Microsoft 365 Productivity Score feature, introduced last month, criticised for analysing 'extensive data' on individual employees' activities
TECHNOLOGY POWERING BUSINESS
November 2020
Brand Voice
Specops Software – Password Security: How to Use the NCSC Password List in Your Active Directory
How strong is your business’s password security? Learn how including the NCSC Password List in Your Active Directory can have a dramatic positive impact on your password security
Facebook Removes Thousands Of Illegal UK Ads
Facebook removes more than 2,000 ads exploiting health fears and selling dubious Covid-19 cures in first half of 2020 as regulators tighten grip
Huawei Founder Calls Honor Sale A ‘Clean Break’
Sell-off of Honor consumer brand should allow newly independent company to 'very quickly' resume production formerly hobbled by US sanctions, says Ren Zhengfei
European Commission Approves French Fibre Acquisition
Altice/SFR gets the go-ahead to buy wholesale rival Covage, but will spin off its fibre-to-the-office operations into an independent unit
Disruption Continues Two Weeks After Manchester United Cyber-Attack
Manchester United has confirmed it was struck by a 'sophisticated' cyber-attack but declined to comment on reported ransom demands
Government Told To Open Up On AI Decision-Making
Government advisory body publishes roadmap to 'responsible' use of AI and algorithms, following summer chaos over computer-determined school grades
North Korean Hackers Target AstraZeneca For Covid Vaccine
North Korean hackers pose as recruiters on LinkedIn and WhatsApp, to send job offer documents laden with malware to AstraZeneca staff
UK To Implement Tougher Competition Rules On Tech In 2021
Competition and Markets Authority to implement tougher competition laws on tech giants such as Facebook and Google in 2021
Facebook’s Libra To Launch In January – Report
Libra to launch as early as January, but the Facebook backed cryptocurrency will be scaled back even further after regulatory and political concerns
Foxconn Moves Some Apple Production To Vietnam
Foxconn is reportedly moving the manufacturing of some iPads and Macbooks out of China to Vietnam, at the request of Apple itself
Trump Administration Grants ByteDance TikTok Sale Extension
ByteDance granted seven day extension by Trump administration of TikTok sale order to new company including Oracle and Walmart
Tech Giants Face Fines Or Even Break-up, Warns EU Digital Head
New European rules to rein in big name tech firms will include the power to potentially break-up firms, EU digital chief warns
Amazon Web Services Restored After Outage
Amazon's cloud service on Wednesday suffered a widespread outage impacting parts of the Internet, but normal AWS operations have now been restored
Coronavirus Pandemic Impacts Full Fibre Broadband Rollout
Government finances are hurting. Delay to ambitious plan to roll out gigabit broadband to every home in UK by 2025, after pandemic spending review
Bristol City Council Data Breach Revealed Names Of Disabled Children
Mass email from the council contained the names and email addresses of children with special educational needs and disabilities
France Warns Big Tech To Pay Digital Tax In December
Pay up, pay up. France issues notices to big name tech firms such as Amazon and Facebook, to prepare to pay digital tax levy from next month
Twitter To Relaunch Verification Scheme In 2021
New Twitter policy on how prominent people and organisations can earn the blue tick verification mark, is to be launched next year
India Bans Another 43 Mobile Apps In China Confrontation
Fresh tranche of mobile apps (most of them Chinese) have been banned by the Indian government amid ongoing dispute with Beijing
Elon Musk Overtakes Bill Gates As World’s Second Richest
Tesla share price rises continues to build the personal fortune of Elon Musk, placing him in second place behind Amazon's Jeff Bezos
UK Telcos Face Large Fines For Using Huawei Kit
New security bill promises to fine big British telecom firms over £100,000 a day, if they continue using Huawei equipment
OneWeb Emerges From Bankruptcy For UK Space Push
Government confirms it has secured satellite internet firm OneWeb to help fulfill UK's “ambitions to be at the forefront of space technology”
IBM To Axe 8,000 Staff In Europe – Report
Big Blue is reportedly planning to lay off 8,000 staff across Europe, with 2,000 positions expected to go in the UK alone
Apple Security Boss Charged With Bribery
Head of security at Apple charged with bribery, over allegations of donation of 200 iPads in return for four concealed-weapon permits for Apple staff
Hackney Council Confirms Hack Still Causing ‘Significant Disruption’
London Hackney council confirms that a 'serious cyberattack' in October is still causing 'significant disruption' to services
Will Privacy Kill the Open Web?
Privacy and how the personal data of individuals is collected, stored, manipulated and shared is governed by GDPR. However, some high-profile data compliance breaches have thrown into doubt the effectiveness of the regulation. And as t ...
Brand Voice
The benefits of adding cloud telephony to Microsoft Teams
Remote working has been on the rise for some time, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend. A recent survey conducted by 451 Research found that 67% of organisations expect remote working policies to remain in place either ...
UK Government, Facebook, Google, Twitter To Tackle Covid Misinformation
Major social networking platforms team up with the UK government and Full Fact Chariy to fight misleading information about Coronavirus
US Regulators Begin Consultation On Self-Driving Car Safety
Authorities begin public consultation on ways to improve self-driving car safety, ahead of new safety standards for autonomous vehicles
World’s Worse Passwords Revealed By NordPass
Oh dear, Despite persistent cyber threats, research from NordPass reveals the most commonly used password is still '123456'
UK To Create National Cyber Force, Amid £16.5bn Defence Rise
UK's biggest defence investment since Cold War, to combine cyber operations of UK military and intelligence in one unified command
Fortnite To Return To iPhones Via Cloud Gaming Service
Look Ma, no app...Epic Games bypasses Apple App Store ban on Fortnite by making it available via Nvidia's game streaming service
Russia Readies Law So Moscow Can Block Social Networking Giants
No love for Twitter. Russia's parliament has prepared draft legislation that will allow Moscow to ban US social networking giants
Amazon Sacks Staff At Drone Division – Report
Has Amazon's ambitions to build its own inhouse drones crashed and burned? Retail giant lays off staff and turns to outside specialists
Apple Pays $113 Million To Settle iPhone Slowdown Probe
Deliberately policy by Apple to slow down older iPhone models, results in another financial settlement for investigation by US states
Elon Musk To Overtake Zuckerberg As Third Richest Person
Rising Tesla share price raises Elon Musk total net worth by $15 billion, putting him behind Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates in terms of wealth
Twitter, Facebook CEOs Face Senate Grilling
Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey face four hours of questioning on Tuesday by US Senate members over content moderation and who makes content decisions
Huawei Helps Support 51,000 UK Jobs, Study Finds
Independent study from Oxford Economics reveals scale of Huawei's contribution to UK plc, including payment of £1.1 billion in tax revenues
Apple Lowers Commission Charges For Small Developers
Sorry Epic Games, not you. Developers who earn less than $1m per year will see Apple commission charges drop from 30% to 15%
President Trump Fires CISA Cyber Boss Chris Krebs
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) boss Chris Krebs has been 'terminated' by Trump after he contradicted President's claims
Twitter Launches Disappearing ‘Fleets’ Globally
Watch out Snapchat, Instagram, as Twitter launches its disappearing tweets globally, after testing in selected countries earlier this year
SpaceX, NASA: Four Astronauts Arrived Safely At ISS
As Elon Musk reportedly goes down with Coronavirus, SpaceX and NASA mission safely delivers astronauts to international space station
Twitter Appoints Famed Hacker As Security Head
Peiter Zatko, otherwise known by hacker handle 'Mudge' will report directly to CEO Jack Dorsey after conducting review of Twitter operations
Huawei Sells Honor Smartphone Unit To Chinese Consortium
Chinese networking giant Huawei sells budget-focused Honor smartphone division to consortium of agents and dealers to keep brand alive
Apple Hits Back At iPhone Tracking Complaints By Privacy Group
Two privacy complaints filed by Max Schrems campaign group draws robust response from Apple, which labels allegations as 'factually inaccurate'
Tom Siebel-Founded AI Start-Up C3.ai Files For Public Offering
Predictive analytics start-up C3.ai, founded by Tom Siebel in 2009, plans to list on NYSE amidst strong demand for new tech stocks
Silicon UK In Focus Podcast: Cornish Lithium
The battery technologies that power our modern world rely upon lithium as a core component of their design. To gain an insight into how a UK-based lithium source in Cornwall is developing, Silicon UK spoke with Jeremy Wrathall, Founder ...
Google, Justice Department Clash On Data Protection Order
Google and US Justice Department disagree on access to confidential data supplied by Microsoft and others, as landmark antitrust case gears up
Google Apologises Over Leaked EU Strategy Document
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai apologises to EU commissioner Thierry Breton over leaked document recommending 'pushback' over new competition rules
US Offers Reprieve In TikTok Legal Battle
US Commerce Department delays enforcement of TikTok US ban 'pending further legal developments' as China's ByteDance launches appeal
Pandemic To Redefine Security Landscape Next Year, Researchers Say
Covid-19 likely to have widespread effects on security priorities, as companies shift to remote working and hackers focus on sensitive biotech data
Microsoft Warns Of Russia, North Korea Attacks On Vaccine Research
Russia and North Korea carrying out cyber-attacks on pharmaceuticals companies and researchers involved in coronavirus vaccine research, Microsoft says
Swedish Regulator To Challenge Court Order On Huawei Ban
After Huawei wins court appeal against Swedish telecom watchdog's exclusion for 5G, the watchdog confirms it will challenge it
Openreach Engineer Stabbed Five Times Amid 5G Violence
Disgraceful. Engineer suffered five stab wounds amid violent attacks against telecom engineers earlier this year, Openreach boss confirms
ICO Hits Ticketmaster With £1.2m Data Breach Fine
Data breach on website in 2018, results in the ICO data protection watchdog hitting Ticketmaster with a hefty £1.25 million fine
Public Sector Leaders Admit Personal Toll From Pandemic
Pure Storage study finds only 6 percent of public sector leaders admit they were extremely prepared for the Coronavirus pandemic
IBM Warns Global Business Services Staff Of Redundancies
More job cuts are looming at Big Blue as employees of Global Business Services division are warned of headcount reduction
Google Photos To End Unlimited Cloud Storage
Unpopular move. No more unlimited free photo storage from June 2021 Google announces, ending years of free cloud storage for photos and videos
Focus On Cyber Defence Rather Than Cyber Attack – Former NCSC Head
'Don't weaponise the net'. Former head of UK's NCSC urges governments to focus on cyber defence than cyber offensive capabilities
Google Critics Urge EU Antitrust Action
Joint letter from 165 companies and industry bodies sent to EU antitrust chief, urges fresh antitrust action against Google
Facebook Extends US Political Ad Ban For Another Month
Email to advertisers confirms Facebook plan to extend its ban on political adverts in the United States for another month
ByteDance Challenges Trump Over TikTok Ban
'Now Donald Trump has lost the US election, are we still going to be banned?' TikTok owner ByteDance asks in legal challenge
Ring Warns 350,000 Smart Doorbell Customers Over Fire Risk
Amazon's smart home device maker Ring has issued new installation instructions for 350,000 doorbells in the United States, after some catch fire
Honda To Mass Produce Level 3 Self Driving Cars
Move over Tesla. Honda says it will be the first car maker in the world to mass produce a level 3 autonomous car to self drive on motorways
Apple Unveils Mac Computers Powered By M1 Chip
Tuesday's 'One More Thing' launch event sees Apple reveal the first MacBook Air and other Macs with its inhouse designed CPU
TSMC Seeds Arizona Subsidiary With $3.5 Billion
Trump plan to bring manufacturing back to US sees Taiwanese chipmaker provide $3.5 billion for promised $12 billion Arizona factory
EC Hits Amazon With Competition Rule Violations
European Commission charges Amazon with breaking competition in retail space, but the firm insists consumers have choice
Huawei To Offload Honor Smartphone Division – Report
Budget smartphones. Networking giant Huawei is reportedly close to selling its Honor smartphone unit to a number of Chinese buyers
Virgin Hyperloop Pod Enjoys Successful Passenger Test
Watch out Elon? Virgin's futuristic transportation system moves one step closer after a successful test with passengers in Nevada desert
Apple Issues Warning To Key iPhone Supplier
Amid talk of iPhone 12 supply shortages, Apple puts key supplier Pegatron on probation for breaking supply chain rules about workforce
Apple Faces 5G iPhone 12 Supply Shortages As Holidays Loom
Apple reportedly ramping up production of older iPhone models to offset supply constraints of the new iPhone 12, amidst ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
European Commission Warns Of Rising Pandemic Scam Risk
European Commission tells internet media and e-commerce companies to prepare for increase in Covid-19-related scams and disinformation as cases rise
Google Will Not Move To Dismiss US Antitrust Case
Google tells court it does not intend to move to dismiss landmark US antitrust case, as company and Justice Department prepare opening moves
Veteran Game Maker Codemasters Set For US Acquisition
Warwickshire-based Codemasters in talks for £739m sale to US-based videogame giant Take-Two, parent of Rockstar Games and 2K
Capcom Latest Multinational To Be Hit By Disruptive Cyber-Attack
Resident Evil and Street Fighter maker Capcom hit by attack that disrupts internal systems, while researchers say Ragnar Locker ransomware group is to blame
US Government Seizes $1bn In Silk Road Bitcoins
US investigators seize more than $1bn in Bitcoin from account linked to Silk Road online black marketplace, the largest Bitcoin seizure in history
WhatsApp Setting To Remove Messages After Seven Days
Messaging titan to implement setting to allow for “disappearing messages” option after seven days, in an effort to bolster privacy
Police Ask Residents To Link Smart Doorbells To Surveillance Hub
Privacy nightmare? Police ask residents in US city to link their smart doorbells to surveillance hub to reduce local crime
Elon Musk Admits Tesla Was ‘A Month Away’ From Bankruptcy
The CEO of the world's most valuable car maker has admitted Tesla was at one stage in serious danger of running out of money
Coronavirus Posts Sees Twitter Permanently Suspend David Icke
Former footballer and conspiracy theorist David Icke, who believes reptilians control the planet, permanently suspended by Twitter
Japanese Nuclear Regulator Suffers Cyber Attack – Report
Nuclear agency in Japan (the Nuclear Regulation Authority) reportedly suffers a cyber attack and switched off its email systems
Kim Dotcom Extradition To US Granted, But Appeal Allowed
Fresh twist in long-running extradition of controversial Kim Dotcom to the United States, following NZ Supreme Court ruling
California Approves Gig Economy ‘Contractor’ Vote
Blow for state legislators. Californians have voted to allow gig workers to remain as 'contractors', and not be classified as 'employees'
Tight Presidential Election Sees Facebook, Twitter Act On ‘Victory’ Posts
After both Donald Trump and Joe Biden claim victory, social networking giants Facebook and Twitter restrict posts claiming election victory
Twitter Board Backs CEO Jack Dorsey
Kiss of death? Twitter's board of directors has expressed its support for unconventional CEO Jack Dorsey, who also runs another company
Twitter, Facebook Flags Trump Posts Ahead Of US Election
US President Donald Trump has had his posts on Monday about mail-in voting fraud flagged by both social networking platforms
Apple Teases Surprise ‘One More Thing’ Launch Event
Third launch event scheduled by Apple for Tuesday 10 November, with new Macs expected to showcase inhouse ARM silicon
Judge Dismisses Amazon Coronavirus Safety Lawsuit
Lawsuit by Amazon workers over alleged lack of Covid-19 protection in Staten Island facility has been dismissed by New York judge
NCSC Report Reveals Scale Of Coronavirus Cyber Threats
British online defender outlines what cyber threats it has encountered over past year, with Covid-19 featuring prominently
Latest Feature: Intelligent Spaces: Using Smart Cities
The demands from everyone that lives in a city has radically changed over the last decade. Silicon UK considers how the near-future smart city will operate and how technology will deliver seamless connectivity in an environment that wi ...
Google Discloses Unpatched Windows Bug Under Active Exploitation
Google's Project Zero publishes details and exploit code for unpatched Windows kernel bug it says is being actively used in targeted attacks
Google Sees Swift Ad Recovery After Pandemic Lows
Google sees sharp comeback in ad revenues on both search and YouTube as advertisers renew spending after pandemic slump earlier in the year
New EU Rules ‘Would Open Tech Giants’ Algorithms To Scrutiny’
Proposed Digital Services Act would force tech giants to explain their ad targeting algorithms and open ad archives to researchers, says EU competition chief
Waymo Publishes Safety Data On Self-Driving Cars
Waymo cars involved in 18 minor accidents since beginning of last year, Google sister company says, as it looks to establish industry-wide safety standards
Facebook Blocks Political Group Recommendations Ahead Of Election
Facebook confirmed it is placing limits on algorithmic group recommendations ahead of this week's US elections as company cracks down on misinformation
Judge Lays Out Opening Moves In Google Antitrust Trial
US judge sets mid-November deadline for Google's response to Justice Department antitrust lawsuit, with a status update at the end of this week