The Irish health service shuts down its IT system after a “significant” ransomware attack that is having a severe impact on health and social care services
Ireland's health service has temporarily shut down its IT system after what it described as a “significant ransomware attack”.
Sources: Colonial paid ~$5M ransom in cryptocurrency within hours of the attack, but the hackers' decrypting tool was so slow that it had to use its own backups
this should significantly escalate the political pressure to finally counter the ransomware ecosystem https://www.bloomberg.com/... Barbara Malmet / @b52malmet : Maybe it was a four hundred pound eigh...
A peer-reviewed study finds UK's NHS contact-tracing app reduced the second wave by roughly 25%, averting ~594,000 out of 1.89M cases from October-December 2020
The NHS contact-tracing app had a significant impact on lowering the spread of the coronavirus in the UK, a peer-reviewed paper has found.
Elon Musk says Tesla no longer accepts bitcoin for vehicle purchases due to its environmental cost, will look at more environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies
Tesla has stopped accepting bitcoin as payment for its cars out of concern that it will contribute to greater consumption of fossil fuels …
Sources: Binance is under investigation by DOJ and IRS; officials involved include those who probe money laundering and tax offenses
- Justice Department, IRS seek information about crypto exchange — The federal agencies haven't accused Binance of wrongdoing
Google is leading an effort, supported by many tech giants, to maintain work authorization for tens of thousands of people whose spouses hold H-1B visas
- Google is leading an effort to maintain work authorization for tens of thousands of people whose spouses hold H-1B visas …
Ireland's High Court rejects Facebook's bid to block Data Protection Commissioner's decision that may force the company to stop sending EU user data to the US
Ireland's High Court on Friday rejected a Facebook bid to block an inquiry by the Irish data regulator that could halt Facebook's data flows …
DarkSide, the gang behind Colonial attack, says it lost control of web servers and funds, as researchers wonder if it is due to US takedown or an exit scam
A day after US President Joe Biden said the US plans to disrupt the hackers behind the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack …
Tether, which claimed at launch that each tether was backed 1:1 with USD, releases a breakdown of its reserves, revealing that only 3.87% are in actual cash
Quick Take — Stablecoin issuer Tether has revealed a breakdown of its reserves. — As of March 31, 2021 …
Chemical distributor Brenntag paid a $4.4M ransom in bitcoin to the DarkSide ransomware gang, who claimed to have stolen more than 150 GB of sensitive data
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer :
Amazon says it will hire 10,000 more people in the UK, taking its total headcount in the country to 55K by the end of 2021
- Company said Thursday it would hire 75,000 logistics workers — U.K. jobs to be in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cambridge
Foxconn reports Q2 net profit of $1B on revenue of $48B, up 45% YoY, and says global supply crunch will worsen this quarter
- Supply shortages will be more severe in 2Q than 1Q: Liu — Hon Hai shares are down 20% from March high as crunch worsens
Coinbase reports Q1 revenue of $1.8B, up 207% QoQ, monthly transacting users of 6.1M, up from 2.8M last quarter, says it plans to list dogecoin in 6-8 weeks
- In Q1, Coinbase reported earnings per share of $3.05, the company reported on Wednesday. — It also brought in $1.80 billion of revenue …
Substack acquires People & Company, which focuses on community building, to expand its support infrastructure for writers, including workshops and legal support
Writers love pie — In 2014, journalist Anna Codrea-Rado, publisher of Lance, pitched a story to editors at a major news outlet …
Jeff Blackburn, an S-team Amazon exec who had departed in February, is returning as SVP of Global Media and Entertainment, overseeing Prime Video, Twitch, more
Jeff Blackburn, a former high-level Amazon exec who just recently left after more than two decades, is coming back …
Amazon says it is hiring 75,000 workers, representing 8% of its US workforce, and offering an average of $17/hour, above its typical $15/hour starting wage
Sebastian Herrera / Wall Street Journal :
Starlink review: nice hardware yielding a moderately fast, very inconsistent connection, but has line-of-sight issues with even a tree able to block the signal
The problem with reality is that it is very irritating. — In our imaginations, we might dream of a satellite internet system … Tweets: @russellbrandom , @reckless , @dcseifert , @jsnell , @jaycuthre...
Biden signs EO to strengthen US cyber defenses, including the development of cybersecurity standards for software companies that sell to the government
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post :
Apple says it parted ways with recent hire Antonio García Martínez, an ex-Facebook staffer and author, after employee petition citing “misogynistic statements”
unless a woke mob forms a boycott campaign, in which case termination shall be immediate. Heidi N. Moore / @moorehn : I have seen the “woke mob” discourse around a man who literally wrote a book sayin...
SpaceX signs a satellite connectivity deal with Google Cloud, as part of which SpaceX will install Starlink terminals at Google's data centers around the world
bringing you seamless connectivity to the cloud and internet ↓ https://www.cnbc.com/... @horserumba : @Hedera $HBAR omg! 🔥🔥🔥Google is part owner of @Hedera on the governing council! @SpaceX 🚀🚀🚀 https:...
Disney+ misses on Q1 subscriber estimates, reaching 103.6M subscribers vs. 109.3M expected; ESPN+ subscribers rose 75% YoY to 13.8M, Hulu grew 30% YoY to 41.6M
Vitalik Buterin sells large amounts of SHIB, AKITA, and ELON tokens, sent to him by coin creators, for ~$60M worth of ETH, and donates the proceeds to charities
The Block :
Airbnb reports Q1 revenue of $886.9M, up 5% YoY, gross booking value of $10.3B, up 52% YoY, but net loss tripled to $1.1B, largely due to debt repayments
Jordan Novet / CNBC :
DoorDash reports Q1 revenue of $1.08B, up 198% YoY, and a net loss of $110M, blaming a shortage of drivers, but raises forecasts; stock up 8%+ after hours
Amelia Lucas / CNBC :
Discord announces Stage Discovery, a tool to help people find communities through live audio events, and says it will soon test paid, ticketed audio events
their new Live Stage discovery features leapfrog @TwitterSpaces. Will social audio be Discord's migration path to mobile to grow beyond its desktop gaming roots? https://techcrunch.com/... /by @tayhat...
MasterClass, which offers celebrity-taught online classes, raises $225M Series F led by Fidelity Management, sources say at a $2.75B valuation
Actor claiming to be voice behind TikTok's text-to-speech feature sues TikTok for “irreparable harm”; says recordings she made were never authorized for TikTok
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge :
Amazon Echo Buds (2nd gen) review: affordable, better sound, smaller, True ANC, optional wireless charging, but middling battery life and mediocre call quality
Billy Steele / Engadget :
Bumble stock falls 14%+ on Thursday to $40.48, below its IPO price, after beating Q1 revenue expectations Wednesday but issuing a more cautious Q2 guidance
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC :
South Korea plans to spend around $450B to build the world's biggest chipmaking base over the next decade; Samsung to boost spending by 30% to $151B by 2030
Pinterest says it will test livestreaming events this month through a three-day virtual event featuring sessions with around 21 top creators
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch :
Global notebook PC shipments grew 81% YoY in Q1; both Apple, with 5.7M shipments, and Acer, with 4.9M shipments, grew 94% as HP grew 91% with 15.4M shipments
Ford says it will start rolling out OTA updates to its vehicles at scale, including adding Alexa later this year to 700K eligible vehicles
Chinese regulators expand scrutiny to ride-hailing sector, warning execs from Didi Chuxing and nine other companies against price fixing and monopolizing data
Christian Shepherd / Financial Times :
Collective, a subscription-based service that handles back office tasks like accounting for the self-employed, raises $20M Series A led by General Catalyst
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch : Tweets: @ugurkaner and @ditzikow Tweets: Ugur Kaner / @ugurkaner : I feel proud to announce @CollectiveFin's $20M Series A, led by @gcvp, @aplusk, @expa, @QEDInvestors, @G...
Twitter has announced six acquisitions so far in 2021, the most the company has made in a calendar year since 2015, as part of its new product push
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg : Tweets: @stacey_conti , @twittercomms , @ashevat , @nedsegal , and @kurtwagner8 Tweets: Stacey Fix Conti / @stacey_conti : Proud of our acquired teams! Proud of our CorpDev ...
Axtria, which makes data analytics software for life sciences companies, raises $150M, sources say at a valuation close to $1B
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.