Ransomware — a novelty just a few years ago — is now endemic, like COVID. We'll have to learn to live with the malicious file-encrypting code, even as we struggle to limit it.
Why it matters: Ransomware attacks, which take an organization's data hostage and shut down its systems until the hackers receive payment, have exacted an escalating price on law enforcement, policymaking and financial resources around the world.
AUSTIN — On the ground at Consensus 2023, the gaze of crypto's longest-working denizens seems fixed on the bright future of the blockchain industry, despite a lousy 2022.
The big picture: "It feels as though the industry has lost its way," Michael Casey, chief content officer at CoinDesk, said yesterday, though he also sees this as a chance "to reflect on what went wrong," and "why we're here."
The Biden administration's cyber team arrived at the RSA Conference with — for the first time — a clear message about how each agency approaches the government's vast cyber mission.
Coinbase released a detailed response to the SEC's March Wells notice — the warning the securities regulator usually gives when it's likely to bring a lawsuit.
Why it matters: It marks a tone shift from the largest U.S. crypto exchange. The company seems to be finished with bowing and scraping, and now it's ready to fight.
With all that people talk about it, it's hard to believe that criminal charges haven't been brought against the world's largest crypto exchange.
Why it matters: The consensus among the U.S. ink-slinging class has been that it's "just a matter of when" a criminal complaint will be brought against Binance and its CEO, Chengpang Zhao (mostly known as CZ). Yet still, we wait.
AI's arrival on the music scene is inspiring wildly diverging responses from stars and performers, with some inviting the technology to share the stage and others preferring to remain a solo act.
Why it matters: The dawn of generative AI is raising all manner of legal issues, and the music industry is providing key early tests of the limits of existing protections for intellectual property.
A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of an antitrust suit against Meta Thursday, notching a win for the social media giant in a case brought by 48 U.S. states and territories over its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram.
Why it matters: Meta is developing a track record of winning antitrust cases in the U.S., even as it faces continued challenges in court and from regulators here and abroad.
As excited as Microsoft is about AI — and executives mentioned it dozens of times during Tuesday's conference call — it was the basics of corporate computing that drove the company's better than expected quarterly numbers.
Why it matters: Microsoft's long-term prospects could well be determined by the company's performance in the AI race — but the ups and downs of corporate tech spending are likely to be the key economic factor shaping its shorter-term destiny.
A pair of developments this week shows how the push to unionize tech workers has expanded beyond warehouse and retail staff to employees who sit closer to the tech industry's product and engineering hearts.
Why it matters: Organizing efforts are coming for office workers just as many tech companies are shedding staff, potentially giving employees new incentives to consider unions.
Wikipedia is one of the most visited websites across the globe, but how the nonprofit, community-driven online encyclopedia operates is still a mystery to most.
Why it matters: The content found on Wikipedia is becoming even more important as new generative artificial intelligence tools are being trained on data from the site.
The voicemail might be dead, but the quick little audio note is thriving.
Why it matters: People can increasingly drop quippy or professional self-recorded files on apps for work, dating and other personal comms, which many senders and recipients feel builds better connections.
Clubhouse, the audio app that captivated Silicon Valley during COVID lockdowns, on Thursday announced that it is laying off just overhalf of its employees.
What to know: CEO Paul Davison tweeted that the move was about forming a smaller team focused "relentlessly on product," rather than because of the economic environment.
Aurora Innovation, one of a handful of surviving startups working on self-driving trucks, is turning to leading global auto supplier Continental to help bring its technology to market.
Why it matters: Aurora is a software company — it needs the expertise of a proven automotive giant to industrialize autonomous truck technology at profitable scale.
Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guardsman charged in connection with the leaking of sensitive Pentagon documents, "may still have access to a trove of classified information," prosecutors said late Wednesday.
Driving the news: Prosecutors said in a court filing seeking Teixeira's continued detention that the IT specialist from North Dighton, Massachusetts, was a "serious flight risk" and an "ongoing risk both to the national security of the United States and to the community."
