SolarWinds Says 18,000 Customers Were Impacted by Recent Hack

IT software provider SolarWinds downplayed a recent security breach in documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. From a report: SolarWinds disclosed on Sunday that a nation-state hacker group breached its network and inserted malware in updates for Orion, a software application for IT inventory management and monitoring. Orion app versions 2019.4 through 2020.2.1, released between March…

SEC Proposes Rules for Giving Gig Workers Equity

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rule changes that would make it possible for gig companies to give equity to their workers as part of their compensation if they meet certain requirements. From a report: This is something gig companies including Uber and Airbnb have asked the SEC to do over the years as a way to share their…

How Ex-Facebook Data Experts Spent $75 Million On Targeted Anti-Trump Ads

The night before America’s election, Fast Company reported: On the internet, we’re subject to hidden A/B tests all the time, but this one was also part of a political weapon: a multimillion-dollar tool kit built by a team of Facebook vets, data nerds, and computational social scientists determined to defeat Donald Trump. The goal is to use microtargeted ads, follow-up surveys,…

SEC Sues John McAfee Over Promoting Cryptocurrency On Twitter

Aighearach shares a report from Reuters: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday sued John McAfee, creator of the eponymous anti-virus software, alleging that he made over $23.1 million in undisclosed compensation from recommending seven cryptocurrency offerings on Twitter that were materially false and misleading. The regulator, which is seeking a trial by jury, alleged that from at least…

Former NSA Chief Keith Alexander Joins Amazon’s Board of Directors

Gen. Keith Alexander is joining Amazon’s board of directors, the company revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today. The Verge reports: A former director of the National Security Agency and the first commander of the US Cyber Command, Alexander served as the public face of US data collection during the Edward Snowden leaks, but he retired from public service…

With DOJ Charges, Former VC Mike Rothenberg Could Now Be Facing Serious Jail Time

Connie Loizos writing via TechCrunch: While some in Silicon Valley might prefer to forget about investor Mike Rothenberg roughly four years after his young venture firm began to implode, his story is still being written, and the latest chapter doesn’t bode well for the 36-year-old. While Rothenberg earlier tangled with the Securities and Exchange Commission and lost, it was a civil…

Tesla’s Stock Drops Billions After Elon Musk’s Tweetstorm Friday

Friday Techcrunch reported Elon Musk tweeted to his 33.4 million followers that Tesla’s stock price “was ‘too high’ in his opinion, immediately sending shares into a free fall and in possible violation of an agreement reached with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year.” Tesla’s shares plummetted nearly 12% over the next 30 minutes, which reduced Tesla’s valuation by over…

SEC Pauses Zoom Technologies Trading Because People Think It’s Zoom Video

The Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading of Zoom Technologies on Thursday, partly because investors are confusing it with Zoom Video, which has seen a surge share price due to COVID-19. It will resume trading April 9. From a report: Zoom Video, which provides videoconferencing services and trades under the ticker symbol “ZM,” is a key component for many businesses shifting…

Messaging App Kik Shuts Down as Company Focuses on Kin, Its Cryptocurrency

Kik Interactive CEO Ted Livingston has announced that the company is shutting down Kik Messenger to focus on its cryptocurrency Kin, the target of a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. From a report: The company’s team will be reduced to 19 people, a reduction that will affect over 100 employees, as it focuses on converting more Kin users…

WeWork CEO Returns $5.9 Million For ‘We’ Trademark To Company After Criticism

When WeWork filed to go public this summer, we learned an incredible detail about its cofounder Adam Neumann: He was paid a whopping $5.9 million by the company he runs for use of the word “we.” From a report: The logic was laid out as such: Ahead of its initial-public-offering filing, WeWork reorganized and rebranded as The We Company. To rebrand…