Cybersecurity

China surveillance upstarts are better off at home

10 Oct 2019

Goldman Sachs is reviewing its role on Megvii’s Hong Kong IPO after the United States put the Alibaba-backed company on a human rights blacklist. Even if banks don’t cut ties, global funds may steer clear. Domestic markets will be more welcoming to the AI outfit, and its peers.

White House tests corporate corruption firewall

24 Sep 2019

From withholding Ukrainian aid to making money out of lodging visiting dignitaries, the U.S. administration has muddied the waters on acceptable behavior. Companies face tougher enforcement, which helps keep them on the straight and narrow. The gap between the two is widening.

American cities risk becoming new weak data link

10 Sep 2019

Los Angeles’ trip info program for e-scooters and bikes is expanding to other towns. It manages congestion but also sparks privacy and hacking concerns. Contractors may also try to avoid a stricter California data law. Including ride hailing makes proper controls more critical.

Capital One provides one more reason for data laws

30 Jul 2019

A hack at the $46 bln credit-card firm exposed more than 100 mln customers’ information. Puny U.S. deals, like Equifax’s $700 mln or Facebook’s $5 bln, aren’t enough to produce tighter protocols elsewhere. Legislation protecting data is a surer way to get companies’ attention.

Equifax shows how little it values consumers

22 Jul 2019

The credit-scoring firm gathers troves of sensitive financial information, making it systemically important. Yet it’s paying less than $3 in compensation for each of the nearly 150 mln Americans affected by its 2017 data breach. That provides little incentive to tighten security.

Old buyouts surf software’s frothy wave

11 Jul 2019

McAfee may return to public markets three years after TPG bought it from chipmaker Intel. Private equity ownership and M&A have buffed the firm up, even as PC anti-virus software has matured. But the idea McAfee’s value has doubled also rests on voracious demand for tech stocks.

CrowdStrike shows IPO window is open for buzzwords

12 Jun 2019

The cloud-based data-security outfit saw its stock nearly double in its market debut, giving it a $12 bln market cap. The money-losing firm is growing fast. But valued at 40 times revenue it’s a case study in investors’ willingness to suspend disbelief for appealing stories.

Huawei fracas erodes its European advantage

1 May 2019

Vodafone found flaws in the Shenzhen-based group’s kit. Huawei argues they are common in the sector, and not evidence of Beijing spying. Yet its Chinese roots mean it will be held to higher standards than European peers. Telco customers might decide it’s not worth the risk.

America can define down China’s harsh cyber rules

2 Apr 2019

Beijing may be willing to bargain over rules for how and where companies doing business in the country store data. It would be a surprise softening of its position. With more allies on the issue than usual, including in China, Washington has a better shot at winning concessions.

Sophos crash dents London’s tech dreams

18 Jan 2019

The cybersecurity firm’s shares fell by a fifth after it warned of weak orders. It adds to other recent large listings, like Funding Circle, that disappointed. Battered investors, and loss of talent from Brexit, will make it harder for the UK to become a European technology hub.

Review: The attack of the killer fridges has begun

14 Dec 2018

The world is ever more connected via the internet, from cars and power grids to home appliances and toys. That means ever more things are dangerously hackable, security expert Bruce Schneier writes in “Click Here to Kill Everybody.” His title isn’t as hyperbolic as it may sound.

Marriott breach invites data cops to check in

30 Nov 2018

Another 500 mln people now have to worry about identity theft. Hanging onto personal data, protecting it ineffectively and disclosing breaches only slowly are habits in corporate America. It’s not only Google, Facebook and their ilk that merit privacy rules more like Europe’s.

Mark Zuckerberg pushes wrong kind of independence

15 Nov 2018

Facebook’s CEO is setting up an external committee to police fake news and hateful content after more revelations about how he and others dealt with Russian meddling. But outsourcing decisions won’t fix Facebook’s culture. Removing Zuckerberg as chair would be a good first step.

China trade-secrets case brings sanctions closer

1 Nov 2018

State-backed chipmaker Fujian Jinhua was indicted for allegedly stealing designs from U.S. rival Micron. It was already barred from buying U.S. parts, so this raises the stakes. Former President Obama mulled sanctions for industrial espionage. That idea could be in play again.

Cathay Pacific typifies data-breach turbulence

25 Oct 2018

The $5 bln Hong Kong airline disclosed unauthorised access to personal details of over 9 mln passengers. It also waited seven months to come clean. Though investors should know by now that hacks can happen anywhere, they leave struggling companies like Cathay more exposed.

Facebook hires one weapon for two-handed fight

19 Oct 2018

Nick Clegg, former UK deputy PM, will lead global affairs at the $450 bln social network. His anti-Brexit stance and EU background could help with tribulations in Brussels. But he’s an odd choice to deal with Washington, where scrutiny may intensify after the midterm elections.

Facebook is late to fight second existential crisis

5 Oct 2018

User and government annoyance at poor security, low-quality content and excessive advertising is as big a danger to Mark Zuckerberg’s company as the 2012 growth of mobile. Facebook finally appears focused on the threat, but it won’t be as easy to solve.

Cyber risks deserve top billing more often

4 Oct 2018

Global trade tensions have dominated recent economic news. Thursday’s revelations of possible Chinese computer-hardware meddling and Russian hacking of a world chemical-weapons body and sports-doping watchdogs give justified prominence to what may be a bigger threat to growth.

Infected supply chains challenge Big Tech defenses

4 Oct 2018

Apple and Amazon both denied a report they had installed servers harboring compromised chips. It speaks to a problem with global manufacturing. Ensuring the purity of goods made far from end users is difficult, especially across borders. The alternative is to make less profit.

Southeast Asia’s politics cloud digital ambitions

14 Sep 2018

The Davos crowd descended on Hanoi this week and talked up ties that could make the 660-mln-person region the next China. Recent moves suggest tech barriers are rising, though. Europe's approach to data would be a better path to cut costs and risks while growing local champions.