UK competition watchdog ‘to probe Amazon buy box’ June 10, 2021 The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is planning to formally investigate competition at Amazon, according to reports this morning. The investigation comes amid a similar ongoing one by the EU into Amazon. The UK competition watchdog, which has been analysing the online retailer for months, has focused on how Amazon uses data collected on its [...]
Meatpacking giant JBS dishes out £7.8m in crypto ransom after cyber attack June 10, 2021 Meat processing giant JBS has dished out around £7.8m in a crypto ransom to rid its networks of hackers in a major cyber-attack, the company confirmed last night. The meatpacker’s computer networks were hacked at the end of May, which forced some operations in Australia, Canada and the US to temporarily shut down. The ransom [...]
UK Space Agency taps Babylon Health executive as new boss June 9, 2021 The UK Space Agency has appointed a top director at digital health firm Babylon as its new chief executive. Dr Paul Bate will take the helm at the government agency, which is charged with providing technical advice on the UK’s space strategy. The appointment, approved by science minister Amanda Solloway, comes as the government looks [...]
Joe Biden revokes Trump’s ban on Tiktok amid China threat June 9, 2021 US President Joe Biden will reverse efforts made by Donald Trump’s administration to ban popular Chinese apps Tiktok and Wechat due to national security concerns. The former president had attempted to block new users from downloading the apps and ban other technical transactions, effectively banning them in the US. The courts blocked the orders after [...]
NHS delays patient data-sharing scheme amid privacy backlash June 8, 2021 The NHS has delayed plans to create a central database to pool data belonging to millions of patients following a backlash over privacy concerns. NHS Digital confirmed it will go ahead with the project, which will collect information on conditions and medications, as well as other data from GP records, and make them available to [...]
Tech giants set to slash UK tax bill after G7 agreement June 8, 2021 American tech giants are set to have their UK tax bills slashed under a new global agreement signed by the G7, a think tank has warned. The global minimum corporation tax, agreed by finance ministers in London over the weekend, is aimed at cracking down on tax avoidance by companies such as Amazon, Facebook and [...]
World’s biggest websites back online after Fastly-linked crash June 8, 2021 A major server issue which saw thousands of news, social media and government websites including Bloomberg and the New York Times crash today has been fixed. The issue was confirmed to be a glitch at US-based cloud computing services provider Fastly, who identified and fixed a major disruption issue. Amazon, CNN, Reddit, the Guardian, the [...]
Swift shift to remote working may have had ‘major security trade-offs’ June 8, 2021 US-based AvePoint, which manages data for Microsoft 365, has said today that although the shift to remote working was swift, it ‘may have come with major security trade-offs’. In a workplace Covid impact survey released today, the software firm revealed how despite UK organisations having a quick pivot to the digital sphere, most companies did [...]
Oxford Instruments revenue flat as Asia and US growth offsets EU decline June 8, 2021 High-tech manufacturer Oxford Instruments today said its order book had surged over the past year but revenue remained flat. The company, which provides high technology products to industrial companies and scientific research communities, reported revenue of £318.5m in the year ended 31 March 2021. It marks a 0.3 per cent rise on the previous year. [...]
Apple employees hit back over return to the office June 7, 2021 Apple employees are pushing back against chief executive Tim Cook’s plans for a widespread return to the office. In a company-wide memo last week Cook said staff must return to the office for three days a week from September, with some teams required to come back in four or five days. But staff have launched [...]