IBM begins laying off its workforce in Russia, the FBI seizes a platform that sells stolen personal information, and Elon Musk threatens to walk out of the Twitter deal.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Thursday June 9th and I’m your host, Samira Balsara.
IBM has officially launched the final phase of its exit from Russia: laying off its entire workforce. The company had ceased operations in the country in March but continued to keep its employees on the payroll. But now further sanctions against Russian banks are making it more difficult to receive money. In its memo to employees, IBM said it would take reasonable steps to help its Russian workers make the transition as orderly as possible. In addition, the company expects very little impact on its bottom line and describes Russia as a Minimis part of IBM. Russia accounted for just 0.5 percent of IBM’s total revenue last year, according to Engadget.
The FBI, with help from the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice, has shut down SSNDOB, a notorious marketplace for trading stolen personal information. The digital marketplace is full of confidential information, including social security numbers, from more than 24 million Americans. It’s also a hot market, as the DOJ estimates it’s generated more than $19 million in revenue. It is also linked to Joker’s Stash, another dark web market for stolen credit card information that shut down in 2021. Although the FBI managed to seize four domains related to the operation, it didn’t say if they held anyone responsible.
Elon Musk has officially threatened to abandon his $44 billion Twitter purchase, accusing the company of refusing to provide information on the number of bots. Despite Twitter’s CEO claiming that five percent of the 229 million accounts are bots, Musk refused to seal the deal until he saw more evidence. Their dispute has caught the attention of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who on Monday launched an investigation into Twitter to verify the numbers of the company’s bot accounts. Twitter has until June 27 to respond to the Attorney General’s request for information. Amid the deal’s delay, Twitter shareholders last month filed a lawsuit against Musk for manipulating the company’s stock prices.
Sharing is caring when it comes to electric vehicles. Ford just released a new adapter kit that allows its F-150 Lightning Lightning electric pickup truck to charge Teslas. This is because Teslas require a proprietary connector that is incompatible with the more common connector found on most EVs. The kit, which appears to be included with vehicle purchases, has some drivers keen to find stranded Teslas on the road. The Ford F150 Lighting has a massive internal battery and an integrated generator that can put out up to 9.6 kilowatts of power.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is part of the ITWC Podcast Network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your daily Google Home briefing. Be sure to register with us Daily IT wire Newsletter to get all the important news straight to your inbox every day. Also check out the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly hashtag trending episode in French that comes out every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thanks for listening, I’m Samira Balsara.
