Caracal Daily | July 25
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Happy Thursday.
Here’s today’s Caracal Daily:
*** Ross Rant ***
The CrowdStrike BSOD incident
In light of the CrowdStike BSOD incident, it's crucial to acknowledge the impact of regulatory frameworks on cybersecurity.
The Telegraph reports that Microsoft has attributed the recent IT outage to EU rules that prevented necessary security changes.
According to a Microsoft blog post, this IT outage affected only 8.5 million Windows or less than 1% of Microsoft's global footprint.
Still, at just one percent of Microsoft's global footprint., one cybersecurity expert described the incident as potentially the "largest IT outage in history," which caused widespread chaos across various sectors.
The incident resulted in at least 5,000 commercial airline flights being canceled worldwide and counting. It also impacted businesses ranging from retail to logistics to healthcare facilities. The outage led to significant losses in revenue, staff time, and overall productivity.
While the full financial impact of Friday's worldwide internet breakdown is still being assessed, experts suggest that the costs could exceed $1 billion.
Now imagine if 7% of Microsoft's global footprint was hit.
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the intricate balance that needs to be maintained between regulatory compliance and robust cybersecurity measures.
It's a complex challenge that we must navigate.
The 2009 agreement with the European Commission, designed to ensure fair access for security software makers, inadvertently restricted Microsoft's ability to block the CrowdStrike update, which led to widespread disruptions.
This situation highlights the need for ongoing dialogue between tech companies and regulatory bodies to adapt to evolving security threats.
Bottom line...
For global companies, this incident underscores the importance of maintaining an open and ongoing dialogue with regulatory bodies. Senior leadership must proactively engage with regulators to ensure that rules remain relevant and do not inadvertently increase vulnerabilities.
For global business communicators, this is a stark reminder that clear and timely communication with all stakeholders—- including customers, partners, regulators, and the public—is crucial during such incidents to manage reputations and mitigate further disruptions.
*** Globalization + Geopolitics ***
A defiant Netanyahu vows to stay the course; hits ‘useful idiots’: Politico reports Netanyahu praised Biden for his “heartfelt support” following Hamas’ surprise attack.
Netanyahu dismisses critics, scolds protesters in defiant speech to Congress: WP reports pvoking Israel’s sworn enemy Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza is part of a broader fight against “barbarism.”
Britain and Germany team up on defense as fears grow Trump will ditch Ukraine: Politico reports Britain’s new Labour government is seeking deeper military ties with Germany and France.
Bloomberg: Space industry can become Britain’s ‘economic engine,’ says Lockheed Martin
+ US defense company looks to UK firms, universities for growth
+ ‘I want space to be an economic engine’: Lockheed’s Lightfoot
James Cleverly became the first Tory MP to declare their candidacy for the party’s leadership.
Tom Tugendhat became the second MP to announce he would run for the Conservative leadership.
Switzerland now requires all government software to be open source: ZDNet reports the United States remains reluctant to work with open source, but European countries are bolder.
Blinken's 6-country Asia tour to show US is 'all in' on region: Nikkei reports Washington seeks 'new regional architecture' to counter China and North Korea.
China is getting secretive about its supercomputers: Big machines are critical for developing weapons and AI, so scientists hunt for clues about Chinese progress. WSJ
China hopes to get 50 countries involved in its International Lunar Research Station project by 2035.
65: China is gradually raising its retirement age over the next five years to cope with its aging population and overburdened pension system. China’s current retirement age is one of the lowest in the world: 60 for men and between 50-55 for women.
CAN-USA relations with Trump 2.0: A new Angus Reid poll suggests 66 percent of Canadians believe a second Trump term would be “bad or terrible” for the country.
Joe Biden was compelled to stand down — could Trudeau go next? Age isn't a factor for the PM and Canada's democracy isn't facing a mortal threat. CBC
A mid-September test flight of Vulcan could permit a military launch this year: ARS Tech reports that ULA looks to have a good shot at making its Vulcan rocket operational this year.
How to decode Kamala Harris’s foreign policy: Expect tougher words on Israel, and continuity on Russia and China. Economist
*** US Politics + Elections ***
Harris leads Trump 44% to 42% in US presidential race, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds: The new poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, followed both the Republican National Convention where Trump on Thursday formally accepted the nomination and Biden's announcement on Sunday he was leaving the race and endorsing Harris.
This is exactly what the Trump team feared: A campaign that had been optimized to beat Joe Biden must now be reinvented. Tim Alberta
House GOP leaders urge members: Stop making race comments about Harris: Politico reports the leadership warned lawmakers during a closed-door meeting to focus on the vice president’s record, not her race.
Kamala Harris’s biographer says she’s always been underestimated Benjamin Hart
What is Kamala Harris's 'brat' rebrand all about? BBC
What would a Harris presidency mean for the economy? Vice president puts focus on workers, middle class as she launches White House bid. WSJ
A Kamala Harris presidency could mean more of the same on AI regulation: The presumptive Democratic nominee has won concessions from Big Tech leaders on AI, but she hasn’t successfully pushed Congress to regulate. NYT
In Silicon Valley, where Trump made inroads, Democrats are now invigorated: Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, and others have endorsed Donald J. Trump. But President Biden’s withdrawal has re-energized Democrats across the tech industry and may blunt that momentum. WP
Donald Trump and cryptocurrencies: The underside of a recent love affair: A long-standing critic of crypto-assets, the former Republican president has made a 180-degree turn and is now an unconditional supporter of Bitcoin. Le Monde
JD Vance hits the money circuit after joining Trump’s ticket: Presidential running mates are always responsible for bringing in cash, but Mr. Vance, who has old ties to Silicon Valley, appears to be leaning into the role heavily. NYT
Democrats might want to take JD Vance seriously Simon van Zuylen-Wood
AP: Clip resurfaces of Vance criticizing Harris for being ‘childless,’ testing Trump’s new running mate
Between attacks on electric cars, Trump says they’re ‘incredible’: NYT reports the former president’s comments on EVs have shifted since he has grown more friendly with Elon Musk, the billionaire head of Tesla.
Elon Musk says a Trump presidency ‘would be devastating’ to Tesla’s competitors Fortune
Kamala Harris doesn't scare Republicans, but Mark Kelly absolutely should Phil Boas - Arizona Republic
POTUS debate: Fox News invited Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to debate each other in Pennsylvania on September 17, according to CNBC reports.
The Securities and Exchange Commission gave the final signoff for ether-based exchange-traded funds to start trading.
The FTC demands to know more about how Mastercard, Chase, Accenture, and others are using AI to set dynamic pricing based on customer behavior.
Congress calls for tech outage hearing to grill CrowdStrike CEO: The House Homeland Security Committee called on the chief executive of the cybersecurity firm to testify on the disruption. NYT
House committee calls on CrowdStrike CEO to testify on global outage: The software security company faces the prospect of a congressional grilling over a botched update that caused widespread havoc. WP
*** Disruption + Innovation ***
TC: GM’s Cruise abandons Origin robotaxi, takes $583 million charge
Honda to cut China production capacity for gas cars by 30%: Nikkei reports the move marks latest reversal by Japanese automakers in world's biggest market.
The $12,000 Harvard class celebrities are fighting to get into: Business school professor Anita Elberse teaches celebrities how to build empires—and publishes case studies on everyone from David Beckham to MrBeast. Bloomberg
CrowdStrike says bug in quality control process led to botched update: Reuters reports a CrowdStrike software update that crashed computers globally last week hitting services from aviation to banking and healthcare was caused by a bug in the US cybersecurity firm's quality control mechanism, the company said on Wednesday.
+ US Fortune 500 companies, excluding Microsoft, will face $5.4 billion in financial losses from the recent CrowdStrike outage, insurer Parametrix said on Wednesday.
TC: CrowdStrike offers a $10 apology gift card to say sorry for outage
Mark Zuckerberg just intensified the battle for AI’s future Time
These are the 10 AI startups to watch in 2024: OpenAI, Perplexity, Suno, and more—Bloomberg’s second-annual leaderboard of AI upstarts. Bloomberg
Microsoft’s AI assistants will revolutionize the office — one day: Early adopters say deploying the company’s Copilot bots requires cleaning up corporate data and lots of employee training. Bloomberg
Bloomberg: Musk asks X users if Tesla should invest $5 billion in xAI
+ CEO takes poll on whether EV maker should back his startup
+ The two companies have intermingled on procurement, recruiting
FT: US markets suffer worst day since 2022 as Tesla and AI stocks fall
Tesla’s auto woes crash Elon Musk’s AI dreams: The electric-vehicle pioneer’s second-quarter results showed a challenged car business, while its CEO just wants investors to think about autonomy. WSJ
Big Tech says AI is booming. Wall Street is starting to see a bubble. The industry has rushed head-long into AI, and stock market investors are following them. But a growing number of analysts are skeptical. WP
+ OpenAI may lose $5 billion this year and may run out of cash in 12 months, unless they raise more cash, per analysis The Information.
Google fails to ‘wow’ as AI bills mount: WSJ reports the advertising business faces tough growth comparisons, while AI spending continues to surge.
Microsoft aims to boost AI workload capacity with Lumen partnership: Reuters reports Microsoft will use Lumen Technologies' network equipment to expand its capacity for AI workloads, the companies said on Wednesday, as the technology giant looks to meet growing demand at its data centers.
Reuters: Facebook removes 63,000 accounts in Nigeria over 'sextortion' scams
Apple is working on a foldable iPhone that could be released as early as 2026.
DW: Ferrari to accept cryptocurrency payments in Europe
*** Culture ***
The 10 most intriguing titles at the 2024 Venice Film Festival Roger Ebert
*** Sport ***
ESPN: IOC awards 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City
Don Garber: 25 years of the MLS commissioner who became the most powerful man in American soccer The Athletic
NBA unveils $77 billion TV and streaming seals with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon: WSJ reports the league signed 11-year agreements with media partners and rejected a last-minute matching bid from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paris 2024: Controversial AI-led video surveillance put to the test during Olympics: Regional transport authorities are preparing to extend the use of so-called 'smart' algorithm-led video surveillance throughout the Games. These tools have already been tested in France, but their effectiveness has been questioned. Le Monde
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Marc A. Ross | Chief Communications Strategist @ Caracal
