Markets in the Middle East will be affected first and worst The war against Iran is causing an air and shipping jam, but it will likely have little effect on the global technology market unless the conflict widens significantly, according to analysts.

'Expect elevated activity for the foreseeable future' Iranian hackers have launched spying expeditions, digital probes, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in the wake of the US and Israel launching missile strikes over the weekend, and security researchers urge organizations to expect more cyber intrusions as the war continues.

Iran's own technology reverse engineered and used against it

NCSC urges all to review posture as escalating tensions increase risk of indirect digital spillover The UK's cybersecurity agency is warning British organizations to brace for potential digital blowback as the Middle East conflict spills further into the online world.

The conflict in the Middle East is driving oil prices up in a midterm year when Americans are already focused on high energy bills.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day.

Official monitoring shows connectivity collapsing to near-zero Iran's internet has plunged into a near-total blackout, with traffic down to around 1 percent of normal levels and connectivity described as "close to zero" as authorities curb access amid widening regional conflict

According to aWSJreport, the United States used the artificial intelligence (AI) Anthropic Claude in the attack on Iran

Serangan ke atas Iran yang dilakukan Amerika Syarikat dan Israel hujung minggu lalu telah menyebabkan ratusan kematian termasuk pemimpin tertinggi Ali Hosseini Khamenei dan kanak-kanak sekolah

Hujung minggu lalu, Iran diserang secara mengejut oleh Amerika Syarikat dan Israel menggunakan alasan untuk mengelakkan diri mereka diserang terlebih dahulu

PLUS: AI claims 2,000 jobs at Australias WiseTech; Samsung wants humanoid robots for autonomous factories; Micron opens India plant; And more! Asia In brief One of Amazon Web Services availability zones in the United Arab Emirates is offline after the facility was hit by unknown objects.

A few hours later, the U.S. conducted a major air attack on Iran with the help of Anthropic's AI tools, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal

The all-out air assault on the Islamic Republic might be the biggest gamble of the presidents career.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social on February 27, President Trump ordered all federal agencies to "immediately cease all use of Anthropic's technology" following strong disagreements between the Department of Defense and the AI company. A few hours later, the US conducted a major air attack on Iran with the help of Anthropic's AI tools, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most sensitive pressure points in the global economy. Conflict in Iran could put it at risk indefinitely.

This coming week is a wildcard after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.

US president Donald Trump said a major combat operation against Iran had begun as he called for the countrys government to be overthrown.

Windscribe has released a specialized app update designed to restore access for users facing severe internet restrictions

A federal grand jury indicted three engineers on charges of stealing trade secrets from Google and other tech firms and transferring sensitive data to Iran.

Tiga jurutera didakwa tuduhan berkomplot untuk mencuri rahsia perdagangan daripada Google dan syarikat teknologi terkemuka lain

Walmart's earnings guidance fell short of Wall Street expectations, and U.S.-Iran tensions are in focus.

According to blockchain analyst DeFi Oasis , fewer than 0.04 percent of Polymarket accounts have captured over 70 percent of the platform's total profits, totaling over $3.7 billion. Last month, The Guardian highlighted the case of a Polymarket user who bet tens of thousands of dollars on "yes" to the question, "Israel's military action against Iran by Friday?" Within 24 hours, Israel bombed Iran, leaving hundreds dead

The Open Technology Fund warns that millions of VPN users in Iran could lose access to the tools as early next week if US agencies don't replenish the group's funds

Hackers from Russian, China, India, North Korea, and elsewhere are using Google's Gemini AI to augment their attacks, Google says

While publicly supporting protesters in Iran, Elon Musks X appears to have been selling premium accounts to regime officials

That means VPNs are legal in almost every country in the world. The countries that do restrict VPNs tend to be those where internet freedoms are already curtailed, like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea