is engineered so that the camera cannot activate without its green indicator light also turning on. Do not assume the same hardware behavior applies to every external USB webcam.

General symptoms such as a slow computer, crashes, redirects, or unfamiliar browser additions can occur with malware, but they are weak evidence of webcam misuse by themselves. The FTC lists these kinds of behaviors as possible signs of a broader malware infection, not proof of camera compromise. A camera-specific indicator or identifiable camera-using process is more useful when answering the narrower question of what used your webcam.

Understanding camera and microphone permissions also helps you interpret what your operating system can actually block, record, or show.

What Windows 11 Can and Cannot Show About Camera Access

Windows can provide useful clues, but its Camera privacy page is not a complete history of every program that could ever reach the camera.

Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Camera. Microsoft Store apps that use the Windows permission system can appear with individual camera controls. Desktop apps work differently: browsers, traditional Windows programs, and many video-call applications are controlled through the broader Let desktop apps access your camera setting.

Windows can also show desktop applications it has detected interacting with the camera. For a listed desktop app, Microsoft says you can select it to see details about the specific file that accessed the camera or microphone. That can help when the displayed app name is unfamiliar.

There is an important limit. Some desktop apps can interact with camera hardware in ways Windows privacy controls do not fully govern. An application may install a driver, for example, and communicate more directly with the hardware. Microsoft also warns that desktop apps may not always appear in the Camera settings list.

For that reason, an empty or familiar-looking app list is useful evidence, but it is not absolute proof that no desktop program touched the camera. If unexplained activity continues, combine the permission check with the timing of the camera indicator and the security checks later in this article.

Also account for Windows Hello before treating sign-in activity as suspicious. Facial sign-in can use the camera even when ordinary app camera access is disabled.

What macOS Can Show About Camera Access

A Mac gives you two different clues: a live privacy indicator and a list of installed third-party apps that have requested permission to use the camera.

A green privacy indicator beside Control Center means a camera is in use. If you open Control Center while the indicator is present, the top of the panel may identify which app is using the camera. Check this before closing everything if you are trying to find the source of unexpected activity.

You can then open Apple menu > System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera. The list contains installed apps that have asked to use the camera. Turn access off for software that does not need it.

Built-in Apple apps are an important exception to how that list should be interpreted. FaceTime, Photo Booth, and other apps included with macOS automatically have camera access and do not need to appear as third-party permission requests. Their absence from the list therefore does not mean they cannot use the camera.

Safari website access is separate as well. Open Safari > Settings > Websites > Camera to review site-level camera permissions. This matters when the camera activity began while a browser tab was open.

For the Mac’s built-in camera, the green hardware indicator has unusually strong diagnostic value because Apple states that the built-in camera is engineered not to activate without the indicator. Keep that claim within its proper scope: it does not establish how every third-party external camera behaves.

When Unexplained Camera Activity Becomes a Security Problem

One unexplained camera light deserves investigation. It becomes more concerning when the camera keeps activating after ordinary causes have been ruled out or when other evidence points to unwanted software.

For example, repeated activation deserves more attention if you also find an unfamiliar program, a security alert, or software you did not intend to install. By contrast, slow performance, crashes, browser redirects, or other general symptoms can occur for many reasons and should not be presented as proof that someone is watching through the webcam.

Malware is harmful software that can run on a device without the user’s knowledge and may steal information or perform other unwanted actions. Once credible malware evidence appears, the investigation should shift from one camera permission to the security of the entire computer.

On Windows 11, open Windows Security and select Virus & threat protection. You can start with a Quick scan, choose a Full scan to check every file and program, or open Scan options for other choices. If you are particularly concerned about persistent malware, Microsoft Defender Offline restarts the PC and scans without loading normal Windows, making persistent malware more difficult to hide or defend itself. Save open work before choosing the offline scan because the computer restarts.

macOS takes a different approach. It includes built-in protections such as Gatekeeper, Notarization, and XProtect. XProtect automatically detects and blocks known malware and can remediate infections. Apple describes these protections as automatic; it does not provide a universal user-facing “run XProtect scan” control comparable to Windows Security’s on-demand scan choices.

If you clicked a suspicious link or opened an attachment and think malware may have been downloaded, the FTC advises you to stop sensitive account logins, update security software, run a security scan, then change passwords and enable two-factor authentication. Use a device you trust for sensitive account recovery if you believe the affected computer may still be compromised.

Broader habits that reduce malware risk while browsing can lower the chance of another infection, but they do not replace investigating the camera activity that brought you here.

How to Secure the Webcam After the Check

Once you have identified the cause or completed the security investigation, remove access that no longer has a clear purpose. Do not uninstall or delete unfamiliar software solely because its name looks strange; identify what it is first and use credible security findings to guide removal.

• Turn off camera permission for apps that no longer need video access.
• Remove persistent browser-site permissions that you do not recognize or use.
• Uninstall software only after you have identified it as unwanted or a trusted security tool has detected it as harmful.
• Keep the operating system, browser, conferencing apps, and security tools updated.
• Use a built-in hardware shutter when your computer provides one, or unplug an external USB webcam when you want a clear physical barrier.

For the broader preventive setup, including physical camera controls and platform-specific permission hardening, you can secure your webcam on Mac and Windows PCs without turning every future camera event into a security investigation.

A webcam cover and camera permissions solve different problems: one physically blocks the lens, while the other controls software access. Neither should be treated as a complete substitute for the other.

Verify That the Camera Is Back Under Your Control

The investigation is complete when normal camera use still works, unnecessary access has been removed, and the unexplained activity that triggered the check no longer appears during ordinary use.

If the webcam begins activating unexpectedly again and you still cannot connect the activity to a legitimate app, website, or operating-system feature, do not treat the earlier quiet period as proof that the problem is fixed. Return to the diagnostic steps and escalate the security investigation when the evidence calls for it.