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Weekly Lists
September 14, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
bne:TMT
Romania's Bitdefender takes over Australian peer
Romanian security technology company Bitdefender said on Sep- tember 11 it has acquired Australian peer SMS eTech, as part of its strategy of globally expanding in the consumer and enterprise segments.
Bitdefender is the most successful Romanian IT company and a global IT security leader. With a worldwide network of 500mn users, Bitde- fender has the largest security delivery infrastructure in the world.
The acquisition will strengthen the company’s position in the Asia- Pacific region and at global level. Bitdefender has also created a wholly-owned subsidiary, Bitdefender Australia, and has opened an office in Melbourne. “Bitdefender’s new official presence in Mel- bourne will serve as the company’s first in the region,” the Roma- nian company said in a statement.
Weeks after being enacted, the controversial Russian law on data storage, known as the "Yarovaya Law," is still under fire by critics from within the government, making tech companies uncertain about how to comply with it.
Authored by lawmaker Irina Yarovaya, the legislation requires that mobile phone operators and internet companies store recordings of users' calls and online activities for six months, ostensibly in a bid to combat extremism and terrorism. The law was adopted in July 2016 and enacted on July 1, 2018.
From the business viewpoint, complying with the law is predicted to burden telecom and online companies with an estimated $1.5bn in costs that would cause 0.5-1.0x of additional leverage. It was also severely criticised by civil liberty advocates.
Borsa Istanbul, Turkey’s stock exchange, has announced the development of a blockchain platform.
The platform will store details of new customers and share documents on a decentralised network, the bourse operator said in a press release.
Developed in-house, the blockchain platform is said to accom- modate Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, the registering of new customers and the sharing of information and documents securely in a fast, reliable and transparent platform.
Russian government split on controversial data storage law
Turkish stock exchange develops blockchain platform