WebProNews

Category: RemoteWorkingTrends

  • Fund Manager: Tech Not Headed For Crash, COVID Setting Up Growth Trends

    Fund Manager: Tech Not Headed For Crash, COVID Setting Up Growth Trends

    Tech stocks may be riding on record highs, with sky-high valuations, but investors shouldn’t fear another Dotcom Bubble crash, according to Terry Smith.

    Terry Smith is a well-known fund manager in the UK, and has been called “the new Warren Buffet.” Smith’s fund is heavily invested in tech stocks, leading to some concern that he’s vulnerable to another Dotcom Bubble crash. In a letter to investors (PDF), Smith addresses those concerns and explains why he doesn’t believe tech stocks are in jeopardy.

    One of the biggest factors Smith points to is how differently tech stocks, which often have intangible factors, must be evaluated. In so doing, he points out an inherent advantage of tech companies, whose trade is more often than not in information and intellectual capital.

    The main assets of the companies we seek to invest in are often intangible. Some examples of intangible assets are brands, copyrights, patents, know-how, installed bases of equipment which require servicing and maintenance and so produce customers who are locked-in to the supplier, software systems which are critical to a business or person and so-called network effects. They are distinct from tangible assets such as real estate, machinery and equipment, and vehicles.

    The return on intangible assets is higher as they mostly need to be funded with equity not debt and attract an appropriate return. Lenders seem to crave the often false security of lending against tangible collateral. Intangible assets can also last indefinitely if they are well maintained by advertising, marketing, innovation and product development and the duration of an asset is an important factor in figuring out its real returns.

    Interestingly, Smith also makes the case that COVID is setting up for some specific growth trends. Like many, he likens the current pandemic to the Spanish Flu, and draws a comparison to Henry Ford and the Model T.

    The assembly line was not invented as a result of the Spanish Flu pandemic — the Model T Ford was put on an assembly line in 1913 — but it accelerated its adoption.

    The increase in productivity this delivered helped to fuel an economic boom as the cost of production of items such as cars and household electrical appliances were reduced as the volume of production rose so that they became affordable by the middle classes for the first time. This helped to fuel the economic and stock market boom of the Roaring Twenties.

    Smith sees the possibility of something similar happening post-COVID as a result of remote work and digital communication becoming normalized. Salesmen will be able to meet with more clients virtually than they could in person, businesses will see reduced costs, factories will be able to maintain production despite using less staff and more.

    Obviously, as he points out, it’s not good news for all industries.

    Of course not all businesses benefit from these developments. The airline industry, hospitality, bricks & mortar retailing and office property may all have some very difficult problems to face, just as you wouldn’t have wanted to have been a saddler when Henry Ford and his competitors hit their stride.

    This analogy helps explain why Smith’s fund is so heavily invested in tech and why he’s not worried about a possible crash. Of course, as he humorously points out, no one’s predictions are perfect.

    I will leave you with this thought: What are the similarities between a forecaster and a one-eyed javelin thrower? Answer: Neither is likely to be very accurate but they are typically good at keeping the attention of the audience.

  • SpaceX Completes 17th Starlink Launch, Passing 1,000 Satellites

    SpaceX Completes 17th Starlink Launch, Passing 1,000 Satellites

    SpaceX has launched its 17th round of Starlink satellites, brining the total number to 1,015.

    Starlink is a satellite constellation aimed at bringing internet access to underserved communities around the world. The company’s service is available in some parts of the US, and recently became available in the UK, its first international market.

    Unlike traditional satellite internet, Starlink’s low-Earth orbit allows it to provide speeds and latency that rival Earth-bound broadband. What’s more, the service is reasonably priced, making it an ideal option for people who have traditionally struggled to have reliable internet access.

    With today’s launch, Starlink now has over a 1,000 satellites in orbit. While impressive, it’s still far short of the 12,000 satellites the company is already approved to launch, or the additional 30,000 — for a total of 42,000 — the company hopes to eventually send up.

  • FBI Warns of Increased Voice Phishing Attacks Over VoIP

    FBI Warns of Increased Voice Phishing Attacks Over VoIP

    The FBI is warning that cyber criminals are taking advantage of VoIP systems to target company employees in sophisticated voice phishing attacks.

    As the pandemic has forced unprecedented numbers of employees to work remotely, maintaining the same level of corporate security has become an issue. Cyber criminals are taking advantage of this by gaining access to VoIP systems and company chatrooms and then convincing employees to log into a fake VPNs in an effort to steal their credentials.

    The FBI issued an advisory to warn companies and help them mitigate the threat.

    As of December 2019, cyber criminals collaborated to target both US-based and international-based employees’ at large companies using social engineering techniques. The cyber criminals vished these employees through the use of VoIP platforms. Vishing attacks are voice phishing, which occurs during a phone call to users of VoIP platforms. During the phone calls, employees were tricked into logging into a phishing webpage in order to capture the employee’s username and password. After gaining access to the network, many cyber criminals found they had greater network access, including the ability to escalate privileges of the compromised employees’ accounts, thus allowing them to gain further access into the network often causing significant financial damage.

    In one instance, the cyber criminals found an employee via the company’s chatroom, and convinced the individual to log into the fake VPN page operated by the cyber criminals. The actors used these credentials to log into the company’s VPN and performed reconnaissance to locate someone with higher privileges. The cyber criminals were looking for employees who could perform username and e-mail changes and found an employee through a cloud-based payroll service. The cyber criminals used a chatroom messaging service to contact and phish this employee’s login credentials.

    The FBI recommends multiple mitigation steps, including enabling multi-factor authentication, starting new employees with minimal security privileges, actively scanning for unauthorized access or modifications, implementing network segmentation and giving administrators two accounts, one with admin privileges and the second for other duties.

  • Charter Ends Petition to Get Government Approval For Data Caps

    Charter Ends Petition to Get Government Approval For Data Caps

    Charter is ending its petition to get government approval for imposing broadband data limits on customers.

    Charter is somewhat unique in that it must get government approval before imposing data limits. While other internet service providers (ISPs) are free to do what the market will bear, Charter’s restrictions were imposed as terms of its purchase of Time Warner Cable.

    The company submitted its request in June 2020. The following month, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai requested public comment on Charter’s request. Since then, no forward progress has been made.

    In a very brief filing, Charter has withdrawn its request.

    Charter Communications, Inc. respectfully withdraws its petition in the above-referenced proceeding.

    While no reason was given, a likely motivation is the incoming Biden/Harris administration and, with it, a Democratic-controlled FCC. As a result, it’s likely Charter would have faced significant pushback in any efforts to impose data caps, especially during a pandemic when internet connectivity is more important than ever.

  • Is Microsoft Teams the Next Great Spyware?

    Is Microsoft Teams the Next Great Spyware?

    Microsoft Teams is one of the primary corporate communications platforms, but recent information suggests it collects disturbing amounts of information.

    Since the start of the pandemic, Microsoft Teams has experienced meteoric growth, surpassing rival Slack in the corporate messaging market. The company has continued to add features and abilities, making Teams a full-featured platform. As such, the product is increasingly important to Microsoft.

    In March 2020, CEO Satya Nadella said Teams had “become critical infrastructure for people who are doing remote work.” Similarly, Nadella told The Financial Times that he sees Teams being as big and important as the web browser.

    ZDNet’s Chris Matyszczyk decided to take a look at the information Teams collects and reported his “head is spinning” after what he found. Per Microsoft’s own documentation, the company collects the following information:

    Microsoft Teams Data Collection
    Microsoft Teams Data Collection

    As Matyszczyk points out, employees have little say in the data collection, a point confirmed by Microsoft. When he reached out to the company, a spokesperson told Matyszczyk:

    At Microsoft, we believe that data-driven insights are crucial to empowering people and organizations to achieve more.

    The spokesperson reiterated the company’s commitment to privacy, but made it clear the Teams administrator is the one that has all the control:

    We also believe that privacy is a human right, and we’re deeply committed to the privacy of every person who uses our products. Only the global administrator has rights to the analytics and reporting experience, which provides insights into the ways in which the organization is using Microsoft Teams, not the message content itself.

    In many ways, it’s easy to see why Microsoft has built such extensive data collection into Teams. The company is battling Slack for dominance of the corporate messaging market, and is facing further competition from up-and-coming rivals. Given Nadella’s prediction about the important of the platform, Microsoft clearly wants to provide every advantage it can to companies who use its product over competitors. One big advantage is a treasure trove of data that can give insight into how a company’s workers, especially remote workers, are doing their job.

    At the same time, there’s no denying that many companies have gone to extreme measures to monitor their remote employees, measures that have even been labeled “spying.” If Microsoft isn’t careful, it could find itself facing backlash for making it that much easier to spy on workers.

  • Dropbox Cutting 315 Jobs, 11% of Workforce

    Dropbox Cutting 315 Jobs, 11% of Workforce

    Dropbox has announced it is cutting some 315 jobs, or roughly 11% of its global workforce.

    In an 8K filing, Dropbox announced its plans to reduce its global workforce, citing “the next stage of growth “ as a motivating factor.

    In a email to employees, CEO Drew Houston explained the decision:

    Over the past year, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of running a tight ship and getting the company ready for the next stage of growth. This will require relentless focus on initiatives that align tightly with our strategic priorities, and having the discipline to pull back from those that don’t.

    Unfortunately, this means that we’re reducing the size of some of our teams. I realize this is incredibly hard on the Dropboxers and their families who are impacted, and I take full responsibility for this decision. This is one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make in my 14 years as CEO.

    To each of you who are affected, I am truly sorry. Please know that this is not a reflection on you. You’ve played an important part in the Dropbox story, and I will always be grateful for everything that you’ve done for this company.

    Dropbox has been an outspoken proponent of a remote workforce, transitioning to a “virtual first” workflow. The company has even released resources aimed at helping other companies do the same.

    It may seem somewhat strange for a virtual first company, especially one whose products and services are widely used and ideally suited to thriving in a pandemic, to be taking this step. At the same time, Steve Jobs was famously a proponent of knowing when to say “no.”

    It appears that principle is one Drew Houston is endorsing, in his efforts to keep Dropbox focused on its core business.

  • The Effect of Remote Work on the Wage Gap

    The Effect of Remote Work on the Wage Gap

    When the COVID-19 pandemic reared its head last year, millions of Americans were forced to make dramatic changes to their daily life. Students attended class through a computer, masks became a necessary accessory for outings, and large segments of the workforce did their jobs from home. Nearly 90% of global organizations either encouraged or required employees to work remotely. Of those companies, two thirds of them believe remote work will become a permanent fixture. Changes that many viewed as a coronavirus-induced aberration could become the new normal.

    What does this mean for the American worker? How will converting the home office into one’s only office change workplace dynamics? On the subject of persistent pay inequality, will remote work improve or escalate the problem?  As is the case with any form of change, the transition to permanent remote work has benefits and drawbacks. While good things can arise from the new system, it isn’t poised to iron out payment inequalities any time soon.

    On the side of workers, the major benefit of telework is elimination of commute. Not only does this free up time for employees, but it also spares the money they would have otherwise spent on fuel, vehicle maintenance, or toll fees. Once a worker knows they will rarely (if ever) have to visit their company’s office in person again, they no longer need to live so close to their employer. Despite recent business migrations, many companies are still headquartered in expensive cities like San Francisco, New York City, or Washington DC. These major metropolises have extreme costs of living and scarce affordable housing. If a remote worker no longer needs to live in those cities for their job, they are free to relocate to a less expensive location. 

    And relocate they do. Already as many as 23 million Americans may relocate, with city dwellers twice as likely to move. In the coming years, that number may increase to 3 or 4 times that number. Because part of an employee’s salary is contingent on local living expenses, some companies will cut pay for those who move. However, the drop in housing, living, and transportation costs can more than make up for the decrease in earnings. Location-based pay differences are a form of wage gap, but they are one capable of benefiting everyone. American workers could still save up to $4000 annually thanks to remote work.

    When it comes to the better known forms of wage gap (those incurred on the basis of gender and race), the picture is less than rosy. Though some experts think that telework will decrease hiring and management biases against women and racial minorities, women still earn less than men when both work in remote positions. In addition, many jobs women and racial minorities currently hold are less likely to allow them to work from home, preventing them from realizing the benefits discussed above. 

    Every new update to the world comes with pros and cons. The advent of telework is no different in that regard.

    the modern wage gap (infographic)
  • Microsoft Azure and AWS Big Cloud Winners Amid Pandemic

    Microsoft Azure and AWS Big Cloud Winners Amid Pandemic

    As the global pandemic has accelerated cloud adoption, Microsoft Azure and AWS have emerged as the clear winners.

    Flexera has released its 2021 State of Tech Spend Report. As expected, digital transformation and cloud adoption are on the rise. Some 56% of respondents said digital transformation was a top initiative for 2021, as opposed to 54% in 2020. Cloud adoption saw even greater jump, with 48% of respondents making it a top priority in 2021, vs 40% in 2020. Not surprisingly, work from home was the single biggest driver for change, with 74% citing it as the leading factor.

    Of the cloud providers, Microsoft Azure and AWS were the clear winners. Some 61% of respondents said they were going to increase spending on Microsoft Azure in 2021. Similarly, 57% plan on increasing their spending on Microsoft SaaS, while 54% plan on spending more on AWS. Google appears set for more modest gains, with only 31% planning on increased spending on Google Cloud.

    The forecast looks even worse for IBM and Oracle. Respondents plan on increasing their spending on IBM Cloud a mere 16%, with 14% planning to decrease spending. While 20% said they planned on increasing spending on Oracle Infrastructure Cloud, 13% plan on decreased spending. The outlook is even worse for Oracle Licensed Software, with 22% planning to increase spending, as opposed to 25% planning to decrease expenditures.

    Flexera’s report is an important look into the cloud industry and the ongoing digital transformation, and is even better news for Microsoft and AWS.

  • 29% of Professionals Will Quit Instead of Returning to Office

    29% of Professionals Will Quit Instead of Returning to Office

    Amid a global pandemic, remote work has become so popular that 29% of professionals will quit rather than return to the office.

    The coronavirus pandemic has forced record numbers of employees to work remotely. In many cases, companies have been surprised by the success of their remote work efforts and the corresponding productivity of their employees. A number of companies, including Twitter, Reddit, Dropbox, Microsoft, Facebook and others have committed to varying degrees of permanent remote work.

    Companies that have yet to permanently embrace telecommuting should take LiveCareer’s latest study to heart.

    At this point, we wanted to roll the dice and ask the respondents if they’d quit their job if not allowed to continue working remotely with their current employer—as many as 29% said, ‘YES.” That’s somewhat in line with Owl Labs’ 2020 report on the state of remote work that claims one in two people won’t return to jobs that don’t offer remote work after COVID-19.

    On top of that, a full 62% of remote staff also agree or strongly agree with the following statement: “In the future, I’ll give preference to employers that offer remote work.”

    These survey results should be a sobering wakeup call to companies insisting on resuming the status quo once the pandemic is over.

  • Datadog CEO: 2020 Was Big Win For The Cloud

    Datadog CEO: 2020 Was Big Win For The Cloud

    “This year we’ve seen fairly brutal changes in patterns of usage in the cloud,” says Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel. “As you can imagine, streaming (has increased). All of a sudden everybody’s kids are watching Disney+. Also, video conferencing, online gaming, and all of that spiked pretty quickly. The way we see that is it’s a big win for the cloud, in general.”

    Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel says 2020 was a big win for the cloud:

    This year we’ve seen fairly brutal changes in patterns of usage in the cloud. As you can imagine, streaming (has increased). All of a sudden everybody’s kids are watching Disney+. Also, video conferencing, online gaming, and all of that spiked pretty quickly. Even if you think of the domains that were negatively impacted by COVID such as travel when all of a sudden everybody had to cancel their travel, it actually meant a lot more activity for the online sites of the travel companies.

    So you see all these patterns of companies pointing up and spinning down. The way we see that is it’s a big win for the cloud, in general. Companies could change their minds they could actually scale up. They could decide to shift different services to have them delivered at different scales instead of having to spend three to six months trying to retool everything and ship that to the data centers. They could do that very quickly in the cloud. We see that as a big win for the cloud.

    Read: SolarWinds Hack Was Supply Chain Attack, Says Datadog CEO

    Next year we still see some scaling from those customers. We see some of the industries that were negatively impacted coming back online and getting back up. Across the board, we see more and more renewed urgency around digital transformation and migration to the clutches precisely because the cloud made it possible for companies to react so quickly. Those who are not on the cloud were more impacted than the others.

    Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel: 2020 Was Big Win For The Cloud
  • Dell Launching Video Conferencing Monitors With Microsoft Teams Support

    Dell Launching Video Conferencing Monitors With Microsoft Teams Support

    Dell is launching three new monitors with dedicated Microsoft Teams buttons and support for Windows facial recognition.

    Microsoft launched a Teams certification program in December for USB audio and video devices. As companies have turned to remote work to stay productive during the pandemic, Microsoft Teams has become an important component for many businesses. Dell has now become the first manufacturer to announce a line of monitors with a dedicated Teams button.

    Collaboration is easier and more efficient with the Dell 34 Curved Video Conferencing Monitors, the world’s first 34-inch curved video conferencing monitor certified for Microsoft Teams. Also available in 24-inch and 27-inch sizes, the monitors offer secure facial recognition sign-in and hands-free commands to provide enhanced security and convenience.

    As Microsoft continues to compete with Slack, programs like this give the company a significant advantage.

  • Verizon Changes Direction on 3G Shutdown

    Verizon Changes Direction on 3G Shutdown

    Verizon has announced it is delaying the shutdown of its 3G network indefinitely.

    Verizon had previously committed to shutting down its network at the end of 2020, after postponing it from the original date at the end of 2019. According to Light Reading, the company has now delayed its plans indefinitely.

    While the company did not give a reason for the decision, the most likely reason is because of the number of subscribers it still has on the aging technology.

    Verizon’s competitors are also planning on shutting down their 3G networks, with AT&T slated to do so in early 2022. T-Mobile, meanwhile, has only said its shutdown would occur over the next several years, but has not divulged a timeline.

    Wireless carriers have quite a bit of incentive to repurpose the spectrum being used for their 3G networks. Verizon, in particular, uses 850 and 1900 MHz spectrum for its 3G network. The company has struggled with its nationwide 5G network, which uses low-band spectrum to provide widespread coverage. Because Verizon’s 700 MHz spectrum is tied up with its 4G LTE network, it has had to rely on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to use that spectrum for both 4G and 5G traffic. Freeing up spectrum would give Verizon more options, especially with its low-band 850 MHz.

    Nonetheless, it looks like Verizon’s 3G customers have earned a reprieve for the time being.

  • iboss Raises $145 Million to Aid Remote Work Security

    iboss Raises $145 Million to Aid Remote Work Security

    Cybersecurity firm iboss has raised an additional $145 million as the company continues to focus on cloud-based security.

    With an unprecedented number of employees working from home, companies have been forced to rethink security. With on-premise security, hardware plays a critical role in keeping corporate networks and resources secure. In contrast, remote work relies more heavily on software-based security.

    Iboss is a cybersecurity firm specializing in cloud-based security. The company recently won “a coveted Platinum 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Award from American Security Today for Best Network Security Solution.” The company has now raised an additional $145 million in funding as it looks to eventually have an IPO.

    “COVID-19 has exposed massive vulnerabilities with outdated, hardware-based cybersecurity solutions and accelerated the timeline of moving away from the old method of securing physical office perimeters,” said iboss CEO Paul Martini. “Implementing modern architecture that provides network security in the cloud is the best way to ensure safety and productivity, even as remote workers rely more and more on fast connections for things like video meetings and online productivity apps.”

    Iboss’ funding round is further evidence of how important cybersecurity has become, especially with the rise of remote work.

  • FBI Warns of Cyberattacks Against Online Learning

    FBI Warns of Cyberattacks Against Online Learning

    The FBI is warning that hackers are increasingly targeting online learning as students get back to class after the holidays.

    While the success of remote work and distance learning have exceeded many people’s expectations, it has also provided new opportunities for hackers and bad actors. Companies have had to take measures to ensure employees can connect remotely and schools have worked to protect their classes from Zoom-bombing and other hacks.

    Even so, the FBI is warning that hackers are increasing their attacks.

    “It’s of greater concern now when it comes to K-12 education, because so many more people are plugged into the technology with schooling because of the distance learning situation,” FBI Cyber Section Chief Dave Ring told ABC News. “So things like distributed denial of service attacks, even ransomware and of course, domain spoofing, because parents are interacting so much more with the schools online.”

    While Zoom-bombing may be one type of attack, ransomware is another common, more dangerous attack. According to the FBI, there has been a nearly 30% increase in ransomware attacks against schools.

    “The broader the move to distance learning, I think the more attacks you’re going to see, just simply because there are more opportunities for it and it’s more disruptive,” Ring said. “Not everybody’s looking to make money when it comes to criminal motivations for these attacks. A lot are they’re looking to steal information. They’re looking to use that for financial gain. They’re looking to collect ransoms.”

  • Slack Outage Update – Significant Improvement (as of 2:28 PM EST)

    Slack Outage Update – Significant Improvement (as of 2:28 PM EST)

    From Slack via Twitter:

    For any customers unable to access Slack, please reload (CTRL/CMD + R) or restart Slack. If you encounter any trouble, please let us know at [email protected].

    We’ll have a separate post on this site for the outstanding calendar apps and email notifications trouble.

    We’re truly sorry for the disruption today. We’ll be back with a summary of this issue.

    Jan 4, 3:10 PM EST

    We’re seeing improvements with error rates on our side, and we believe affected customers should be able to access Slack.

    We’re continuing to work to resolve the trouble with calendar apps and email notifications.

    Jan 4, 2:28 PM EST

    For those customers who are unable to access Slack (e.g. seeing a blank screen or error), please try reloading (CTRL/CMD + R). If you can access Slack, please hold off on reloading at this time.

    In addition, Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar aren’t working as expected, and some email notifications (e.g. a notification of a new direct message in Slack) are failing to send.

    Note: We’ve updated this message to specify holding off on reloading if you can access Slack.

    Jan 4, 1:51 PM EST

    Some customers may be able to connect, but may also experience degraded performance. We’re continuing to work to resolve the issue.

    Jan 4, 1:00 PM EST

    Here is the latest from Slack:

    While the issue is largely still ongoing, we believe some customers may see improvement in connecting to Slack after a refresh (CTRL/CMD + R).

    Jan 4, 12:29 PM EST

    —

    There are no changes to report as of yet. We’re still all hands on deck and continuing to dig in on our side. We’ll continue to share updates every 30 minutes until the incident has been downgraded.

    Jan 4, 11:52 AM EST

    —

    We’re continuing to investigate connection issues for customers, and have upgraded the incident on our side to reflect an outage in service. All hands are on deck on our end to further investigate. We’ll be back in a half hour to keep you posted.

    Jan 4, 11:20 AM EST

    —

    We’re still investigating the ongoing connectivity issues with Slack. There’s no additional information to share just yet, but we’ll follow up in 30 minutes. Thanks for bearing with us.

    Jan 4, 10:44 AM EST

    —

    Customers may have trouble loading channels or connecting to Slack at this time. Our team is investigating and we’ll follow up with more information as soon as we have it. We apologize for any disruption caused.

    Jan 4, 10:14 AM EST

    —

    Original Post:

    Slack has been down since 10:14 AM ET which puts millions of remote working employees in a difficult situation. Most Slack users worldwide are having issues connecting to their accounts and sending messages.

    Slack has posted on Twitter that they are working on the issue.

    “Customers may be experiencing issues connecting and using Slack at this time. Our team is currently investigating and we’re sorry for any troubles this may be causing. Please see https://status.slack.com for updates.”

    When users tried to read messages Slack gave them this notification:

  • Zoom Executive Charged For Shutting Down Meetings For China

    Zoom Executive Charged For Shutting Down Meetings For China

    US prosecutors have charged a China-based Zoom executive for shutting down meetings on behalf of Chinese authorities.

    Xinjiang Jin, also known as Julien Jin, is accused of fabricating reasons to take action against various accounts, especially those critical of or commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre, according to The New York Times. Jin is accused of gaining access to meetings and then posting prohibited content, such as child pornography or terrorism-related items, in order to get the meetings flagged and shut down.

    “Americans should understand that the Chinese government will not hesitate to exploit companies operating in China to further their international agenda, including repression of free speech,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a statement.

    Zoom has since fired Jin and has placed other employees on administrative leave while it conducts an internal investigation. The company’s investigation has already shown that Jin accessed and shared user data with Chinese authorities, although Zoom says it was “fewer than 10 individual users” outside of China. This was despite Zoom’s efforts to restrict China-based employees from accessing the company’s global network.

    To date, Jin has not been arrested and will likely not be, given that he was aiding Chinese authorities. As the NYT points out, however, this is a significant escalation for US prosecutors, emphasizing the tightrope American tech companies operating in China must walk.

  • Wedbush: Microsoft Has ‘Unparalleled’ Cloud Advantages

    Wedbush: Microsoft Has ‘Unparalleled’ Cloud Advantages

    Dan Ives, Wedbush Senior Technology Analyst, is bullish on Microsoft thanks to its “unparalleled” advantages in cloud transition.

    Microsoft’s Azure platform is currently in second place in the cloud market, behind AWS. In spite of that, Azure has been growing rapidly, outpacing the market at large. In particular, Microsoft has been making headway at the expense of AWS and third-place rival Google Cloud.

    Ives doesn’t see that stopping, thanks to the unique position Microsoft is in, in combination with continued work-from-home trends.

    “Deal flow looks strong heading into the rest of FY21 as we estimate that Microsoft is still only ~35% through penetrating its unparalleled installed base on the cloud transition,” Ives said, according to Markets Insider. “To this point, we believe Azure’s cloud momentum is still in its early days of playing out within the company’s massive installed base and the Office 365 transition for both consumer/enterprise is providing growth tailwinds over the next few years.”

    As a result of these factors, Ives sees the company’s stock hitting $260 per share next year, an increase of 16% over the current price.

    “From a valuation basis, even if we take a 10%+ haircut to the cloud and enterprise growth drivers, we are still looking at what we value as a $1 trillion valuation cloud franchise for Redmond,” he added.

  • iPad Pro With 5G and Mini-LED Expected First Quarter 2021

    iPad Pro With 5G and Mini-LED Expected First Quarter 2021

    Apple is reportedly planning on releasing a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro in early 2021, featuring 5G and a mini-LED display.

    Many have been eagerly anticipating a refresh of Apple’s flagship iPad Pro in view of recent developments. The iPad Air was refreshed in September 2020, powered by a new A14 Bionic chip. Similarly, Apple unveiled its new line of Macs in November, powered by its M1 custom silicon. In contrast, the iPad Pro is still powered by the older A12Z Bionic chip.

    According to a report by DigiTimes, Apple is preparing the next version of the iPad Pro, one powered by a newer A14x chip. The new iPad Pro will also feature a mini-LED display, a major improvement over existing models. The new display will provide sharper, brighter colors, as well as improved power-efficiency.

    The new model will also reportedly be the first iPad with 5G connectivity. Given Apple’s efforts to position the iPad Pro — especially the 12.9-inch model — as a professional work device, including 5G makes a lot of sense.

    Apple often releases new iPad models in March, meaning we may have less than three months before the latest version of Apple’s revolutionary platform.

  • Zoom Planning Big Moves Against Microsoft and Google

    Zoom Planning Big Moves Against Microsoft and Google

    Zoom has experienced meteoric growth as a result of the pandemic, but it isn’t resting on its laurels as it plans to take on Microsoft and Google.

    Prior to the pandemic, Zoom was primarily an enterprise service, but its popularity has broadened significantly. Now the platform is used, not only for business and enterprise, but for remote schooling, religious services and socialization.

    The company is planning to capitalize on its success, moving into areas traditionally dominated by Microsoft and Google. According to The Information, Zoom is planning to launch email and calendar services. This would the put the company in direction competition with Microsoft Outlook, as well as Google Workspace.

    Zoom is expected to make the email service available to some customers as soon as next year, although there is less information on the calendar service. The company has also been hiring for positions involving integration with third-party services, such as Dropbox and Asana.

    Should The Information’s sources be correct, this would represent a significant move for Zoom and would likely be a big win, especially if the company can offer a well-integrated, comprehensive experience.

  • Cellebrite Did NOT Break Signal’s Encryption

    Cellebrite Did NOT Break Signal’s Encryption

    The BBC broke a story that seemingly indicated Cellebrite had broken Signal’s encryption — only it’s not true.

    Signal is a popular messaging app, boasting some — if not the best — security and end-to-end encryption of any messaging platform on the planet. It’s so secure that some military units, the US Senate and the EU Commission all recommend their members use it. In addition to politicians and military personnel, Signal is widely used by journalists, activists, political dissidents and others for whom privacy is paramount. The app even has features, such as the ability to blur faces in photos, to help protect that privacy.

    Celebrate, in contrast, is an Israeli company that specializes in hacking encrypted devices. The company’s products are used by the FBI, other law enforcement agencies, and have even been purchased by school districts for use on students’ phones.

    The BBC reported that Cellebrite claimed to have cracked Signal’s encryption, potentially casting doubt on the platform. In fact, the BBC’s article was entitled: “Signal: Cellebrite claimed to have ‘cracked’ chat app’s encryption.”

    Signal has written a blog post to set the record straight, calling the BBC’s headline “factually untrue.” Even the blog post Cellebrite wrote outlining their efforts, a post Signal called “embarrassing” (for Cellebrite), has been significantly altered and shortened, toning down the company’s claims from the original version (accessible via archives here).

    So what happened? Did Cellebrite break Signal’s encryption? The short answer is No.

    Cellebrite’s entire “success” depended on having physical access to an Android phone that was already unlocked with the screen on. In the realm of computer security, a simple rule is: If someone has physical access to your device, all bets are off. Once physical access is obtained, it’s usually only a matter of time before security measures are compromised to some degree or another.

    More to the point, however, Signal, like other similar apps, is designed to protect messages and communication from electronic eavesdropping — not from someone who has unfettered access to the devices the messages reside on. As Signal’s blog points out, it’s a simple matter to open up any app, take screenshots of the contents and thereby “compromise” the data on the device for which someone already has unlocked, unfettered, physical access.

    In essence, the Cellebrite Physical Analyzer does just that. It simply automates the process of accessing and recording the contents of apps on an unlocked phone. In the world of programming, this is neither complicated nor difficult.

    As a side note, if a person is concerned about that possibility, it’s easy to enable disappearing messages in Signal. This added step ensures there is nothing to recover from a device that has been physically compromised.

    As Signal’s rebuttal post point out, the entire episode is an embarrassing situation for Cellebrite, a company that so many law enforcement agencies depend on.

    It’s hard to know how a post like that got out the door or why anyone thought revealing such limited abilities was in their interest. Based on the initial reception, Cellebrite must have realized that amateur hour was not a good look, and the post was quickly taken down. They then must have realized that a 404 error isn’t any better, and replaced that again with a vague summary.

    It’s also hard to know how such an embarrassing turn of events became anything other than a disaster for Cellebrite, but several news outlets, including the BBC, published articles about Cellebrite’s “success,” despite the existence of clarifying information already available online.

    The takeaway is that Cellebrite essentially accomplished nothing with their so-called “success.” They did not break Signal’s encryption and they did not compromise the messaging platform. Cellebrite’s entire “success” was no more of an accomplishment than being handed an unlocked phone, perusing it and taking screenshots of the contents.

    John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at internet watchdog Citizen Lab, out of the University of Toronto, agreed with Signal.

    https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1341421365371559938?s=21

    The evidence is clear: Signal remains one of — if not THE — most secure messaging platforms on the planet.