Trump backs out of Christchurch online terror pledge May 15, 2019 The United States has refused to join other nations in signing a pledge to tackle the spread of violent and extremist content online. The White House said while it supported the document’s overall goals, it is “not currently in a position to join the endorsement”. Named the Christchurch Call, the statement asks governments and companies [...]
Private equity owner of NSO Group pledges privacy crack down after Whatsapp hack May 15, 2019 Novalpina Capital, which owns a large stake in Israeli spyware firm NSO Group – whose technology was used to hack Whatsapp – has promised to crack down on the company’s approach to privacy. The UK private equity fund said it would bring the company in line with UN privacy principles and reform its governance to [...]
Cybersecurity: why you’re right to be cautious May 13, 2019 | City Talk By Ian Hall (Morning Wire, for the CFA Institute) The threat of cybersecurity and data-privacy attacks is under-estimated and growing, and organisations and individuals should proceed with extreme care in respect of digital information security, according to a Switzerland-based expert. David Basin, Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, used a seminar at the 72nd [...]
Uber braced for second day of trading after IPO takes a wrong turn May 13, 2019 Uber is braced for its second day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange today after its shares veered off course in a disappointing initial public offering (IPO) on Friday. Shares in the lift-hailing giant closed down 7.6 per cent after its $82.4bn (£63.2bn) float failed to impress investors last week. Read more: Four [...]
Why did Lush, Apple and Wetherspoons quit Twitter? May 13, 2019 Tapping into a dissatisfaction with social media, cosmetics firm Lush recently announced that it would move away from it, justifying its decision by drawing attention to the financial and ethical cost of using social media. The move marks Lush as the latest brand to take a new approach online. It’s a global brand, whose environmentally-conscious [...]
Uber shares debut on New York Stock Exchange in $82.4bn IPO May 10, 2019 Shares in ride-hailing giant Uber began trading on the New York Stock Exchange today, after the firm priced its stock at the lower end of its target range. Uber priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $45 per share after setting a range of between $44 and $50. Read more: Uber's float is a huge [...]
Uber’s float is a huge gamble on the future of transport May 10, 2019 Every time you jump into an Uber, your ride is essentially subsidised by venture capitalists who prop up the loss-making outfit in the hope of riches down the road. Later today in New York, many more hopefuls will get the chance to back the immensely-popular-yet-controversial tech firm when it finally comes to market. Similarly [...]
Facebook co-founder joins chorus of voices to break up the company May 9, 2019 Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has echoed calls to break up the social media giant amid a rise in anti-trust and data privacy concerns surrounding big tech. Hughes, a former roommate of chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, called his power "unprecedented and un-American" in an opinion piece for the New York Times. "We are a nation with [...]
Twitter suspends 166,000 accounts in battle against online terrorism May 9, 2019 Twitter suspended more than 166,000 accounts in the last six months of 2018, it revealed today, as it makes progress on battling terrorism on its platform. Read more: Facebook bans Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos The number of users banned from the social network amounted to a 19 per cent drop from the first half of [...]
Facebook taps London talent for its global Whatsapp payments drive May 7, 2019 Facebook has chosen London as the global centre of a payments push for messaging platform Whatsapp, as the capital gains another boost in tech workers and post-Brexit confidence. Whatsapp, which is owned by Facebook, will hire around 100 people in an expansion of its workforce by about a quarter, the Financial Times first reported. Read [...]