NewsBytes Briefing: Microsoft 365 suffered an outage, and more
Last night, Microsoft 365 suffered a major outage due to an internal change and left essential web services down for hours, including Microsoft Office 365, Teams, and Outlook. The issue started at about 3:00 am IST due to an internal change introduced by the company but has since been fixed for most of the affected users. Here are other major developments.
Leading American hospital chain hit by ransomware
Mere days after a cyber-attack led to the death of a woman, Universal Health Services, one of the largest healthcare providers in the US, has been hit by a ransomware attack. The issue has locked computers and phone systems at several UHS facilities, forcing them to scale back to backup measures like offline documentation. However, no employee, patient data appears to have been compromised.
Tata Sons gearing up to take on Reliance, Amazon, Walmart
Tata Group's holding company Tata Sons is reportedly considering bringing in financial and strategic investors, including global tech companies, for backing a new digital e-commerce platform. It would bring together the group's businesses for consumer products and services - ranging from beverages to jewelry and resorts - and help the conglomerate take on the e-commerce play of Amazon, Reliance, and Walmart.
Twitter gets new Chief Information Security Officer
Twitter has appointed Rinki Sethi as its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The appointment comes following Twitter's recent hack that left accounts of several high-profile individuals, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates, compromised. Sethi, a post-graduate from Capella University, has previously held roles at Rubrik, IBM, eBay, Walmart, Intuit, and Palo Alto Networks, et al.
Other important developments to note
Among other things, Google said that it will enforce its 30% in-app purchase fee on developers distributing apps through the Play Store, and will make it easier for users to use third-party app stores. Separately, Amazon has set up 200 delivery stations ahead of its festive season sale in India, while Elon Musk was reported to be planning an IPO for SpaceX's Starlink business.
Finally, some COVID-19 updates
India on Monday reported less than 70,000 fresh coronavirus infections, taking the nationwide tally to 61.43 lakh. The death toll, meanwhile, surpassed the 96,000 mark. For vaccine, India launched a dedicated information portal on COVID-19 shots and the Health Ministry said that the first vaccines will become available by early 2021. Meanwhile, Inovio Pharma's final trial was put on hold by the FDA.
