staff

Thu
03
Dec
John Lister's picture

Microsoft Rethinks 'Employer Snooping' Feature

Microsoft is rewriting a "Productivity Score" feature that businesses could have used to monitor staff performance. The data will now be only available in aggregated form. The feature is designed for IT and network administrators in businesses that ... use Microsoft 365, the subscription version of what was once known as the Office suite. The idea is that the administrators can get a better idea of which features are being used most, which would show where IT administrators might need to focus support. Individual User Data Revealed The problem was that the feature showed these figures on an ... (view more)

Thu
02
Aug
John Lister's picture

Gov't Staff Revert to Typewriters After Ransomware Attack

Staff of a local government in Alaska have switched to typewriters after a ransomware attack crippled their computer network. Officials are currently rebuilding the system from scratch. The attack hit Matanuska-Susitna Borough, which covers the ... region just north of Anchorage. The problems began on July 24, though officials believe the malware may have been on the system for several weeks before activating. IT staff spotted the ransomware attack thanks to antivirus software , but had to start manually removing some of the more sophisticated elements. They also reset all passwords as a security ... (view more)

Thu
07
Sep
John Lister's picture

Red Sox Accused of Cheating with Apple Watch

The Boston Red Sox are accused of cheating by using an Apple Watch as part of a scheme to relay signals to a batsman. It's a rule-breaking use of technology for an otherwise legitimate tactic. The Red Sox, like most teams, were trying to find a way ... to give batters an advantage by knowing what type of pitch is coming. Normally a catcher - sometimes with the advice of a coach - will signal a suggested pitch to the pitcher via hand gestures. The player placements mean the batter can't see this signal. In principle it's legitimate for the batting team to spot these signals and make the batter ... (view more)

Wed
11
May
John Lister's picture

Facebook 'Trending News' Accused of Political Bias

Facebook has rejected claims that its staff manually 'suppressed' conservative-slanted news stories in its trending topics feature. That hasn't satisfied a Senate committee which has now demanded more information about how the feature works. The ... feature is the list of news articles that appears on the Facebook web page when users are logged in. It's presented as a list of the news topics and stories that users are most sharing and talking about on the site, with the impression being that its a purely objective ranking based on raw numbers. Trending Topics is separate to the ... (view more)

Thu
14
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

British, US Spies Use Fake Sites to Spread Spyware

British security staff used bogus copies of the LinkedIn and Slashdot websites to install spyware on tech firm networks, according to leaked documents. They were able to pull off the hacker-like attacks with the help of the National Security Agency. ... The claims come from what appears to be a secret presentation from Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British equivalent to the National Security Agency (NSA). It seems the documents were made available to the NSA and then leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden. (Source: spiegel.de ) Secretive Agency Targets Telecommunications ... (view more)

Wed
12
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Hackers Hold Medical Records Hostage

A group of hackers has gained access to an Australian medical center's electronic patient records. Until they receive a cash payout, the hackers say they won't relinquish control of the information. It's relatively common for hackers to access ... sensitive data and then threaten to expose it unless a victim pays up. There have been several cases where scammers have remotely installed viruses on computers, then threatened to wipe the hard drive of all its stored data unless they receive hefty payments. But this case, involving the Miami Family Medical Center (MFMC), is different. Rather than ... (view more)

Thu
19
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

Google Blames Rogue Staff for Fraudulent Web Services

Google says it was "mortified" at word that its staff have been using misrepresentation to win business in Africa. Employees of the US search firm have been accused of using a Kenyan company's business listings to contact customers and pitch a ... competing service. The victimized firm is known as "Mocality," a company that tries to help businesses of all size benefit from the Internet. Mocality is paid to index details of Kenyan companies, creating an online directory of more than 170,000 firms. Last year, the company began receiving phone calls from companies asking about ... (view more)

Tue
13
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Computer Virus Forces Hospital to Turn Away Patients

A Georgia hospital was recently forced to turn ambulances away after their information systems were infected with a computer virus (malware). The problem meant staff were unable to process admissions quickly enough to cope with demand. A ... spokesperson for the Gwinnett Medical Center said that while a malicious software infection is rare, this one in particular was more severe than any before it. The virus affected the center's two facilities, located in Lawrenceville and Duluth. Hospital Admin Goes Back to the Pre-Computer Era The computer virus infection forced staff to take the details of ... (view more)

Thu
15
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Microsoft Accused Over Sweatshop Labor: Report

Microsoft, like competitor Apple before it, has become embroiled in a scandal over the treatment of its foreign workers. But it's arguably more embarrassing, as the details continue to emerge via third-party investigation. When stories broke about ... labor violations among staff working overseas on Apple products, the negative publicity was tempered by the fact that it was Apple's own program which uncovered the abuses. That's not the case with the Microsoft allegations, however. The claims come in a report by the National Labor Committee, an independent pressure group which aims to uncover and ... (view more)

Mon
08
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Apple Admits Suppliers Used Underage Staff

Apple, Inc. says it has discovered that three of its overseas suppliers used a total of 11 staff whose ages were below the legal work minimum. It also found evidence of many workers performing excessive hours or earning below the local minimum wage. ... The firm reports 17 "core violations" of its standards were uncovered this year. This includes three facilities where workers were hired at 15 years of age, despite local minimum working ages being 16. Other problems include eight cases of workers being charged extortionate fees, three cases of suppliers using unauthorized contractors for ... (view more)

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