Facebook's Fines, Emerging Threats and an Enterprise Boom: Topics in the News

In the past month, Mission North clients commented on trends and news making waves through the technology industry, including Facebook’s fines, the appeal of Amazon Prime Day and the fiery hot enterprise IPO market. Read on to learn about the topics in the news that our clients have been weighing in on.

Fat Fines for Facebook

Regulators aren’t sitting back and watching anymore when it comes to users’ data. Facebook's fines for mishandling users’ personal information – which, at $5 billion, represent the biggest penalty levied by the federal government against a technology company so far – are a signal that regulators are ratcheting up the pressure, BigID CEO Dimitri Sirota told the Associated Press.

New and Emerging Threats

The security community has been obsessed with BlueKeep, the wormable WannaCry-like vulnerability that remains largely unpatched in Microsoft Windows. Last month, IoT security company Armis introduced the world to a new threat: a group of vulnerabilities in a popular operating system that runs on more than 2 billion devices worldwide. This write-up in WIRED analyzes how an attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities, leading to anything from device malfunctions to full system takedowns.

Enterprise IT Boom

Enterprise IT companies are on fire in the 2019 IPO market. Incorta Field CIO Brian Keare spoke to the Wall Street Journal about this trend and the companies like Slack and Medallia that are putting their stamp on the industry. The piece dives into the forces behind enterprise software’s momentum, such as the lack of a single dominant player and an overall increase in product development.

Other clients in the news

  • Prime Day isn’t just about Amazon anymore, as Walmart and Target have begun piggy-backing off the notorious day of discounts. Whether stores have a digital, brick-and-mortar, or blended presence, ServiceChannel CEO Tom Buiocchi told TheStreet that the day presents opportunities for retailers of all types. 
  • As more CEOs find themselves making the call on whether to take their business public or sell it, Harness Co-Founder and CEO Jyoti Bansal spoke with Business Insider about what to keep in mind when making the decision of how to exit. 
  • Whether you’re asking for a raise, promotion or funding, it can be intimidating to make requests in high-stakes situations. In this advice column for Fast Company, two practitioners from Unusual Ventures’ Fall Academy – an experiential bootcamp for entrepreneurs – outline how to take these big risks and ask uncomfortable questions in order to fulfill your personal and professional needs.

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