| 1. Zappos, an online shoe and clothing store and Amazon subsidiary, laid off approximately 20% of its staff (more than 300 employees) as part of a broader job cut by its parent company. According to Zappos' spokesperson, Laura Davis, the decision
to reduce its workforce was “ultimately made to ensure Zappos is set up
to continue to provide an exceptional customer experience, long-term.” |
| 2. Mozilla is planning a significant redesign of its email client, Thunderbird, including a new user interface set to be released later this year. The redesign will bring a more modern look to the email client while making it flexible and adaptable in an effort to attract new users and retain current ones. |
| 3. Last week, Reddit reported
that it experienced a phishing attack on its employees, resulting in
unauthorized access to some internal documents, code, and internal
business systems. The company responded by removing the infiltrator’s access and commencing an internal investigation. |
| 4. A bill that would ban TikTok has been reintroduced in the U.S. Congress due to concerns about the app's ties to the Chinese government and potential security risks posed by handling American users' data. The move to ban TikTok reflects a growing trend in Congress to scrutinize and restrict the operations of Chinese tech companies in the U.S. due to national security concerns. |
| 5. The city of Oakland, Calif. was hit by a ransomware attack on February 8, 2023; however, city officials have confirmed that the attack has not impacted the core functions and services of the city. The city's IT department is currently working with cybersecurity experts to assess the extent of the damage and prevent further breaches. |
| 6. Meta employees informed the Financial Times that the company has been experiencing significant delays in finalizing budgets due to a lack of clarity about the company's future headcount. The company plans to cut a significant number of jobs in March despite having already laid off 13% of its workforce late last year. |
| 7. The Opera web browser is testing a new sidebar powered by ChatGPT, using OpenAI's language model technology to assist users with their web browsing by providing information and answers to questions about websites. The ChatGPT sidebar is expected to provide a more convenient and efficient browsing experience, making it easier for users to find what they're looking for without switching between multiple tabs or search engines. |