News

Famous Former Hacker Kevin Mitnick Has Died Aged 59

Mitnick became a White Hat hacker after a long career of infiltrating corporate and government systems.

Published

3 years ago

July 20, 2023

famous former hacker kevin mitnick has died aged 59

On July 16th, one of the world’s most wanted computer hackers, Kevin Mitnick, passed away at 59 years old. According to his obituary, Mitnick was battling pancreatic cancer for over a year while undergoing treatment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“Much of his life reads like a fiction story,” the obituary reads, and it’s probably the perfect way to describe this enigmatic man’s journey. Mitnick first infiltrated a computer system way back in 1979, and was sentenced to a year in prison in 1988 for copying a company’s software.

In the 90s, Mitnick hacked into Pacific Bell’s voicemail computers while under supervised release and continued to hack into phone networks, corporate and government websites. The hacker eventually became a fugitive and wasn’t caught until 1995, when he was charged with computer fraud. Authorities believed that Mitnick had access to corporate trade secrets worth millions of dollars, though his fans claim he never stole from the general public.

Also Read: The Largest Data Breaches In The Middle East

After spending five years in prison, Kevin Mitnick became a White Hat hacker and cybersecurity consultant for KnowBe4. He is survived by his wife, Kimberley, who is expecting his child.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.