Indian families in Dubai were in party mood as they helped light the way for this year's Diwali celebrations in spectacular style.
Members of the gated Masakin Al Furjan community came together to start the festivities early on Saturday ahead of the start of the five-day festival on Monday, October 24.
Dazzling dance displays and musical performances featuring a cast of 60 people — including 40 fleet-footed children — wowed guests, while a live DJ also took to the decks and a variety of games were organised.
A prayer ceremony was held during the event, as residents reflected on the significance of the religious holiday.
A traditional candle was lit to pave the way for the colourful celebrations.
The festival of happiness, prosperity and light is marked by Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists around the world.
Many honour Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth during the festival. It is said that the goddess looks for homes where she will be welcomed, so people leave their windows and door open and light lamps to welcome her in.
A whole host of activities will be held — from large-scale events to intimate family gatherings — as the UAE prepares to light up for Diwali.
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Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
