“Microsoft Corp. was wrapped into a massive cybersecurity attack late last year,” reports MarketWatch, “but the unprecedented intrusion may actually end up being a positive for the company’s bottom line.” UBS analyst Karl Keirstead, who has a buy rating and a $243 price target, said while Microsoft products were leveraged by hackers in the attack on SolarWinds Corp.’s Orion IT management…
Tag: Alphabet Inc
Oracle’s Hidden Hand Is Behind the Google Antitrust Lawsuits
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: With great fanfare last week, 44 attorneys general hit Google with two antitrust complaints, following a landmark lawsuit the Justice Department and 11 states lodged against the Alphabet Inc. unit in October. What’s less known is that Oracle Corp. spent years working behind the scenes to convince regulators and law enforcement agencies in…
Now Googlers Are Protesting Company’s Cloud Deals With Big Oil
Activists inside Google are calling on management to ditch deals with oil and gas companies, the latest flare-up inside the technology giant. Bloomberg reports: In a letter published on Monday, more than 1,100 workers asked Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat to release a “company-wide climate plan” that commits to cutting carbon emissions entirely. The letter also asks Google to drop…
Google’s Sidewalk Labs Leaked Document Reveals Company’s Early Vision For Data Collection, Tax Powers, Criminal Justice
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Globe and Mail: A confidential Sidewalk Labs document from 2016 lays out the founding vision of the Google-affiliated development company, which included having the power to levy its own property taxes, track and predict people’s movements and control some public services. The document, which The Globe and Mail has seen, also describes how…
Google Accused of Creating Spy Tool To Squelch Worker Dissent
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Google employees are accusing the company’s leadership of developing an internal surveillance tool that they believe will be used to monitor workers’ attempts to organize protests and discuss labor rights. Earlier this month, employees said they discovered that a team within the company was creating the new tool for the custom Google Chrome…
Home Builders Ditch Nest After Google Ties Devices To Digital Assistant
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Several residential builders have stopped buying and installing Google’s Nest devices after the internet giant overhauled how Nest technology works with other gadgets. The Alphabet Inc. unit bought Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion to enter the so-called smart-home market. Nest has become one of the largest makers of internet-connected thermostats, smoke alarms…
The Big Levandowski: Could an Uber Engineer’s Indictment Discourage Workers From Changing Jobs?
Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: For nearly 20 years,” writes WIRED’s Alex Davies in How Anthony Levandowski Put Himself at the Center of an Industry, “the French-American Levandowski has played a kind of purposeful Forrest Gump for the world of autonomous driving. Rather than stumbling into the center of one momentous event after another, Levandowski has put himself there. And he…
US Appeals Court Voids Google ‘Cookie’ Privacy Settlement That Paid Users Nothing
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Google’s class-action settlement meant to resolve claims it invaded the privacy of millions of computer users by installing “cookies” in their browsers, but paying those users nothing for their troubles. Reuters reports: In a 3-0 decision, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said it could not tell whether the $5.5…
‘Genius’ Site Said It Used Morse Code To Catch Google Stealing Song Lyrics
“Genius.com says its traffic is dropping because, for the past several years, Google has been publishing lyrics on its own platform, with some of them lifted directly from the music site,” reports the Wall Street Journal: Google denies doing anything nefarious. Still, Genius’s complaints offer a window into the challenges small tech companies can face when the unit of Alphabet Inc….
Google Ends Android Collaboration With Huawei. No Gmail, Play Store For Future Huawei Phones
An anonymous reader quotes Reuters:
Alphabet Inc’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware and software products except those covered by open source licenses, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Sunday, in a blow to the Chinese technology company that the U.S. government has sought to blacklist around the world. Huawei Technologies Co Ltd…