Page 24 - aruba-today-20180728

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 28 July 2018
Facebook's day of reckoning: Blip or sign of broader turn?

By BARBARA ORTUTAY profitability." top is, where that growth
AP Technology Writer Overall, technology gi- slows down," said Phil Bak,
NEW YORK (AP) — Face- ants — Facebook, Apple, CEO of Exponential ETFs
book faced a day of reck- Google, Amazon and oth- and a former managing
oning Thursday as its shares ers — have enjoyed almost director of the New York
plunged in the biggest unprecedented growth in Stock Exchange who said
one-day drop in stock-mar- revenue and stock price for he's been warning inves-
ket history. years. They have seemed tors of a potential sell-off in
The 19 percent drop vapor- unstoppable, even in the large tech stocks.
ized $119 billion of the com- face of regulatory pressure, Things could get rougher
pany's stock-market value; user dissatisfaction and still. Those European pri-
CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw broader existential ques- vacy regulations, known
his net worth fall by roughly tions about their impact on as the General Data Pri-
$16 billion as a result. It was society. Technology com- vacy Regulation, or GDPR,
Facebook's worst trading panies account for six of went into effect with just
day since going public in This March 29, 2018 file photo shows the Facebook logo on the 10 biggest companies one month left in the sec-
2012; the collapse eclipsed screens at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York's Times Square. in the S&P 500 Index. ond quarter. That means
Intel's decline of $91 billion Some see the Facebook Facebook could feel its ef-
in September 2000, without scandal, in which a politi- rules, inspired in part by selloff as clear evidence fects more strongly later this
adjusting for inflation. cal consulting firm with ties Facebook's relentless min- that nothing can grow for- year. For more than a year
The plunge followed to President Donald Trump ing of its own users' data, ever, especially not the — ever since Zuckerberg
Facebook's warning late improperly accessed the are starting to hamper the world's biggest companies, published a 5,000 word
Wednesday that its reve- data of tens millions of company's advertising busi- especially not at the rate of manifesto arguing that
nue growth will slow down Facebook users. ness. And the increased nimble, promising startups. Facebook needs to make
significantly for at least the Now come the big ques- spending aims, among Facebook revenue is still the world a better place
remainder of the year and tions: Is this a temporary set- other things, to prevent a growing at a rate double by bolstering civic engage-
that expenses will continue back, or the start of a pain- replay of the fake news that of Twitter. A decade ment and addressing so-
to skyrocket. ful new road for the giant and propaganda that Rus- ago, almost no one could cial ills — the company has
In a sign of just how bull- social network? And does sian agents unleashed on have imagined that Face- seemed torn between its
ish investor expectations a similar comeuppance an unguarded Facebook book would have more philosophical mission and
were, though, the collapse await other high-flying in an attempt to sway the than 2 billion users, much its economic one. Wednes-
merely returned Facebook technology behemoths? 2016 presidential election. less that its family of apps day may have been the
shares to a level last seen Both the slower growth fore- Zuckerberg even noted — Instagram, WhatsApp first time this tension really
in early May. At that point, cast and heavier spending during a call with ana- and Messenger — would broke into the open, prob-
the stock was still recov- reflect problems largely of lysts that "we're investing also count members in the ably because it threatened
ering from an earlier bat- Facebook's own making. so much in security that it billions. the one thing all investors
tering over its big privacy New European privacy will significantly impact our "Nobody knows where the care about: Money.q

How China, Russia, Iran target U.S. with economic espionage

phishing scams and mal- TEMP.Periscope, contin- agencies, suggesting that
ware to steal data from ued to target the maritime Moscow employs cyber
international corporations. industry and U.S. research criminals so they can deny
A federal indictment un- institutions, academic or- being behind the opera-
sealed in Pittsburgh, Penn- ganizations and private tions.
sylvania, said the trio's tar- firms that are focused on —Russian government
gets included Siemens AG, engineering. FireEye, a hackers last year compro-
Moody's Analytics in New California security research mised dozens of U.S. en-
York and Trimble Inc. in firm, has detected sharp ergy firms, including their
Sunnyvale, California. increases in this group's tar- operational networks. The
—Cybersecurity experts geting early this year. operations were conduct-
found links between Chi- —Last year, the China- ed to collect intelligence,
nese cyber actors and a linked cyberespionage gain access so the hackers
back door that allowed group APT10 was involved could later launch service
entry into commercial soft- in widespread opera- disruptions and provide
In this Jan. 31, 2018, file photo, the sun rises beyond power lines ware known as CCleaner. tions to target engineer- sensitive U.S. intellectual
in St. Charles Parish, La. This back door allowed ing, telecommunications property to Russian com-
Associated Press them to target U.S. com- and aerospace industries panies.
panies, including Google, across the globe, including —The Russian state-spon-
By The Associated Press by the National Counter- Microsoft, Intel and VM- the U.S. sored cyberoperation
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chi- intelligence Security Cen- ware. RUSSIA known as APT28 has been
na, Russia and Iran are ter, offers these recent ex- —In November, Pricewa- —In 2016, a hacker known gathering intelligence on
ramping up their theft of amples of the economic terhouseCoopers reported as Eas7, told Western news U.S. and European de-
trade secrets and propri- espionage it says poses that another China-based reporters that she had col- fense and geopolitical is-
etary information from U.S. a significant threat to U.S. hacker group, known as laborated with the Russian sues since at least 2007.
companies, government prosperity and security: KeyBoy, was moving be- Federal Security Service, Obtaining sensitive U.S. de-
labs and universities to hur- CHINA yond targets in Asia to formerly the KGB, on eco- fense industry data could
dle America's competitive —In November, three Chi- conduct cyber snooping nomic espionage missions. give Russia economic and
edge. nese nationals were ac- on Western corporations. She estimated that "among security advantages as it
A new government cyber cused of operating a cy- —Chinese cyberespio- the good hackers, at least seeks to strengthen and
report, released Thursday bersecurity firm that used nage actors, known as half" work for government modernize its military.q