major headlines from Activision, CISA & the FBI and GitHub & GitLab
| 1. Activision Blizzard agreed to settle a charge of violating whistleblower protection laws for "[failing] to implement necessary controls to collect and review employee complaints about workplace misconduct." The company will pay $35M to settle the charge brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). |
| 2. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a tool (the "ESXiArgs-Recover" tool) to enable organizations to attempt recovery of their VMs attacked by the ESXiArgs ransomware. CISA released a joint statement with the FBI warning of the ransomware and its impact on approximately 3,800 VMware ESXi servers worldwide. |
| 3. GitHub and GitLab have both announced job cuts as part of efforts to streamline their businesses and improve efficiency. The move comes amid a challenging economic climate for the tech industry, with many companies facing a slowdown in growth and needing to adjust their operations. |
| 4. Google launched an AI chatbot
called "Bard," which provides information in response to users'
questions, but the chatbot has been criticized for offering inaccurate
information. The company stated that the chatbot is intended for entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon for accurate information. |
| 5. Secureworks, Sophos, and Okta--three cybersecurity firms--announced a combined staff reduction of approximately 1,000 people. Once seen as recession-proof, the layoff announcements in the cybersecurity industry indicate that economic concerns are affecting even the most resilient sectors. |
| 6. Dominion Virginia Power saw a new record in energy usage in December 2022, with data centers accounting for 20% of sales. The surge in data center energy consumption highlights the increasing demand for digital infrastructure and the critical role that data centers play in supporting the growth of the digital economy. |
| 7. CyberFox, a provider of cybersecurity services and solutions, has seen 200% growth since its launch last year and is targeting a growth rate of 75% in 2023. Two of the company's flagship products are Password Boss for password management and AutoElevate for privilege access management. It is looking to add more inexpensive security tools for its managed service providers (MSPs) and their customers. |