With a global pandemic currently playing out and curfews, quarantine and restrictions in place almost everywhere, it’s easy to forget that other big news stories are playing out too. This week, Adam and Jane are joined by IT Pro’s US editor, Justin Cupler, to discuss what will still be one of the most important events of the year: the 2020 US presidential election.
While Donald Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the country’s tech sector, the two Democratic candidates – Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden – both have plans that won’t necessarily please the giants of Silicon Valley either.
Elsewhere, the COVID-19 outbreak continues to affect almost every aspect of life and business. Microsoft and Google have both announced they’re putting non-critical software updates on hold, while networks struggle to adjust to a sudden shift to mass remote working. Cybercriminals, meanwhile, have taken the ‘opportunity’ to target the World Health Organisation, as well as hospitals in Spain and the Czech Republic, attempting to disrupt research into the novel coronavirus and in the process extort money.
Footnotes
News
Software updates on hold
- Microsoft halts Edge browser updates in light of coronavirus pandemic
- Microsoft puts Windows development on lockdown
- Google bins Chrome 82 development amid coronavirus delays
Hackers target healthcare services
- KCL and NIHR launch symptom tracking app to slow the spread of COVID-19
- WHO collaborates with Big Tech for mega COVID-19 hackathon
- Critical NHS cyber security checks suspended due to coronavirus response
- Hackers target WHO as coronavirus spread surges
- Hackers target hospital computer systems
- NHSX urged to “follow ethical best practice” in developing coronavirus app
Networks struggle with home working traffic
- Australian minister mistakenly cries DDoS attack after citizens flock to welfare site
- Microsoft Teams goes down as the world starts mass remote working
- Microsoft Teams surpasses 44 million users after remote working surge
- YouTube fails to clarify whether reduced streaming quality will hit live events
- Microsoft prioritises extra Azure capacity for 'key customers'
- IBM dedicates supercomputing power to coronavirus research
- ThousandEyes launches live Global Internet Outages Map
In-depth
- Encryption under threat from EARN IT Act
- What is the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)?
- UK and US plead with Mark Zuckerberg to bin encryption plans
- The Story Behind Trump's Tech Tariffs
- Facebook bans deepfakes ahead of US election
- Net neutrality laws are now officially dead
- US officially accuses Russia of leaking DNC emails
