Top 5 Must Reads: 9/8/2023

You already know that every day at?InformationWeek?there will be original reporting from our team of journalists and unique commentary you won’t see anywhere else. But in case you missed them, here are some of our favorites from this week:

1. Tower & Intel's Chip Deal

Story by?Shane Snider

Key Points:

• Just weeks after Intel scrapped its $5.4 billion bid to buy Israeli firm Tower Semiconductor, the companies on Tuesday announced that Tower would pour $300 million into Intel’s Fab 11X, an advanced manufacturing facility in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
• Intel will manufacture Tower’s 75-nanometer power management BCD (bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) products, along with others, at the facility.
• The site has been considered crucial to Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy to revitalize its North American manufacturing capabilities, along with massive investments in Ohio and Arizona.

2. Tower & Intel's Chip Deal

Story by?Joao-Pierre Ruth

Key Points:

• If this week’s Google Cloud Nexus conference is a barometer for strategies at play, the market seems to be on a path where cloud providers and technology vendors will continue to team up to elevate AI.
• This includes Google Cloud expanding its partnership with Nvidia to integrate accelerated libraries and GPUs with Google’s Serverless Spark product for data science workloads.
• After the keynote, Gartner’s Chirag Dekate, vice president and analyst, spoke with InformationWeek about what the continued partnership between Nvidia and Google might mean for AI and as a growing trend.

3. Cybercriminals & US Law Enforcement

Story by?Carrie Pallardy

Key Points:

• On Aug. 29, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department announced that a multinational operation resulted in the dismantlement of Qakbot, a malware and botnet that has been used in cybercrime since 2008.
• Infected computers would become a part of the Qakbot botnet, allowing botnet users to control these infected computers remotely, according to the FBI report. ?
• To coordinate a multinational operation like this, the FBI can leverage its overseas reach via dozens of legal attaché offices in US embassies around the world and its agents who work with foreign counterparts, according to Donald Alway, FBI Assistant Director in Charge, FBI Los Angeles, in an emailed comment.

4. EU's Digital Markets Act

Story by?Shane Snider

Key Points:

• The EU on Wednesday named 22 services from six companies (mostly American), including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft.
• The DMA focuses on “gatekeepers” -- big tech companies that offer services to millions globally -- and will limit the way the companies combine user data to gain competitive advantage, among other anti-trust measures.
• In a blog post, Google’s Oliver Bethell said, “Our aim is to make changes that meet the new requirements while protecting the user experience and providing helpful, innovative, and safe products for people in Europe.”

5. SIM Swapping

Story by?Carrie Pallardy

Key Points:

• SIM swapping attacks involve porting a mobile number to a SIM card controlled by a threat actor.
• Mary Ann Miller, fraud and cybercrime executive advisor and vice president of client experience at?Prove Identity, a company that provides phone-centric and API authentication solutions, notes that innys at companies like T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T can be recruited via platforms like Telegram.
• If your organization is using MFA and OTPs, Miller stresses the importance of having SIM swapping detection in place.

Latest Major Tech Layoff Announcements

Original Story by?Jessica C. Davis, Updated by?Brandon J. Taylor

Key Points:

• As COVID drove everyone online, tech companies hired like crazy. Now we are hitting the COVID tech bust as tech giants shed jobs by the thousands.
• Updated Thursday, September 8, 2023?with layoff announcements from Roku , Zebra Technologies, and?Getir.
• Check back regularly for updates to our IT job layoffs tracker.

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"Optimizing Returns from Your Cyber Risk Program" LIVE webinar on 9/19 presented by InformationWeek and Bitsight

On Tuesday – September 19, beginning at 1pm ET – tune into?our free online webinar featuring Bitsight's?Gregory Keshian?-?SVP & GM, and?Vanessa Jankowski?-?VP & GM of Third Party Risk Management?as our keynote speakers! This live webinar will be moderated by?our colleague?Terry Sweeney.?

REGISTER?now at the link above.

"Optimizing Returns from Your Cyber Risk Program"

In the current global economic landscape, the imperative to achieve more with limited resources is impacting departments across organizations.

Concurrently, the expansion of digital footprints presents challenges as cyber threats exploit vulnerable infrastructures. To uphold a leading-edge cyber risk program and align with business demands, organizations must explore resourceful approaches.

An essential initial stride toward effective cyber risk management is gaining comprehensive insight into the extended attack surface of the organization and its associated risks. Equally critical is the capability to articulate strategy and program effectiveness to stakeholders, including the Board. This significance has grown even more pronounced with the introduction of new SEC Regulations.

As the cyber landscape evolves, the ability to navigate these complexities becomes paramount. An essential initial stride toward effective cyber risk management is gaining comprehensive insight into the extended attack surface of the organization and its associated risks.

Equally critical is the capability to articulate strategy and program effectiveness to stakeholders, including the Board. This significance has grown even more pronounced with the introduction of new SEC Regulations. As the cyber landscape evolves, the ability to navigate these complexities becomes paramount.

By attending this webinar, you'll dive into:

• Unleashing the Potential of Your Current Tools: Strategies to enhance tool effectiveness while safeguarding against cyber threats.
• Effective Board Communication: Understanding the art of conveying cyber insights in a language that resonates with the Board.
• Fostering Accountability: Unpacking the internal and external dimensions of accountability, while exploring the potential impacts of recent SEC regulation changes.
• Enriching Visibility through Continuous Monitoring: How monitoring your external attack surface can illuminate priorities and elevate organizational awareness.

"Optimizing Returns from Your Cyber Risk Program" LIVE webinar on 9/21 presented by InformationWeek and TeamDynamix

On Thursday – September 21, beginning at 1pm ET – tune into?our free online webinar featuring Andrew Graf?-?Chief Product Officer at TeamDynamix?as our keynote speaker! This live webinar will be moderated by?our colleague Peter Krass.?REGISTER?now at the link above.

"Smart IT Service Management - Minimizing Resource Strain on the IT Service Desk Team"

In the fast-paced realm of technology adoption, the IT Service Desk is at the forefront of innovation, navigating the surge in demands.

As ticket volumes soar and project support requests surge, IT leaders are on a mission to liberate their teams from the resource drain. Join this webinar to gain valuable insights from a recent Information Week Market Study focused on how to increase self-service and automate manual tasks associated with common requests such as onboarding, password resets, and active directory updates.

Join this webinar to better understand the importance of:

• Driving self-service adoption with better portals
• Automating manual tasks such as onboarding?
• Using Conversational AI to improve chat interactions
• Combing ticket and project work into one view
• Creating automations from the service catalog

Radical Automation of the IT Service Desk Tech Showcase

Are you ready to see how the modernization of IT Service Management can help you reduce IT resource drain and budgets? This webinar will include a sneak peek demo of how emerging technology is creating radical automation for the IT Service Desk.

Treasures from the Archives...

Story by?John Edwards

Key Points:

• Telecommunications, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, materials science, additive manufacturing ... all have roots in the space ecosystem, observes Tom Zelibor, CEO of Space Foundation, a non-profit organization that advocates for the global space industry.
• The overall space economy grew 4.4% last year to nearly $450 billion, with commercial activities accounting for well over half of the growth, reports Steve DelBusso, leader of the national security group at management and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
• Business-focused space innovations will include the development and installation of many different types of in-space infrastructure, including commercial space stations, satellite deployment and servicing, and various types of communications services.

This is just a taste of what’s going on. If you want the whole scoop, then?register for one of our email newsletters,?but only if you’re going to read it.?We want to improve the sustainability of editorial operations, so we don’t want to send you newsletters that are just going to sit there unopened. If you're a subscriber already, please make sure Mimecast and other inbox bouncers know that we’re cool and they should let us through. And if you’re thinking about?subscribing,?then maybe start with the InformationWeek in Review; it only arrives on Fridays.