By "BIZBITS" Emmanuel “Manny” de los Santos Rabacal

The UAE Cybersecurity Council has warned public and private institutions, as well as individuals, of the risk of cyber-attacks, especially during the New Year celebrations and the holiday season. The council highlighted the need for all authorities and institutions to activate their cyber-defence systems and raise the security awareness of individuals about cyber-attacks, as well as cooperate with relevant authorities to share relevant information proactively. It also noted that hacking tools have now become easier to use, enabling hackers to take advantage of the holiday season, especially with the increasing dependence on digital services. The council warned of all types of cyber-attacks against vital sectors, stressing the importance of adopting cybersecurity policies and protection mechanisms, as well as raising the awareness of public and private institutions and individuals, which will play a key role in protecting the community against malicious-cyber attacks. The council pointed out that many countries have witnessed the rapid digital transformation in services and daily transactions, which has increased the risks posed by cyber-attacks against various sectors, including electricity, gas and water. A recent survey by Cisco of general consumers across UAE revealed majority respondents are increasingly fearful of their connected devices being hacked and attacked. The survey, which polled 1,001 consumers, identified “red flags” consumers must stay vigilant of, especially as the country is moving into digitisation. (Arabian Business)

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James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” has passed the billion-dollar mark at the global box office, but sluggish sales in China could weigh on the film’s final haul. Worldwide ticket sales for the Disney film now stand at $1.03 billion, the combination of $317 million in domestic sales and $712 million from international markets. The milestone comes 14 days after “The Way of Water” debuted in theaters, five days faster than “Avatar” achieved the same benchmark in 2009. That places the film among the top five fastest movies to reach $1 billion in box-office sales. Cameron previously said “The Way of Water” would need to hit $2 billion in box-office receipts in order to be considered profitable. Box-office analysts believe Cameron’s flick could hit the lofty goal. “The Way of Water” has no direct or significant competition in theaters until mid-February when “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is released. Still, industry experts are concerned by muted ticket sales from China. The market was expected to be a major source of revenue for the sequel, but has underperformed expectations as Covid once again roils the region. (CNBC) 

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Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) on Monday reported record production and deliveries for fourth-quarter electric vehicles, but it missed Wall Street estimates, burdened by logistics problems, slowing demand, rising interest rates and fears of recession. The world’s most valuable automaker delivered 405,278 vehicles in the last three months of the year, compared with Wall Street expectations of 431,117 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data. The company had delivered 308,600 vehicles in the same period a year earlier. Tesla delivered 388,131 Model 3 compact sedans and Model Y sports utility vehicles (SUVs) compared with 17,147 Model X and Model S luxury cars. In total, Tesla made 439,701 cars in the fourth quarter. As logistical bottlenecks persisted - an issue CEO Elon Musk had said in October he was working to resolve - Tesla’s fourth quarter deliveries fell about 34,000 vehicles short of production. In the third quarter, the company deliveries were about 22,000 units fewer than production. Delivering fewer cars than it makes has been rare for the automaker, which in previous quarters delivered more or similar numbers to the vehicles produced. Among other headwinds for Tesla, analysts have cited demand weakness in the world’s top auto market China, as well as stiff competition from legacy automakers such as Ford Motor Co (F.N), General Motors Co (GM.N) and startups such as Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O) and Lucid Group (LCID.O). (Reuters) mannyrabacal1144@ gmail.com