Vietnamese Hackers Exploiting ‘Maorrisbot’ for WhatsApp e-Challan Scam Targeting Indians, Reports CloudSEK
Scammers are reportedly using fake eChallan messages on WhatsApp, impersonating Parivahan Sewa and Karnataka Police. Devamını Oku
Yazılar
Cisco Plans Second Round of Layoffs Amid Shift to High-Growth Areas
Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) is set to initiate a second round of layoffs this year, with thousands of jobs on the line as the company pivots its focus to high-growth sectors like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI), according to sources familiar with the matter. The layoffs, which could affect a similar or slightly higher number of employees compared to the 4,000 job cuts in February, are expected to be announced alongside the company’s fourth-quarter results, potentially as early as Wednesday.
Cisco, headquartered in San Jose, California, currently employs around 84,900 people, according to its July 2023 annual filing. However, this figure does not account for the February layoffs. The company has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The company’s shares dropped nearly 1% following the news of the impending layoffs, bringing its year-to-date decline to over 9%. Cisco, known as the largest producer of routers and switches that direct internet traffic, has faced challenges such as sluggish demand and supply chain issues in its core business areas. In response, the company has been diversifying its portfolio, notably through a $28 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Splunk, completed in March. This move aims to reduce Cisco’s dependence on one-time equipment sales by bolstering its subscription-based services.
In addition to expanding into cybersecurity, Cisco has been integrating AI into its product offerings. The company reiterated its goal of reaching $1 billion in AI product orders by 2025 and launched a $1 billion fund in June to invest in AI startups, including Cohere, Mistral AI, and Scale AI. Over the past several years, Cisco has made 20 AI-focused acquisitions and investments.
The upcoming layoffs are part of a broader trend in the tech industry, which has been aggressively cutting costs to balance significant investments in AI. According to Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks job cuts in the tech sector, more than 126,000 people have lost their jobs across 393 tech companies since the beginning of the year. Earlier in August, chipmaker Intel (INTC.O) announced it was reducing its workforce by over 15%, impacting around 17,500 employees, as it sought to turn around its struggling manufacturing operations.
Global Tech Outage Costs Fortune 500 Companies $5 Billion: CrowdStrike’s Software Glitch Revealed
The recent CrowdStrike software glitch, deemed the largest IT outage in history, has led to substantial financial losses, with Fortune 500 companies alone estimated to face over $5 billion in direct damages. The incident, triggered by a faulty update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon cybersecurity software, has had wide-ranging effects, including flight cancellations, disruptions in healthcare, and financial losses across multiple sectors.
CrowdStrike’s preliminary report, released on Wednesday, details how a software update intended to enhance cybersecurity inadvertently caused millions of Windows computers globally to crash. The glitch occurred due to a bug in CrowdStrike’s cloud-based testing system, which failed to catch problematic content in the update before its release. As a result, affected computers displayed the notorious Blue Screen of Death, necessitating manual fixes for up to 8.5 million devices.
The financial impact has been severe. The healthcare sector experienced losses of $1.94 billion, while the banking industry faced $1.15 billion in damages. Major airlines, including American and United, suffered a collective loss of $860 million. The total estimated cost of the outage for Fortune 500 companies reaches up to $5.4 billion, excluding secondary losses from decreased productivity and reputational damage. Insurance coverage for these losses is expected to be limited, covering only about 10% to 20% of the total costs.
Fitch Ratings highlighted the incident as an example of the risks associated with reliance on single points of failure, as consolidation in the tech industry leads to fewer, more dominant vendors. The firm’s blog post emphasized the growing need for robust risk management and diversification strategies to mitigate such widespread disruptions.
CrowdStrike has committed to preventing future occurrences by enhancing its validation checks and adopting a staggered update release approach. The company is also working on giving customers more control over the timing of updates to avoid similar issues in the future.