Technology

Google services including Gmail hit by serious disruption

Google services including Gmail, Drive and Docs are experiencing serious issues, as the company has acknowledged on its status dashboard. The issues appear to have begun shortly after 6.30am, but…

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Marriott faces London lawsuit over vast data breach

Marriott International Inc , the world's largest hotel operator, is facing a London class action brought by millions of former hotel guests demanding compensation after their personal data was hacked…

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Israel says it thwarted foreign cyber attack on defence industry

Israel revealed it thwarted a cyber attack on its defence industry by a hacking group known as Lazarus, which the United States says is run by North Korean intelligence. Israel’s…

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Embracer Group acquires Malta-based 4A Games

Embracer Group AB through its wholly-owned subsidiary Saber Interactive, has today entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of Malta-based 4A Games Limited . 4A Games is a top-tier independent AAA…

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Microsoft faces complex technical challenges in TikTok carveout

Microsoft Corp's bid to carve out parts of TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance will be a technically complex endeavor that could test the patience of President Donald Trump's administration,…

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Microsoft commits to achieve ‘zero waste’ goals by 2030

Recognizing the urgent need to protect the world’s ecosystems and reduce the carbon emissions that come from the creation, distribution and disposal of waste, Microsoft announced its goal to achieve…

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Facebook, Twitter pull Trump posts over coronavirus misinformation

Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a post by U.S. President Donald Trump, which the company said violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus. The post contained a…

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Microsoft says in talks to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations from China’s ByteDance

Microsoft Corp said it will push ahead with talks to acquire the U.S. operations of Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok, a potential blockbuster deal that could re-shape the social media industry…

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Mastercard collaborates with Microsoft to accelerate innovation across digital commerce and startup ecosystems

.Mastercard and Microsoft Corp. announced a collaboration to shape the future of digital commerce, drive startup innovation and enable financial inclusion. The collaboration will accelerate Mastercard Labs’ cloud native research…

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Turkey approves social media law critics say will silence dissent

Turkey adopted a new social media law on Wednesday that critics say will create a "chilling effect" on dissenting voices who have resorted to Twitter and other online platforms as…

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Microsoft global strategic agreement with Finastra to accelerate transformation of financial services

Finastra and Microsoft Corp. on Monday announced a strategic, multiyear cloud agreement to help accelerate the digital transformation of financial services. This alliance supports demand for cloud solutions, aiming to compress…

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Twitter hack is a nightmare not just for Twitter

by Gina Chon via Reuters Breakingviews A hack of prominent Twitter accounts is a nightmare for more than just the social network itself. Fake tweets soliciting digital currency on…

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CiNext – Hacking at the global order

by Tonio Galea A fire that broke out recently at an important Iran nuclear plant is risking spreading into a major hacking conflict. Some Iranian foreign officials were quick to…

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CiNext – Technology – a silver lining of the Covid era

by Isabelle Micallef Bonello The Covid-19 shock accelerated the adoption of technology across business sectors. The need to reach customers online necessitated company-wide adoption of new automated technology-enabled solutions. The…

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CiNext – The impact of digitalisation on activism

by Laura Emma Grima Digitalisation has altered our world in a multitude of ways, impacting various issues such as employment, communication, health, resources, and security. It is continuously changing the…

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CiNext – Digital answers to non-digital questions

by Jesmond Saliba Companies today are born digital. The digitisation of processes not only opens up exciting new business opportunities but makes entrepreneurship itself more widely accessible and more democratic.…

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World faces staggering jobs challenge, says Microsoft president

The world is facing a staggering jobs challenge with a quarter of a billion people set to lose their job this year, the president of Microsoft has said. Brad Smith…

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Twitter says about 130 accounts targeted in cyber attack

Twitter Inc said late on Thursday that hackers targeted about 130 accounts during the cyber attack this week, an incident in which profiles of many prominent personalities and organizations were…

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Top EU court ditches transatlantic data transfer deal

Europe's highest court ruled on Thursday that a transatlantic data transfer deal is invalid because of concerns about U.S. surveillance in a decision that could disrupt thousands of companies that…

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16

Jul

Multiple high-profile Twitter accounts hijacked

Multiple high-profile Twitter accounts were hijacked on Wednesday, with some of the platform's top voices - including U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former U.S. President…

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E-commerce boost is about more than Amazon

by JENNIFER SABA via REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS Amazon.com still dominates the fast-growing e-commerce pie, but it’s getting some company. Lockdowns have trained people to shop online including in formerly laggard…

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Many Maltese SME’s Still Need To Embrace IT

Pandemic Exposed Companies Who Were Not IT Ready The COVID19 pandemic exposed many Maltese companies, especially SME’s, who still did not appreciate the extent to which IT and cloud computing…

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Microsoft announces set of new features in Microsoft Teams to make virtual interactions more natural

Microsoft announced a set of new features in Microsoft Teams that make virtual interactions more natural, more engaging, and ultimately, more human. These features offer three key benefits for people…

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Iran threatens retaliation after what it calls possible cyber attack on nuclear site

Iran will retaliate against any country that carries out cyber attacks on its nuclear sites, the head of civilian defence said, after a fire at its Natanz plant which some…

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Twitter to drop the terms ‘master’, ‘slave’ and ‘blacklist’

Social media platform Twitter is dropping the terms "master", "slave" and "blacklist" in favour of more inclusive language. The terms are frequently used in programming codes which originated decades ago.…

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Microsoft to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills needed for the COVID-19 economy

Microsoft Corp. this week announced a new global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year. The announcement comes…

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Advertisements for more than 400 brands including Coca-Cola to vanish from Facebook

Advertisements for more than 400 brands including Coca-Cola and Starbucks are due to vanish from Facebook on Wednesday, after the failure of last-ditch talks to stop a boycott over hate…

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Maltese AI Company Defining the Healthcare of Tomorrow In The UK

Maltese AI company EBO.ai has partnered with UK health informatics firm Servelec as Exclusive AI Partners for patient self-management and is now bringing innovative self-managed services to thousands of patients…

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Betsson enters US sports betting market in Colorado

Betsson has signalled its intent in the US online sports betting market by signing a B2C agreement with Dostal Alley Casino in Colorado. Betsson plans to launch its proprietary sportsbook…

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Major US companies pull advertising from Facebook over inaction by social media giant to stop hate speech

A handful of U.S. companies have pulled advertising from Facebook Inc in support of a campaign that called out the social media giant for not doing enough to stop hate…

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26

Jun

Gambling firm 888 forecasts annual earnings to top expectations

Online gambling firm 888 Holdings said on Friday it expects annual adjusted core earnings to be significantly ahead of expectations, as more users came on board, sports events returned, and…

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Microsoft adds to diversity investment, aims to increase number of Black employees

Microsoft Corp this week set a five-year diversity goal to address racial inequality at its offices, following protests over police brutality against African Americans in the United States. The company…

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New Google default wipes users’ location, web history after 18 months

Alphabet Inc's Google announced it will automatically delete some location history after 18 months for new users and make it easier for everyone to access its search, Maps and YouTube…

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Microsoft to close Mixer live streaming service, tie up with Facebook Gaming

Microsoft Corp is closing down Mixer, its live streaming service for games, and is shifting users to Facebook Gaming, the technology giant's Xbox division announced. Starting on July 22, all…

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Social media companies distrusted by most Americans on content decisions

Most Americans do not trust social media companies to make the right decisions about what should be allowed on their platforms, but trust the government even less to make…

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Malta-based sports betting companies forecast 40% drop in revenue

Gaming operators involved in sports betting were expected to suffer the hardest hit from the coronavirus pandemic in a survey published by the Malta Gaming Authority. All major international sports…

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Microsoft bans face-recognition sales to police as Big Tech reacts to protests

Microsoft Corp announced it would await federal regulation before selling facial recognition technology to police, making it the latest big firm to back away from the business following protests against…

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Facebook fired employee who criticised Zuckerberg over inaction against Trump

Facebook Inc fired an employee who had criticized Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's decision not to take action against inflammatory posts by U.S. President Donald Trump this month, citing his tweet…

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U.S. lawmakers ask Zoom to clarify China ties after it suspends accounts of activists

Three U.S. lawmakers asked Zoom Video Communications Inc to clarify its data-collection practices and relationship with the Chinese government after the firm said it had suspended user accounts to meet…

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Battling anti-encryption drive, tech companies pledge new child abuse disclosures

Tech companies including Facebook, Google and Microsoft on Thursday pledged to improve and standardise annual disclosures around online child exploitation, as they fight off moves to limit encryption. The Technology…

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Facebook removes nearly 200 accounts tied to hate groups

Facebook has removed nearly 200 social media accounts linked to white supremacy groups that planned to encourage members to attend protests over police killings of black people — in some…

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Facebook to apply state media labels on Russian, Chinese outlets

Facebook Inc will start labelling Russian, Chinese and other state-controlled media organizations, and later this summer will block any ads from such outlets that target U.S. users, it announced. The…

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Strategic Partnership Announced Between EBO.ai and BMIT Technologies

The whole economy is going through a significant shift and one area that is constantly under scrutiny and focus is the quality of customer support offered by businesses. The need…

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Combat 5G COVID-19 fake news, urges EU

European Union (EU) nations banking on 5G to boost economic growth are eager to tackle conspiracy theories linking the wireless technology to the spread of the novel coronavirus that have seen masts…

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Twitter appoints Google’s former CFO as new Chairman

Twitter Inc said on Tuesday that it appointed Patrick Pichette, former chief financial officer at Google, as chairman, replacing Omid Kordestani. Pichette has been the lead independent director on Twitter's…

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EU to initiate controversial digital platform reforms

A significant, and politically-sensitive revolution in EU regulation is expected to be kicked off this afternoon by the European Commission. The EU's executive branch will be launching a public consultation…

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Dimension named Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner to help others create cutting-edge digital experiences

A UK company that has created interactive digital experiences involving Madonna, Michael Bublé and tennis star Andy Murray has become a Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner. Dimension, based in London and…

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India asks internet service providers to block WeTransfer

India has ordered its internet service providers (ISPs) to block file-sharing website WeTransfer at a time when hundreds of millions of people are working from home because of a nationwide…

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Zoom to roll out strong encryption for paying customers

A Reuters exclusive story shows that video conferencing provider Zoom plans to strengthen encryption of video calls hosted by paying clients and institutions such as schools, but not by users…

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Google sees resurgence in state-backed hacking, phishing related to COVID-19

Security experts at Alphabet Inc's Google sent 1,755 warnings in April to users whose accounts were targets of government-backed attackers, following a resurgence in hacking and phishing attempts related to…

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Confrontation between Trump and Twitter escalates

Twitter accused President Donald Trump on Friday of "glorifying violence", attaching a disclaimer to one of his tweets about unrest in Minneapolis that it said broke its rules. "...These THUGS…

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Trump signs executive order aimed at curtailing social media companies

Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at curbing protections for social media giants. The US president is engaged in a public feud with the companies, which he has…

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Trump to sign executive order on social media on Thursday

U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on social media companies on Thursday, White House officials said after Trump threatened to shut down websites he accused of stifling…

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Red Cross urges halt to cyberattacks on healthcare sector amid COVID-19

The Red Cross called for an end to cyberattacks on healthcare and medical research facilities during the coronavirus pandemic, in a letter published Tuesday and signed by a group of…

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Google introduces ‘Accessible Places’ feature

Google has announced that people can now turn on an “Accessible Places” feature to have wheelchair accessibility information more prominently displayed in Google Maps. When ‘Accessible Places’ is switched on,…

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Remote working here to stay for Facebook employees

Facebook Inc will permanently embrace remote work even after coronavirus lockdowns ease, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced, accelerating the tech sector's geographic diversification away from its home in Silicon Valley.…

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Microsoft to adapt its cloud software for healthcare industry

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it plans to roll out a version of its cloud-based software that will be modified to suit the needs of healthcare organizations. While Microsoft is known for general…

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