The European Commission and the European Investment Bank have approved €1.8 billion in new clean energy funding under the EU Modernisation Fund, supporting 45 projects across 12 member states.
Portugal receives funding for the first time after becoming eligible in 2024, while total support from the Fund since 2021 has now reached €20.7 billion across 294 investments.
Financed through revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System, the Fund targets high-impact projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy, industry and transport, while improving energy efficiency and strengthening energy security.
In 2025 alone, total disbursements reached €5.46 billion, with significant allocations directed to Czechia, Poland, Romania and Hungary, alongside support for Greece, Portugal and Slovenia.
All projects approved during 2025 focus on renewable electricity generation, energy storage, grid modernisation and efficiency upgrades in public infrastructure and industry.
The Modernisation Fund plays a central role in supporting national climate plans, reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports and advancing the EU’s Fit for 55 and REPowerEU objectives, with further investment proposals scheduled for early 2026.
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Retailers face escalating cyber threats as hackers increasingly target customer data, eroding trust and damaging long-term brand value.
Deloitte warns that data breaches and ransomware attacks are becoming more frequent and costly, with some retailers facing losses reaching hundreds of millions, alongside declining consumer confidence.
The expansion of AI-driven personalisation has intensified privacy concerns, as customers weigh convenience against data protection.
While many shoppers accept sharing personal information in exchange for value, confidence depends on clear safeguards, transparent data use and credible security practices across digital channels.
Deloitte argues that leading retailers integrate cybersecurity into their core business strategy, rather than treating it as a compliance obligation.
Priorities include protecting critical digital assets, modernising security operations and building cyber-aware cultures capable of responding to AI-enabled fraud, preserving customer trust and sustaining revenue growth.
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Vietnam’s 5G network now reaches approximately 59 percent of the population, slightly over one year after commercial services launched in October 2024.
Government data presented at Internet Day 2025 show that Vietnam ranks 10th globally for fixed broadband speed and 15th for mobile broadband, reflecting rapid improvements in national connectivity.
Officials described the Internet as a second living space for citizens, with nearly 80 million users spending an average of seven hours online each day for work, education and social interaction.
Authorities highlighted that expanded 5G coverage supports the development of a digital economy, e-government services and a more connected digital society.
Alongside infrastructure growth, policymakers stressed the need for stronger digital trust.
Vietnam is shifting towards clearer legal frameworks instead of reliance on voluntary self-regulation, while prioritising cybersecurity, data governance and protection against online fraud, deepfakes and AI-driven deception to sustain long-term digital transformation.
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AI is entering a new phase, with 2026 expected to mark a shift from experimentation to real-world collaboration. Microsoft executives describe AI as an emerging partner that amplifies human expertise rather than replacing it.
Microsoft says the impact is becoming visible across healthcare, software development, and scientific research. AI tools embedded in Microsoft products are supporting diagnosis, coding, and research workflows.
With the expansion of AI agents across all platforms, organisations are strengthening safeguards to manage new risks. Security leaders argue agents will require clear identities, restricted access, and continuous monitoring.
Microsoft also points to changes in the infrastructure powering AI. The company says future systems will prioritise efficiency and intelligence output, supported by distributed and hybrid cloud architectures.
Looking further ahead, the convergence of AI, supercomputing, and quantum technologies stands out as the main highlight. Hybrid approaches, the company says, are bringing practical quantum advantage closer for applications in materials science, medicine, and research.
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The US tech company, Oracle, has expanded Oracle Database@Google Cloud to India, making the service available through Google Cloud’s Mumbai region.
Enterprises can access Oracle Exadata, Autonomous AI Database and AI Lakehouse services while keeping data in the region to meet sovereignty and regulatory requirements.
The multicloud offering allows organisations to combine Oracle enterprise data with Google Cloud analytics and AI tools, including BigQuery, Vertex AI and Gemini models.
Customers can modernise applications and migrate mission-critical workloads without sacrificing performance, security or low-latency access.
Oracle Database@Google Cloud is available through the Google Cloud Marketplace, enabling customers to procure services via trusted partners instead of navigating complex contracting models.
Oracle and Google Cloud partners can also integrate the service into broader multicloud solutions.
The launch reflects growing demand for flexible multicloud architectures in India, supporting AI-driven innovation, advanced analytics and accelerated IT modernisation across regulated and data-intensive industries.
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US credit reporting company 700Credit has confirmed a data breach affecting more than 5.6 million individuals after attackers exploited a compromised third-party API used to exchange consumer data with external integration partners.
An incident that originated from a supply chain failure after one partner was breached earlier in 2025 and failed to notify 700Credit.
The attackers launched a sustained, high-volume data extraction campaign starting on October 25, 2025, which operated for more than two weeks before access was shut down.
Around 20 percent of consumer records were accessed, exposing names, home addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, while internal systems, payment platforms and login credentials were not compromised.
Despite the absence of financial system access, the exposed personal data significantly increases the risk of identity theft and sophisticated phishing attacks impersonating credit reporting services.
The breach has been reported to the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI, with regulators coordinating responses through industry bodies representing affected dealerships.
Individuals impacted by the incident are currently being notified and offered two years of free credit monitoring, complimentary credit reports and access to a dedicated support line.
Authorities have urged recipients to act promptly by monitoring their credit activity and taking protective measures to minimise the risk of fraud.
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SoundCloud has confirmed a recent security incident that temporarily affected platform availability and involved the limited exposure of user data. The company detected unauthorised activity on an ancillary service dashboard and acted immediately to contain the situation.
Third-party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate and support the response. The incident resulted in two brief denial-of-service attacks, temporarily disrupting web access.
Approximately 20% of users were affected; however, no sensitive data, such as passwords or financial details, were compromised. Only email addresses and publicly visible profile information were involved.
In response, SoundCloud has strengthened its systems, enhancing monitoring, reviewing identity and access controls, and auditing related systems. Some configuration updates have led to temporary VPN connectivity issues, which the company is working to resolve.
SoundCloud emphasises that user privacy remains a top priority and encourages vigilance against phishing. The platform will continue to provide updates and take steps to minimise the risk of future incidents.
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Musicians are raising the alarm over AI-generated tracks appearing on their profiles without consent, presenting fraudulent work as their own. British folk artist Emily Portman discovered an AI-generated album, Orca, on Spotify and Apple Music, which copied her folk style and lyrics.
Fans initially congratulated her on a release she had not made since 2022.
Australian musician Paul Bender reported a similar experience, with four ‘bizarrely bad’ AI tracks appearing under his band, The Sweet Enoughs. Both artists said that weak distributor security allows scammers to easily upload content, calling it ‘the easiest scam in the world.’
A petition launched by Bender garnered tens of thousands of signatures, urging platforms to strengthen their protections.
AI-generated music has become increasingly sophisticated, making it nearly impossible for listeners to distinguish from genuine tracks. While revenues from such fraudulent streams are low individually, bots and repeated listening can significantly increase payouts.
Industry representatives note that the primary motive is to collect royalties from unsuspecting users.
Despite the threat of impersonation, Portman is continuing her creative work, emphasising human collaboration and authentic artistry. Spotify and Apple Music have pledged to collaborate with distributors to enhance the detection and prevention of AI-generated fraud.
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Canada has launched a major new quantum initiative aimed at strengthening domestic technological sovereignty and accelerating the development of industrial-scale quantum computing.
Announced in Toronto, Phase 1 of the Canadian Quantum Champions Program forms part of a wider $334.3 million investment under Budget 2025 to expand Canada’s quantum ecosystem.
The programme will provide up to $92 million in initial funding, with agreements signed with Anyon Systems, Nord Quantique, Photonic and Xanadu Quantum Technologies for up to $23 million each.
A funding that is designed to support the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of solving real-world problems, while anchoring advanced research, talent, and production in Canada, rather than allowing strategic capabilities to migrate abroad.
The initiative also supports Canada’s forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, reflecting the growing role of quantum technologies in cryptography, materials science and threat analysis.
Technical progress will be assessed through a new Benchmarking Quantum Platform led by the National Research Council of Canada, with further programme phases to be announced as development milestones are reached.
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Models ranging from 600 million to 13 billion parameters (such as Pythia) were affected, highlighting the scale-independent nature of the weakness. A planted phrase such as ‘sudo’ caused output collapse, raising concerns about targeted disruption and the ease of manipulating widely trained systems.
Security specialists note that denial-of-service effects are worrying, yet deceptive outputs pose far greater risk. Prior studies already demonstrated that medical and safety-critical models can be destabilised by tiny quantities of misleading data, heightening the urgency for robust dataset controls.
Researchers warn that open ecosystems and scraped corpora make silent data poisoning increasingly feasible. Developers are urged to adopt stronger provenance checks and continuous auditing, as reliance on LLMs continues to expand for AI purposes across technical and everyday applications.
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