Qatar Airways launches world’s first Boeing 777 Starlink-equipped flight

Qatar Airways has elevated the future of in-flight connectivity by flying the world’s first Starlink-equipped Boeing 777 from Doha to London. On Tuesday, October 22.

This achievement establishes Qatar Airways, the World’s Best Airline as voted by Skytrax in 2024, as an industry leader in introducing advanced technology onboard.

The airline is the largest and first carrier in the MENA region to provide passengers with Starlink ultra-high-speed, low-latency internet. Starlink is free for all passengers and runs from gate to gate.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar is also set to exceed its initial target of three Starlink-equipped aircraft by introducing 12 Boeing 777-300s upgraded with this innovative service by the end of 2024.

Qatar Airways has further committed to rolling out the technology on its entire Boeing 777 fleet in 2025, one year ahead of schedule with the Airbus A350 fleet following in the summer of 2025.

This significant move highlights Qatar Airways’ commitment to bridging the gap between the skies and the ground by offering ultra-high-speed, low-latency internet.

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Engineered by SpaceX, Starlink is the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit that will provide passengers reliable, high-speed internet so they can stay connected with friends and family, stream their favourite entertainment, watch live sports, play online games, or work efficiently at 35,000 feet – all for free and with a simple ‘one-click-access’.

Commenting on the development, Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive Officer, Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, said: “We are thrilled to launch our first Starlink-equipped flight, proving once again why Qatar Airways is at the forefront of the aviation industry.

“This milestone, paired with our commitment to rapidly roll-out Starlink across our entire modern fleet, demonstrates our relentless pursuit of offering passengers an in-flight experience that transcends the constraints of traditional air travel.

“By providing Starlink reliable, seamless internet on board, we are connecting people to the things they love the most even at 35,000 feet, making every journey with us a memorable one.”

Leveraging advanced satellites with its deep experience with both spacecraft and on-orbit operations, Starlink delivers internet access around the world, including over oceans and other remote locations previously unreachable by traditional cell or Wi-Fi signals.

In his remarks, SpaceX CEO,  Elon Musk said: “Overtime you’ll find it just gets better and better. This is the minimum and it only gets better from here”.

Qatar Airways launches world’s first Boeing 777 Starlink-equipped flight

Dangote refinery begins sale of petrol directly to marketers

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has begun distributing Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to some oil marketers directly rather than through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. 

While additional oil marketers were increasing their efforts to purchase the product directly from the facility, others were importing the commodity, with hundreds of millions of litres of imported PMS expected to arrive in Nigeria within the next two weeks.

It was gathered on Monday that no fewer than four ships carrying imported PMS arrived at seaports along the country’s borders between Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20.

The article referenced a document received from the Nigerian Port Authority indicating that around 123.4 million litres of PMS were berthed at two seaports to boost fuel supplies nationally.

The discovery confirmed the report, which stated that oil traders want to import the product to boost supply from the $20 billion Dangote refinery.

Meanwhile, while large oil marketers import the commodity, their counterparts have begun lifting PMS directly from the Lekki plant.

A top official at the Dangote refinery stated that marketers can now approach the corporation for direct business transactions on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.

“Marketers are already coming to the refinery to lift PMS. They are lifting directly from the refinery, not through a third party,” the reliable official, who spoke in confidence due to a lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, stated.

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The source, who could not reveal the price at which marketers were lifting the product, noted that the oil dealers would not come if the price was not favourable to them.

“We have reached agreements with some of the marketers, and more are still ongoing. I don’t know the exact price, but if the price is not good, the marketers would not be coming to us,” the official stated.

He emphasised that things are improving, especially as the Federal Government commenced the supply of crude to the facility.

Another official at the refinery showed one of our correspondents the trucks of some marketers loading the product directly from the plant without going through NNPC.

“Some of the trucks you saw there today were from marketers purchasing the product directly from Dangote, without recourse to NNPC. So the direct sale has started,” the source stated.

The official explained that due to the high demand for fuel in Nigeria and other countries, the Dangote refinery had focused on ensuring 53 percent of PMS production from its crude oil supplies.

“This could be reviewed in the future if the demand for other finished products increases more than the demand for petrol, but right now about 53 percent of our crude is used for petrol production, while other products account for the remaining percentage,” the official stated.

Speaking on if marketers had started the direct purchase of petrol from Dangote without recourse to NNPC, one of the notable major marketers in the country replied in the affirmative.

“Yes, everyone is in the process. This was advised that it would happen soon and is a normal business transaction,” the source stated.

Dangote refinery begins sale of petrol directly to marketers

Cybersecurity in the era of AI 

Colin Baumgart, CTO and Commercial Solutions Area Director at Microsoft South Africa

The cybersecurity landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the relentless evolution of technology and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats. In this dynamic environment, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal ally in the fight against cybercrime.

AI’s ability to analyse vast amounts of data at lightning speeds enables the identification of patterns and anomalies that may indicate a security breach, often before it occurs. This proactive stance is crucial in a time when reactive measures are no longer sufficient.

But in an era where digital threats are escalating in complexity and scale, we cannot just think about defending against cyber threats, we need to be advancing the way we design, build, test and operate our technology to meet the highest standards of security.  It is why, we have created the Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multi-year undertaking to safeguard our digital ecosystem.

It is an approach that is anchored in three fundamental principles: secure by design, secure by default, and secure operations, ensuring that security is not an afterthought but a foundational element of everything we create.

This commitment to cybersecurity extends beyond our own products. Through collaborations and partnerships, we are contributing to a broader security ecosystem, sharing threat intelligence and best practices. This collaborative effort is vital because cyber threats do not recognise boundaries and can ripple through networks, affecting countless users.

Recent cyber threats have shown a marked increase in both sophistication and frequency, posing significant challenges to cybersecurity defences worldwide.

A notable trend is the surge in mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and operational technology (OT) cyberattacks, which underscores the expanding threat landscape beyond traditional computing environments.

Our 2024 Digital Defense Report highlights an alarming rise in attacks, with incidents targeting customers globally, doubling to 600 million per day, revealing the growing collaboration between nation-state actors and cybercriminals.

Over 78 trillion security signals per day from the cloud, endpoints, software tools and our partner ecosystem inform our insights, and help us to understand and protect against digital threats and criminal cyberactivity.

Data breaches have also been rampant, with TechCrunch reporting over 1 billion stolen records in 2024 alone. These breaches have not only compromised personal information but have also emboldened criminals who profit from cyberattacks. As the threats evolve, so must the strategies to combat them, requiring a concerted effort from individuals, organisations, and governments alike.

According to Interpol’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2024, the rapid growth of cybercrime is further illustrated by the estimation that in 2023 there was a 23% year-on-year increase in the average number of weekly cyberattacks per organisation in Africa – this average was the highest in the world.

In this era of AI, we are all cyber-defenders. Despite this, 52% of employees still say their job has nothing to do with cybersecurity, according to The Phishing Benchmark Global Report.

There is a widespread recognition of the need to build a security culture to increase the understanding of security’s value to the business, as well as drive security awareness.

People, process and technology need to be in harmony – because businesses can have the most sophisticated technology and comprehensive processes in place to monitor, detect and respond to breaches, but if a person gives their password away or clicks on a phishing email, it becomes exponentially more difficult to protect the organisation.

Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that the individual user level is a person – and unless they have been trained to be security aware, they are capable of human error and are likely to remain the weakest link in the security chain.

Many organisations are investing in strengthening their employees’ cybersecurity knowledge and offer theoretical and practical training by carrying out spoof attacks, such as sending out phishing emails, evaluating who clicks on the links and then providing more in-depth training to plug identified gaps.

Employees are the first and last line of defence and it is why educating everyone on staying cybersafe is so important. It’s time to act now.

We recognise that the path to a secure future is paved with challenges and opportunities alike.

The same technology that empowers us can also empower adversaries. Cybercriminals are increasingly utilising AI to launch more sophisticated attacks, bypass traditional defences, and automate their malicious activities. This escalation necessitates a continuous evolution of our security strategies to stay ahead of these AI-generated threats.

As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, the partnership between AI and human expertise becomes increasingly important. AI can handle the heavy lifting of data analysis, but human judgment is irreplaceable when it comes to nuanced decision-making. Organisations must foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptability, empowering their workforce to leverage AI effectively.

We must remain vigilant, adapting our defences to counteract the evolving threats in the cybersecurity landscape. And as we navigate this shifting terrain, the synergy between AI and human intelligence will be the cornerstone of a resilient cybersecurity posture.

By embracing the transformative potential of AI while remaining cognisant of its risks, we are setting a new standard for digital defence—one that is robust, intelligent, and ever-evolving.

Our mission is clear: to secure our digital world, so that everyone, everywhere, can achieve more.