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Monday, 5 September 2022

Accounting Giant Ernst & Young May Split Into Two Companies

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Accounting Giant Ernst & Young May Split Into Two Companies

Accounting firm Ernst & Young may be poised to split into two companies following a Labor Day meeting by the company’s leaders.

Ernst & Young employs some 312,000 people worldwide and counts some of the biggest companies in the world as its clients. According to The Wall Street Journal, the firm’s global executive committee met on Labor Day to finalize plans to split the company.

Under the terms, the company’s traditional auditing business would separate from the consulting business that advises deals, tech, and more and competes with IBM and Accenture PLC. The firm’s global network, worth some $45 billion in revenue, would be split 60:40 between the consulting and auditing businesses. According to documents the Journal reviewed, the auditing firm would retain the Ernst & Young brand.

Some experts believe a move by the accounting firm could lead to its competitors following suit, although some have already denied any such plans. Despite the denials, a breakup makes sense for companies that have two such businesses under one roof, as it would allow consulting businesses to operate without conflict-of-interest clauses stemming from being under the same roof as an auditing and accounting firm.

If the global executive committee approves the plan this week, it will then go to the company’s 13,000 partners for a vote.

Accounting Giant Ernst & Young May Split Into Two Companies
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TikTok Says It Was Not Hacked After Billions of Users’ Data Leaked

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TikTok Says It Was Not Hacked After Billions of Users’ Data Leaked

TikTok is doing damage control, denying it was hacked after hackers claimed to have stolen source code and data on billions of users.

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms, making it a prime target for hackers. According to BleepingComputer, hacker group AgainstTheWest (ATW) announced on a hacking forum that they had breached TikTok, as well as WeChat, displaying screenshots of what they claimed is a database containing 2.05 billion user records, source code, server info, and more.

Despite the hackers’ claims, TikTok says their servers were not breached, and the stolen code is unrelated to their backend source code, giving the following statement to BleepingComputer:

“This is an incorrect claim — our security team investigated this statement and determined that the code in question is completely unrelated to TikTok’s backend source code, which has never been merged with WeChat data.”

Contrary to what their name may imply, ATW is not anti-West, but rather targets anti-Western countries. Only time will tell if their claims of breaching TikTok are true or not. In the meantime, TikTok maintains that its users are safe.

TikTok prioritizes the privacy and security of our users’ data. Our security team investigated these claims and found no evidence of a security breach. https://t.co/TdCZDUFLPN
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) September 5, 2022

TikTok Says It Was Not Hacked After Billions of Users’ Data Leaked
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GM’s Cruise Robotaxi Service Hits a Speed Bump

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GM’s Cruise Robotaxi Service Hits a Speed Bump

General Motors’ Cruise has hit a speed bump, forced to recall its robotaxis just a day after getting authorization to operate them in California.

Like many companies, GM and Cruise are racing to develop autonomous vehicle capabilities. Cruise scored an early victory over its rivals, becoming the first to receive the green light to operate in California.

According to TheStreet, however, the victory was short-lived. Just a day after receiving its authorization, a Cruise robotaxi was involved in an accident in which its autonomous systems were to blame.

The company “is recalling certain automated driving systems (ADS),” according to documents filed with the National High Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “The software may, in certain circumstances when making an unprotected left, cause the ADS to incorrectly predict another vehicle’s path or be insufficiently reactive to the sudden path change of a road user.”

The news is a major setback for the autonomous vehicle company and further illustrates the challenges involved in making autonomous driving a reality.

GM’s Cruise Robotaxi Service Hits a Speed Bump
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Ubuntu’s Canonical Throws Its Weight Behind the Unity Desktop…Again

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Ubuntu’s Canonical Throws Its Weight Behind the Unity Desktop…Again

Canonical has announced Ubuntu Unity will once again be an official flavor of the venerable Linux distribution (distro).

Ubuntu is the world’s most popular Linux distro and is widely credited with making Linux easy for the masses. While the Gnome desktop environment (DE) is Ubuntu’s current default, for a number of years, its own home-grown Unity DE held that honor. Ubuntu switched from Gnome to Unity in 2011, before abandoning it in favor of a return to Gnome in 2017. Thankfully, enterprising developer Rudra Saraswat kept the DE alive, releasing an unofficial spin called Ubuntu Unity Remix.

Beginning with Ubuntu 22.10, scheduled for release next month, the Unity version of Ubuntu will be an official flavor, dropping the “Remix” from its name.

The announcement is good news for Unity fans. While the DE had a rocky start, in the years it was the Ubuntu default, it grew to be a powerful and elegant option. Many Linux experts, including TechRepublic’s Jack Wallen, consider Unity one of the most beautiful Linux desktops ever created.

Unlike Gnome, which has been moving in a minimalist direction for years as the developers remove features and make others hard to access, Unity has a nice balance of intuitive options and advanced customization.

For a more in-depth look at Unity, check out The Linux Cast’s video below:

Ubuntu’s Canonical Throws Its Weight Behind the Unity Desktop…Again
Matt Milano

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Russia Is Turning Off the Gas to Europe

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Russia Is Turning Off the Gas to Europe

After months of sanctions, Russia says it is cutting off the gas to Europe in a move that could have serious repercussions.

Europe relies heavily on Russia for its energy needs. In spite of that, the bloc has the international community in levying sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia is now blaming those sanctions for cutting off gas to Europe, saying they have led to maintenance issues of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, according to Forbes.

Despite the pipeline closure, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said gas exports would resume if the sanctions were lifted, saying the sanction have “brought the situation to what we see now.”

According to Forbes, Europe’s gas reserves currently sit at 81.55%. The bloc set a goal of having its reserves at 80% by November 1, putting it ever slow slightly ahead of its target. With Russia cutting off supplies, however, it’s unclear if Europe will need to tap into those reserves immediately, lowering them below the target threshold going into winter.

Russia Is Turning Off the Gas to Europe
Matt Milano

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Instagram Hit With Record $402 Million Fine Over Children’s Data

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Instagram Hit With Record $402 Million Fine Over Children’s Data

Instagram has been fined a record $402 million by Ireland’s data privacy regulator over how the social media company handled children’s data.

According to Reuters, the investigation focused on the accounts of children between the ages 13 and 17 who operated businesses on the platform. Because they were operating business accounts, the children’s email addresses and/or phone numbers were published, something that would normally not be permitted for a child user.

Given the EU’s stricter data laws, greater emphasis is placed on protecting children online, regardless of whether they are running a business or not.

“We adopted our final decision last Friday and it does contain a fine of 405 million euro,” said the spokesman for Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC).

The fine is the latest evidence of lawmakers and regulators cracking down on Big Tech and how it handles consumer data.

Instagram Hit With Record $402 Million Fine Over Children’s Data
Matt Milano

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Amazon Loses Bid to Overturn NYC Employee Union Vote

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Amazon Loses Bid to Overturn NYC Employee Union Vote

Amazon’s anti-union efforts have been dealt a major blow, with the company losing a bid to overturn a vote by its employees to unionize.

Workers at the Staten Island, N.Y voted to unionize and join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), but Amazon filed an appeal, requesting the vote be re-taken. According to NPR, a federal labor official with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has rejected Amazon’s appeal in its entirety, ruling that the union should be certified.

ALU president Chris Smalls celebrated the news in a tweet:

The NLRB ruling is a significant setback for Amazon, a company that is notoriously anti-union. The company has aggressively pushed back against union efforts, even to the point of making its own investors uncomfortable. Amazon has also hired Pinkerton detectives to monitor organizing efforts on the part of its employees.

With the Staten Island precedent, Amazon will likely face much wider unionization efforts.

Amazon Loses Bid to Overturn NYC Employee Union Vote
Matt Milano

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