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Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Argentina, and Thailand have become the targets of a campaign that has infected Android TV devices with a botnet malware dubbed Vo1d. The improved variant of Vo1d has been found to encompass 800,000 daily active IP addresses, with the botnet scaling a peak of 1,590,299 on January 19, 2025, spanning 226 countries. As of February 25, 2025, India has experienced a

Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Argentina, and Thailand have become the targets of a campaign that has infected Android TV devices with a botnet malware dubbed Vo1d. The improved variant of Vo1d has been found to encompass 800,000 daily active IP addresses, with the botnet scaling a peak of 1,590,299 on January 19, 2025, spanning 226 countries and regions. As of February 25, 2025, India has Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Close to 12,000 valid secrets that include API keys and passwords have been found in the Common Crawl dataset used for training multiple artificial intelligence models. [...]

** Rozkliknutí odkazu v telefonu může být velké bezpečnostní riziko ** Nevidíte, kam vede, a odkaz může být ještě několikrát přesměrován ** Tento doplněk pro Androidu vám zjistí, kam odkaz vede, a co vše obsahuje

Microsoft had discovered five Paragon Partition Manager BioNTdrv.sys driver flaws, with one used by ransomware gangs in zero-day attacks to gain SYSTEM privileges in Windows. [...]

Firefox browser maker Mozilla on Friday updated its Terms of Use a second time within a week following criticism overbroad language that appeared to give the company the rights to all information uploaded by users. The revised Terms of Use now states - You give Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing your data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice. It

Firefox browser maker Mozilla on Friday updated its Terms of Use a second time within a week following criticism overbroad language that appeared to give the company the rights to all information uploaded by users. The revised Terms of Use now states - You give Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing your data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice. It Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

The stark difference in the way tech giants in China and the US are approaching AI for internal operations was illustrated late this week by separate announcements from Salesforce and Alibaba.

During an earnings call on Thursday, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff indicated that, as a result of AI, the company would not be hiring human engineers this year.

“I think that the big message I have for a lot of CEOs that I meet with is, ‘hey, we’re the last generation of CEOs to only manage humans’,” he said. “I think every CEO going forward is going to manage humans and agents together.”

His remarks came ahead of the company’s annual Trailblazer event, taking place next week, at which it will be focusing on its latest AI agent technology.

Alibaba Group Holding is taking the opposite tack. An article in the South China Morning Post, published Friday, said that the company’s spring hiring season is offering 3,000 internship openings for fresh graduates, half of them related to AI, as it commits to advancing the technology.

During its quarterly earnings call last week, Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu said that if artificial general intelligence (AGI) is achieved, the “AI-relevant industry will very likely become the world’s largest industry,” having the potential to be the “electricity of the future.”

Vested interest in AI

Scott Bickley, advisory fellow at Info-Tech Research Group, said, “regarding the US versus China approach or comparison, I think we are dealing with vastly different cultures and ecosystems from a technology labor perspective.”

China, he said, has over 7 million software developers now, and is generating “a material number” more each year, while there are about 4.4 million in the US. China’s cost of labor is also lower than in the US. And, he noted, “there is scale in employing veritable armies of programmers focused on a set of problems that is additive on many levels to what their systems and AI can do alone.”

In addition, Bickley said, “top of mind is the fact that enterprise software companies such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, SAP, and others, all have a vested interest in touting the near-term and measurable effects of AI on their own businesses as they seek to ramp up revenues of these products with their customers.”

Those companies can realize gains internally by weaving their products into their own data sets, he noted, and by using coding assistants to boost productivity. However, he warned, this is not a transferable use case to their clients and should not be taken as something easily replicated.

“Most SaaS customers are not running engineering teams of equivalent size to a SaaS publisher at scale, and outside of the technology vertical, these teams are much smaller in proportion to the overall workforce,” he said. “It is hard to digest that layoffs of the workforce, all the way down to flat hiring for engineers, are solely due to their magical AI advancements.”

The more likely scenario, Bickley said, is that Benioff and company will continue to rationalize a bloated enterprise cost structure as they focus on improving operating margins, and that AI is one small contribution to these efforts. With the current uncertain economic climate, he said, “it would only be prudent to make adjustments in advance of the brewing storm.”

AI more likely to expand the need for engineers

Philip Walsh, director analyst in Gartner’s software engineering practice, said that from his vantage point he sees “two contrasting signals: some leaders, like Marc Benioff at Salesforce, suggest they may not need as many engineers due to AI’s impact, while others — Alibaba being a prime example — are actively scaling their technical teams and specifically hiring for AI-oriented roles.”

In practice, he said, Gartner believes AI is far more likely to expand the need for software engineering talent. “AI adoption in software development is early and uneven,” he said, “and most large enterprises are still early in deploying AI for software development — especially beyond pilots or small-scale trials.”

Walsh noted that, while there is a lot of interest in AI-based coding assistants (Gartner sees roughly 80% of large enterprises piloting or deploying them), actual active usage among developers is often much lower. “Many organizations report usage rates of 30% or less among those who have access to these tools,” he said, adding that the most common tools are not yet generating sufficient productivity gains to generate cost savings or headcount reductions.

He said, “current solutions often require strong human supervision to avoid errors or endless loops. Even as these technologies mature over the next two to three years, human expertise will remain critical.”

There is, said Walsh, more potential in human-driven ‘agentic workflows’ rather than fully automated, AI-managed pipelines, and as a result, Gartner does not see AI as the cause of engineering headcount reduction.

 “Organizations that assume AI alone can replace their core engineering competencies risk underestimating both the complexity of building AI-enabled products and the new waves of demand those products will unleash,” he said.

U.S. authorities recovered $31 million in cryptocurrency stolen in 2021 cyberattacks on Uranium Finance, a Binance Smart Chain-based DeFi protocol. [...]

2025 began in turmoil, with layoffs at some of the largest tech companies despite the support shown by the new US administration. 2024 had been a year of recovery, with the pace of layoffs slowing and IT employment the highest for years following two years of massive IT layoff in 2022 and 2023.

According to data compiled by Layoffs.fyi, the online tracker keeping tabs on job losses in the technology sector, 1,193 tech companies laid off 264,220 staff in 2023, dropping to “just” 152,104 employees laid off by 547 companies in 2024. In 2025, it has already logged 15,772 staff laid off by 70 companies. In a new twist, the site is also now counting “tech” layoffs of another kind: US federal government employees laid off by the US DOGE (formerly Digital) Service. To date, it’s tracked 33,015 of those, too, including 130 at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which helps protect enterprises and the IT they use, as well as government infrastructure.

Here is a list — to be updated regularly — of some of the most prominent technology layoffs the industry has experienced recently.

Tech layoffs in 2025

• Autodesk
• HP
• CISA
• Workday
• Salesforce
• Meta

Feb. 27, 2025: Autodesk to lay off 9% of workforce

Software maker Autodesk is laying off 1,350 staff. With the rise of subscription and multi-year contracts billed annually, and self-service enablement, it finds it needs fewer sales staff, CEO Andrew Anagnost said in a message to employees. And with its cloud, platform, and AI products proving most profitable, it’s concentrating its staff and investments there.

Feb. 27, 2025: HP to lay off 2,000 more

As part of an ongoing restructuring, HP plans to lay off up to another 2,000 workers. In recent weeks, the company has tried — unsuccessfully — to do away with telephone support staff by forcing callers to wait for at least 15 minutes if they refuse to use self-service support resources online. The company swiftly backtracked, but wider job cuts are still on.

Feb. 21, 2025: CISA lays off 130

Government employees get laid off too: In this case, 130 workers at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are being shown the door as a result of a DOGE decision. Cybersecurity experts are concerned that the cuts will harm the international collaborations that CISA has fostered, quite apart from their concerns about the security of the DOGE layoff process itself.

Feb. 5, 2025: Workday lays off 1,750

As it moves to invest more in AI and international growth, Workday is laying off 8.5% of its workforce and disposing of unused office space. Some analysts fear the cutbacks will affect the company’s customer service — unless AI can pick up the slack.

Feb. 4, 2025: Salesforce lays off over 1,000

At the same time as it’s hiring sales staff for its new artificial intelligence products, Salesforce is laying off over 1,000 workers across the company, according to Bloomberg. As of June, 2024, the company had over 72,000 employees, according to its website. Salesforce did not comment on the report. In 2024 the company reportedly laid off around 1,000 staff too, in two waves: January and July.

Jan. 14, 2025: Meta will lay off 5% of workforce

Mark Zuckerberg told Meta employees he intended to “move out the low performers faster” in an internal memo reported by Bloomberg. The memo announced that the company will lay off 5% of its staff, or around 3,600 staff, beginning Feb. 10. The company had already reduced its headcount by 5% in 2024 through natural attrition, the memo said. Among those leaving the company will be staff previously responsible for fact checking of posts on its social media platforms in the US, as the company begins relying on its users to police content.

Tech layoffs in 2024

• Equinix
• AMD
• Freshworks
• Cisco
• General Motors
• Intel
• OpenText
• Microsoft
• AWS
• Dell

Nov. 26, 2024: Equinix to cut 3% of staff

Despite intense demand for its data center capacity, Equinix is planning to lay off 3% of its workforce, or around 400 employees. The announcement followed the appointment of Adaire Fox-Martin to replace Charles Meyers as CEO and the departures of two other senior executives, CIO Milind Wagle and CISO Michael Montoya.

Nov. 13, 2024: AMD to cut 4% of workforce

AMD will lay off around 1,000 employees as it pivots towards developing AI-focused chips, it said. The move came as a surprise to staff, as the company also reported strong quarterly earnings.

Nov. 7, 2024: Freshworks lays off 660

Enterprise software vendor Freshworks laid off around 660 staff, or around 13% of its headcount, despite reporting increased revenue and profits in its fourth fiscal quarter. The company described the layoffs as a realignment of its global workforce.

Sept. 17, 2024: Cisco lays off 6,000

After laying off around 4,200 staff in February, Cisco is at it again, laying off another 6,000 or around 7% of its workforce. Among the divisions affected were its threat intelligence unit, Talos Security.

Aug. 20, 2024: General Motors lays off 1,000 software staff

More than 1,000 software and services staff are on the way out at General Motors, signalling that it could be rethinking its digital transformation strategy. In an internal memo, the company said that it was moving resources to its highest-priority work and flattening hierarchies.

August 1, 2024: Intel removes 15,000 roles

Intel plans to cut its workforce by around 15% to reduce costs after a disastrous second quarter. Revenue for the three months to June 29 stagnated at around $12.8 billion, but net income fell 85% to $83 million, prompting CEO Pat Gelsinger to bring forward a company-wide meeting in order to announce that 15,000 staff would lose their jobs. “This is an incredibly hard day for Intel as we are making some of the most consequential changes in our company’s history,” Gelsinger wrote in an email to staff, continuing: “Our revenues have not grown as expected — and we’ve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low. We need bolder actions to address both — particularly given our financial results and outlook for the second half of 2024, which is tougher than previously expected.”

July 4, 2024: OpenText to lay off 1,200

OpenText said it will lay off 1,200 staff, or about 1.7% of its workforce, in a bid to save around $100 million annually. It plans to hire new sales and engineering staff in other areas in 2025, it said.

June 4, 2024: Microsoft lays off staff in Azure division

Microsoft laid off staff in several teams supporting its cloud services, including Azure for Operations and Mission Engineering. The company didn’t say exactly how many staff were leaving.

April 4, 2024: Amazon downsizes AWS in a fresh cost-cutting round

Amazon announced hundreds of layoffs in the sales and marketing teams of its AWS cloud services division — and also in the technology development teams for its physical retail stores, as it stepped back from efforts to generalize the “Just Walk Out” technology built for its Amazon Fresh grocery stores.

April 1, 2024: Dell acknowledges 13,000 job cuts

Dell Technologies’ latest 10K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed that the company had laid off 13,000 employees over the course of the 2023 fiscal year; it characterized the layoffs and other reorganizational moves as cost-cutting measures. “These actions resulted in a reduction in our overall headcount,” the company said. A comparison to the previous year’s 10K filing, performed by The Register, found that Dell employed 133,000 people at that point, compared to 120,000 as of February 2024. Dell announced layoffs of 6,650 staffers on Feb. 6, but it is unclear whether those cuts were reflected in the numbers from this year’s 10K statement.

See news of earlier layoffs.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin sent an internal message Wednesday to the group working on the company’s AI model Gemini. In the message, Brin wrote that Google can become a leader in AI development — provided that employees work more.

“I recommend being in the office at least every weekday,” Brin said in a message quoted by The New York Times. “Sixty hours a week is the best for productivity.”

Brin sees an increased risk of burnout when working more than 60 hours a week, but at the same time criticized employees who he says do not contribute enough. “Some people work less than 60 hours and some don’t put in more effort than they have to,” he wrote. “The latter are not only unproductive, but can also be very demoralizing for everyone else.”

It is not clear from the report whether Brin himself is in the office at least every weekday and works 60 hours a week. According to the newspaper, Brin’s statement should not affect Google’s work-from-home policy, which states that employees must be in the office at least three days per week.

The time is up for Skype, one of the O.G.s of online communication.

The once-popular 22-year-old communications software is being retired by Microsoft in May 2025, with the company’s Teams collaboration suite replacing its predecessor.

“Beginning March 2025, you will be able to sign into Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype credentials, and your chats and contacts will be right there ready for you,” according to a post on Skype’s website.

Teams will carry the free calling and messaging that was available in Skype, in addition to the former’s usual collaboration and teamwork features. 

Skype, founded in 2003, was acquired by Microsoft in 2011. Microsoft wanted to use Skype to boost its enterprise collaboration tools, search engine Bing, and to aid in the launch of its Windows Phone 7 OS. At the time, Skype had 660 million users worldwide.

Microsoft rebranded its internal Lync communication tool to Skype for Business, which it packaged with the Office software. Microsoft discontinued that software in 2021.

There were concerns then that Microsoft also would shut down Skype, but that didn’t happen at the time.

“Skype has been on death’s bed for some time now. Microsoft tried to make it a money maker by having a professional version, but that went nowhere, given the dominance of Zoom,” said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.

Microsoft has focused on Teams as a replacement; it’s a better product than Skype and has gained significant traction in the enterprise — and even among consumers, Gold said. “Skype was really just a legacy product with no real investment lately,” he said. “I don’t think it will be missed by most users, who probably already have moved on to other products anyway.”

WhatsApp, for example, has gained traction as a communication tool, especially in developing countries. Companies conduct business via that mobile phone messaging app.

Meanwhile, Microsoft pointed to Teams as a useful tool beyond just the workplace.

“In the past two years, the number of minutes spent in meetings by consumer users of Teams has grown 4X, reflecting the value Teams brings to everyday communication and collaboration,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

“With Teams, users have access to many of the same core features they use in Skype, such as one-on-one calls and group calls, messaging, and file sharing,” Microsoft said.

Skype was particularly popular worldwide because it offered Internet-to-landline phone calls at a fraction of the cost of international calling plans. 

The free version of Teams does not support paid calling plans. But the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining Skype paid users after May, a Microsoft spokeswoman told Computerworld.

“The Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and within Teams, where you will continue to be able to use your subscription or Skype Credits,” the spokeswoman said. 

The dial feature is available to small business in the Teams Essentials offering, which can be paired with Microsoft Teams Phone, with prices starting at $8 per month.  

The Qilin ransomware gang has claimed responsibility for the attack at Lee Enterprises that disrupted operations on February 3, leaking samples of data they claim was stolen from the company. [...]

Law enforcement agencies from 19 countries have arrested 25 suspects linked to a criminal ring that was distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generated using artificial intelligence (AI). [...]

A 23-year-old Serbian youth activist had their Android phone targeted by a zero-day exploit developed by Cellebrite to unlock the device, according to a new report from Amnesty International. "The Android phone of one student protester was exploited and unlocked by a sophisticated zero-day exploit chain targeting Android USB drivers, developed by Cellebrite," the international non-governmental

A 23-year-old Serbian youth activist had their Android phone targeted by a zero-day exploit developed by Cellebrite to unlock the device, according to a new report from Amnesty International. "The Android phone of one student protester was exploited and unlocked by a sophisticated zero-day exploit chain targeting Android USB drivers, developed by Cellebrite," the international non-governmental Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Serbian authorities have reportedly used an Android zero-day exploit chain developed by Cellebrite to unlock the device of a student activist in the country and attempt to install spyware. [...]

Microsoft has confirmed that the Skype video call and messaging service will be shut down in May, 14 years after replacing the Windows Live Messenger. [...]

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is an amazing technology developed by Microsoft that lets you access and control another computer over a network. It’s like having your office computer with you wherever you go. For businesses, this means IT staff can manage systems remotely, and employees can work from home or anywhere, making RDP a true game-changer in today’s work environment. But here’s the

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is an amazing technology developed by Microsoft that lets you access and control another computer over a network. It’s like having your office computer with you wherever you go. For businesses, this means IT staff can manage systems remotely, and employees can work from home or anywhere, making RDP a true game-changer in today’s work environment. But here’s the [email protected]