Abu Dhabi Finance Week Exposed VIP Passport Details

Dark Reading

by Jai Vijayan

February 19, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW), a prominent financial summit in the Middle East, recently faced a significant data breach involving sensitive information of approximately 700 attendees, including high-profile figures like former British Prime Minister David Cameron and cryptocurrency executive Richard Teng. A security researcher discovered that personal details such as passport numbers and ID cards were exposed on an unprotected cloud server linked to ADFW. This vulnerability was accessible for at least two months before being reported to the Financial Times by the researcher, who had previously tried notifying ADFW without success. Upon notification, ADFW secured the server and confirmed that no unauthorized access occurred beyond the researcher's discovery. The exposed data also included thousands of summit-related documents, highlighting a lapse in operational security during a critical event aimed at establishing Abu Dhabi as a global financial hub. This incident underscores the importance of robust data protection measures, especially for high-profile gatherings attracting international attendees. ADFW, hosted by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), has rapidly grown since its inception in 2022, drawing over 35,000 participants from 180 countries last year. The event's significance lies in its role as a platform for fostering financial growth and innovation in the region. However, this breach poses a reputational risk to Abu Dhabi as it seeks to compete with established global

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Originally published on Dark Reading on 2/19/2026