Dependence leaves you vulnerable. The problem with digital and internet technology is that almost all of us are both dependent on it and ignorant of it. Wittingly and unwittingly we commit vast amounts of personal information to it daily. DarkMarket: Cyberthieves, Cybercops and You takes its title from a criminal website dedicated to exploiting this. Misha Glenny conducted more than 200 hours of interviews with players on both sides of the law.
The book is structured like a thriller. Starting with an English clergyman whose bank account is hacked, Glenny follows the money. The path leads from Yorkshire to Brazil, St Petersburg, Pittsburg, India and China, while DarkMarket's administrators are a shady cast including a Tamil crack addict, members of a Turkish crime syndicate, Odessa gangsters and a Polish spammer. One, it transpires, is an FBI agent who infiltrated the site and brought its downfall in 2008.
Understanding the phenomenon of DarkMarket is, according to Glenny, vital, "even if the evidence is partial, tendentious and scattered both in the virtual and real world". On the strength of this unnerving book it is impossible to disagree.
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Company%20profile
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
