Hi Guys! Friday is here again. And as usual, the week was packed with lots of news and surprises. From Coinbase listing to Twitter’s launch in Africa, the whole tech community was abuzz.
Here is a quick roundup of some of the major stories around the globe you might have missed.
Facebook could be fined 4% of its $86 billion global revenue
Europe’s leading privacy regulator is investigating whether Facebook broke the law in the handling of its latest data breach.
Earlier this month, the personal data of over 533 million Facebook users were dumped online for free in a hacking forum. The data included phone numbers that users didn’t make public on their Facebook profiles.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission which has been charged with overseeing Facebook’s privacy compliance has announced it had opened an investigation into the social media giant on Wednesday.
If Facebook is found to have violated the EU’s data rules, it could face a monetary fine of up to $3.4 billion, 4% of its $86 billion global revenue.
Crypto Market Overtakes World’s Most Valuable Company
The combined value of all cryptocurrencies has overtaken that of the most valuable company in the world. Crypto total market cap rose above $2.2 trillion on Wednesday morning, $10 billion more than Apple’s market cap.
Bitcoin alone is now valued at more than $1.2 trillion, more than Mastercard, PayPal and Visa combined
The rise was pushed by the record-breaking price rallies for Bitcoin, Ethereum (ether) and Dogecoin.
All three cryptocurrencies experienced new all-time highs with Bitcoin rising to $64,000, Ethereum hitting $2,350, and Dogecoin now priced at $0.13.
Patched WhatsApp Bugs Could’ve Let Attackers Hack Your Phone Remotely
WhatsApp recently addressed two security vulnerabilities on its Android app. The flaws could have been exploited to hack the device remotely and even steal sensitive information.
“The two aforementioned WhatsApp vulnerabilities would have made it possible for attackers to remotely collect TLS cryptographic material for TLS 1.3 and TLS 1.2 sessions,”
Researchers from Census Labs
The flaws affect all devices running Android versions up to and including Android 9. It carried out what’s known as a “man-in-the-disk” attack that makes it possible for hackers to compromise an app by manipulating certain data being exchanged between it and the external storage.
However, the cybersecurity firm that revealed that flaw says it has no knowledge on whether the attacks have been exploited. WhatsApp users are recommended to update to version 2.21.4.18 to mitigate the risk associated with the flaws.
Microsoft acquires Nuance for $19.7Bn
Big tech, Microsoft has acquired speech-to-text company, Nuance Communications for $19.7 billion. The deal is its biggest since it acquired LinkedIn. With the acquisition, it might appear that Microsoft is shifting its focus to healthcare but that might not necessarily be so.
Last year the company bought a Cloud for Healthcare and now it is acquiring Nuance’s industry products which include Dragon Ambient eXperience, Dragon Medical One and PowerScribe One for radiology reporting.
However, the company has said the acquisition represents the latest step in industry-specific cloud strategy.
Uber’s ride-hailing business makes Strong comeback with 9% growth in 1 Month
Uber’s ride-hailing business is staging a comeback. According to a filing posted on Monday, the company saw a record gross bookings in March 2021.
In February, Uber reported it lost $968 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. It also suffered a net loss of $6.7 billion for the year, which improved on its $8.5 billion loss in full-year 2019
The company’s mobility arm which has been suffering since last year due to the coronavirus pandemic rose 9% from February 2021 to March 2021. This includes its ride-hailing business.
The company explained that the increase in demand was connected to the vaccination rates especially in the US.
You can check out other news that happened during the week here. Have a nice weekend!!
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