In December, suspected Russian hackers compromised SolarWinds Corp., a small software vendor, leveraging it to infiltrate the U.S. departments of Commerce, State and Treasury, as well as numerous private companies. An in-depth investigation revealed that the hack’s scope was larger than first known, with about one-third of those hacked having no direct connection with SolarWinds. Now, the Biden administration has selected White House National Security Council senior official Anne Neuberger to lead the response. Continue reading White House Names Official to Lead Probe of Expansive Hack

CES 2021 concluded last week in the wake of a challenging year marked by political unrest, social upheaval and a global pandemic that continues to impact our personal and professional lives. And much like all that we’re juggling in our current COVID world, the all-digital format of this year’s CES presented a number of unique challenges, most notably how to determine which products and services are most relevant to an M&E audience without the benefit of interacting up close in person. We’re still working our way through information from nearly 2,000 companies and will continue to report our findings on ETCentric. In the coming weeks, ETC will also publish a comprehensive overview of the show with a focus on four dynamic themes, rather than trends: Adaptation, Change, Snapback and Opportunity. In the meanwhile, we provide this snapshot of some of the key products, technologies, trends and announcements. Continue reading CES: Snapshot of All-Digital Show’s Announcements, Trends

Microsoft president Brad Smith’s CES keynote balanced Microsoft’s global footprint with the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities of technology, government and people. Smith illustrated these themes with sections on massive data, environmental impact, cybersecurity, privacy, artificial intelligence, regulation, and a call for a 9/11-type commission to protect the future by understanding the threats of the present. Smith wrapped his remarks with the words of John F. Kennedy from 1962 when he said, “Technology has no conscience of its own. Whether it becomes a force for good or ill depends on man.” Continue reading CES: Microsoft Keynote on Promises, Responsibility of Tech

Two CES 2021 panels addressed the current state and anticipated advances in quantum computing, which is already being applied to problems in business, academia and government. However, the hardware is not as stable and robust as people would like, and the algorithms are not yet up to the task to solve the problems that many researchers envision for them. This has not stopped entrepreneurs, major corporations and governments from dedicated significant resources in R&D and implementations, nor from VCs and sovereign funds making major bets on who the winners will be. Continue reading CES: Sessions Examine the Potential of Quantum Computing

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dramatically change the work landscape, Amazon plans to retrain 29 million people globally in cloud-computing skills by 2025. In addition to building on existing programs, Amazon will invest in new ones by teaming with schools, nonprofits and other organizations. Last year, Amazon earmarked $700 million to retrain 100,000 of its own workers. Some of those trained in the new programs may find employment at Amazon or in other companies that use Amazon Web Services. Continue reading Amazon Commits to Train Millions Worldwide in Cloud Skills

Congress gave unanimous approval to the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act, a law covering all the bases for the security of the Internet of Things. The Act was written with advice from Symantec, Mozilla and BSA | The Software Alliance among others, which contributed a list of considerations including secure development, identity management, patching, and configuration management. The law is perceived as establishing a baseline for IoT devices and products. Manufacturers can choose to release products that do not comply. Continue reading Congress Is United in Passing Internet of Things Security Bill

On the heels of a cyberattack on Twitter this summer, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) called for a dedicated regulator to oversee big social media platforms. In a 37-page report, the department described the July 15 attack in which accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and others were hacked and used to promote a cryptocurrency scam. Three people have since been charged with posing as employees to launch that attack, which relied on relatively simple tactics. Continue reading New York State Calls for a Dedicated Social Media Regulator

In the corporate work world, cybersecurity experts are worried about their limited ability to track how employees are working remotely, including whether they record conference calls, share corporate devices with family members or take photos of sensitive documents. Their actions could inadvertently put the company at greater risk to be hacked; organizations such as the National Bureau of Economic Research are tracking an uptick in hacking attempts while corporate security teams are devising new policies to head off the problems. Continue reading Cybersecurity Chiefs Concerned Over Risks of Remote Work

President Trump issued another executive order, this one setting a 90-day deadline for Beijing-based ByteDance to sell its U.S. TikTok operations. Trump has repeatedly cited national security as his rationale, but ByteDance denies it allows China access to TikTok data. This recent order specifies that ByteDance must destroy all data from U.S. TikTok users, inform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) when it has done so and re-certify this on a weekly basis. Last week’s order banned TikTok in the U.S. in 45 days. Continue reading Trump’s Latest Order Gives ByteDance 90 Days to Sell TikTok

Since 2015, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey and the company board have been warned annually about internal cybersecurity risks. In fact, there are about 1,500 employees plus contractors with the power to make changes in 186 million daily user accounts, and the company had experienced breaches due to internal sources. Then, on July 15, hackers tricked employees to compromise 130 Twitter accounts, including those of Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Elon Musk, stealing data from eight unidentified accounts. Continue reading Latest Twitter Hack Puts Spotlight on Internal Security Issues

In the quarter ending June 30, Twitter’s number of daily users rose 12 percent from the previous quarter to 186 million, while revenue dropped 19 percent from a year earlier to $683 million. The former number surpassed the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet whereas the latter was below the predicted $702 million estimate. It adds up to a $1.23 billion loss, impacted by a reversal of a $1+ billion tax benefit in 2019. Twitter has not provided forecasts for revenue or operating income in its latest earnings report. Continue reading Twitter Reports Increase in Daily Users But a Drop in Revenue

On Wednesday, scammers launched one of the most audacious attacks in recent memory, posting messages from the Twitter accounts of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Kanye West, Bill Gates and Elon Musk that if people sent Bitcoin, the famous person would send back double the money. The first attack targeted high-profile cryptocurrency leaders and companies, but soon broadened to include a list of prominent U.S. politicians and entertainment and tech executives. It appears that an internal Twitter account was involved in the attacks, but it has yet to be determined whether an employee was willfully complicit. Continue reading Prominent Twitter Accounts Hacked for Cryptocurrency Fraud

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will invest at least $1.4 trillion in the next five years in advanced technologies; more than a dozen Chinese municipalities this year pledged 6.61 trillion yuan ($935 billion) to achieve this goal, for projects on artificial intelligence, data centers and mobile communications. The country’s BeiDou navigation network will be complete this month when the final satellite goes into orbit. Premier Li Keqiang said the campaign is the Communist Party’s top priority. Continue reading Chinese Cities Invest in National Campaign for Advanced Tech

The United States became the last of the Group of Seven countries to sign on to the G7 AI Pact, an initiative focused on responsible development of artificial intelligence. The Global Partnership on AI will, after study, create recommendations on AI technologies that “respect privacy and civil liberties.” At a G7 meeting of science and technology ministers, U.S. chief technology officer Michael Kratsios and President Trump’s science adviser Kelvin Droegemeier will describe the U.S.’s involvement in the program. Continue reading U.S. Joins Global Partnership on AI to Check China’s Power

Many cybersecurity experts believe the current anti-hacking law, the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), is woefully out of date and applied too broadly by prosecutors and law enforcement. The Supreme Court is now taking another look at the law with a case in which a former Georgia police officer, Nathan Van Buren, was convicted in 2017 after allegedly selling information from a police database to an acquaintance for $6,000. Stanford University law professor Jeffrey L. Fisher is the lead attorney in the case. Continue reading Supreme Court Will Review Computer Fraud and Abuse Act