A former SolarWind senior executive says he warned the company years ago about security flaws, American cable companies can no longer rent you the router you already own, and as people continue working from home some are vouching to cut the busy work and focus on main tasks.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday, December 22, and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
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SolarWinds Adviser Warned of Lax Security Years Before Hack from technology
That SolarWinds data breach is the news that keeps on giving. A former SolarWinds senior advisor told Bloomberg recently that he warned management of cybersecurity risks and laid out a plan years ago to improve it. His suggestions were ultimately ignored. Ian Thornton-Trump had told SolarWinds in 2017, “the survival of the company depends on an internal commitment to security.” Then the following month he ended his relationship with the company, telling Bloomberg it was because they weren’t interested in changes that made a meaningful impact. Thornton Trump and a former software engineer at SolarWinds told Bloomberg that the breach was inevitable. For the latest on the SolarWinds breach, check out our reporting at ITWorldCanada.com
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In America, cable companies can no longer rent you the router you already own. If an internet service provider was charging every month for the cable modem or router customers purchased with their own money, this is now illegal. Frontier is one company that has been known to be notorious for charging customers $10 a month for their equipment “whether you use it or not”. In the U.S., Americans pay roughly eight to 17 times more to rent a modem on average than Asia and Europe do, respectively, according to The Verge.
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And lastly, it may be time to cut the busy work. As more people work from home, some employees are pushing for less busy work and more control on how they spend their time. Some tips from LinkedIn include: Prioritizing the tasks that support the employer’s core mission over ones done simply for tracking purposes, such as one-to-one catch ups or formal processes for internal awards and grants. Another is keeping meetings short and focused, with a limited number of attendees. Lastly, if you know you can’t handle any more it’s finding the courage to turn down new projects.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. Over the next couple of weeks, we want you to tell us what you think is this year’s biggest Canadian tech story. Let us know on Twitter @ITWorldCa, or leave a comment on the show notes for this episode at ITWorldCanada.com. Respondents will be entered into a draw for a chance to win an IT World Canada mug in the New Year!
I’m Baneet Braich thanks for listening.