Techmeme
May 17, 2020, 7:15 PM

Top News

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
US Secret Service memo warns a crime ring is targeting state unemployment insurance programs to commit fraud by using data belonging to identity theft victims  —  A well-organized Nigerian crime ring is exploiting the COVID-19 crisis by committing large-scale fraud against multiple state …
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
A look at the grassroots movement of professional home bakers that have found a home on Etsy, where they can continue to be productive under lockdown  —  Homebound consumers are flocking to the site for scones, biscuits, breads, muffins, doughnuts and...alkaline tahini spelt cookies.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Edison Mail says it has “rolled back” an iOS app update that gave a “small percentage” of users full access to other users' email accounts  —  Edison Mail is one of the more popular third-party email applications for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but an apparent bug in the service is raising major privacy concerns.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
General Atlantic to invest $870M in Reliance Jio Platforms at a $65B valuation, joining Facebook, Silver Lake, and Vista Equity Partners among Jio investors  —  Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms has agreed to sell 1.34% stake to General Atlantic, the latest deal in a series of deals …
Andreessen Horowitz:
Analysis of ten years of cryptocurrency discussions and funding data shows repeated cycles of rising crypto activity followed by eventual “crypto winters”  —  People who've been in crypto for a long time view the space as evolving in cycles, alternating between periods of high activity and “crypto winters.”
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Multiple supercomputers in some EU countries were hacked this week with crypto mining malware via compromised SSH credentials; evidence suggests a single actor  —  Confirmed infections have been reported in the UK, Germany, and Switzerland.  Another suspected infection was reported in Spain.
Edvard Pettersson / Bloomberg:
Ubisoft sues Apple and Google for selling Alibaba's Area F2 game, which it claims is a “near carbon copy” of Rainbow Six: Siege  —  Ubisoft Entertainment SA sued Apple Inc. and Google LLC, accusing the companies of selling a ripoff of its popular video game “Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege.”
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
John Borthwick, one of Giphy's early investors and board members, describes how the Facebook deal came about and says talks began in late March  —  John Borthwick was one of Giphy's first believers.  The company, which Facebook just bought for a reported $400 million, launched in 2013 out of Betaworks …
Nir Kshetri / The Conversation:
While only 1% of female internet security workers are in senior management positions, these underrepresented perspectives are critical in addressing cyber risks  —  Women are highly underrepresented in the field of cybersecurity.  In 2017, women's share in the U.S. cybersecurity field was 14%, compared to 48% in the general workforce.
Martin Giles / Forbes:
Gartner survey of IT leaders forecasts 8% YoY decline in global IT spending to $3.46T in 2020, vs. $3.76T in 2019, as budgets are slashed due to the pandemic  —  Another week brings another clear sign that CIOs are making deep budget cuts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daniel Zuidijk / Bloomberg:
Trump tweet accuses Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google of control by the “Radical Left”, says his administration is working to remedy “illegal situation”  —  - U.S. President scolds Facebook, Google, Twitter in a tweet  — Trump says he is ‘working to remedy this illegal situation’

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