Tech Brew Ride Home - Wed. 02/12 - Is CISO A Thankless Job?

Episode Date: February 12, 2020

Does Uncle Sam have a smoking gun when it comes to Huawei? Could Airbnb’s recent financials imperil its IPO plans? Is Apple Pay eating the payments market? Is the CISO job actually a miserable one? And might the Z Flip actually be the first good foldable phone? Sponsors: DoubleUp.agency Zapier.com/ride Links: U.S. Officials Say Huawei Can Covertly Access Telecom Networks (WSJ) Facebook accuses telecoms groups of disinformation tactics (Financial Times) FTC Expands Antitrust Investigation Into Big Tech (WSJ) Airbnb Swings to a Loss as Costs Climb Ahead of IPO (WSJ) Apple Pay is on pace to account for 10% of all global card transactions (QZ) State of Software Engineers (Hired.com) Average tenure of a CISO is just 26 months due to high stress and burnout (ZDNet) Samsung Galaxy Z Flip hands-on: This is more like it (TechCrunch) Samsung Galaxy Z Flip hands-on: Razr who? (Engadget) Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip beats the Motorola Razr in nearly every way (The Verge) The world’s biggest phone show has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Wednesday, February 12th, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, does Uncle Sam have a smoking gun when it comes to Huawei? Could Airbnb's recent financials imperil its IPO plans? Is Apple Pay eating the payments market? Is the CISO job actually a miserable one?

And might the Z-Flip actually be the first good foldable phone? Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. In their continuing effort to get others concerned about Huawei, the U.S. U.S. government has apparently made claims that Huawei has for over a decade been able to covertly access mobile phone networks globally via backdoors that were originally designed for law enforcement. This is apparently the classified evidence that the U.S. shared with other allies, including the U.K. and Germany, in an effort to get those nations to distance themselves from Huawei, quoting the Wall Street Journal. That was a tactical turnabout by the U.S., which in the past had argued that it didn't need to produce hard evidence of the threat it says Huawei poses

to nation's security. When telecom equipment makers sell hardware such as switching gear, base stations and antennas to cell phone carriers, which assemble the networks that enable mobile communication and computing, they are required by law to build in ways for authorities to tap into the networks for lawful purposes. These companies are also required to make sure they themselves can't gain access without the consent of the network operator. Only law enforcement officials or authorized officials at carriers are allowed into these lawful interception interfaces. Such access is governed by laws and protocols in each country. U.S. officials said Huawei has built equipment that secretly preserves its ability to access

networks through these interfaces without the carrier's knowledge. The officials didn't provide details of where they believe Huawei is able to do so. Other telecom equipment manufacturers don't have the same ability, they said. Quote, we have evidence that Huawei has the capability secretly to access sensitive and personal information in systems it maintains and sells around the world. National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said, end quote. As Alex Stamos tweeted, between the Huawei accusation and the Blockbuster story on the CIA back during crypto AG for decades, it's a good day for all the wild-eyed supply chain risk experts who are often treated like cranks by the rest of Infosec, end quote.

Facebook announced today it had banned a network of two dozen fake pages and accounts linked to two South Asian telecom providers for using disinformation against rivals. Now, Facebook bans fake networks all the time these days, but this is new because this is one of Facebook's first ever takedown enforcements for commercial disinformation, not political disinformation or just information disinformation, quoting the Financial Times. The world's largest social media platform said on Wednesday that it had banned a network of two dozen fake pages and accounts linked to two telecoms providers, Vietnam's Vietel and Myanmar's Maitel, marking the first time Facebook has taken action against businesses for directly using disinformation against competitors. According to Facebook, those behind the pages created what appeared to be an independent telecom's news hub, posing as customers critical of the company's telecom's rivals, and spreading fake news of alleged business failures, market exit, and fraudulent activity at those rivals. Vietel, Vietnam's biggest telecoms provider, is state-owned and run by the country's Ministry of Defense. It is present in 11 countries, including Myanmar,

where it owns 49% of operator Maitel. Vietel in January announced plans to develop commercial 5G services, end quote. Keeping an eye on the government regulating big tech angle, various outlets are reporting that the FTC is asking alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft about smaller acquisitions from the past decade that those companies made. By small, I mean acquisitions that were small enough not to be reported to the government. Acquisitions that were often likely aqua hires. Quote, the new probe likely will involve hundreds of transactions that never drew federal scrutiny because they were under

the dollar value threshold for antitrust review, which is edging up to $94 million this year. Quote, this initiative will enable the commission to take a closer look at acquisitions in this important sector and also to evaluate whether the federal agencies are getting adequate notice of transactions that might harm competition, FTC Chairman Joe Simmons said. The FTC said it isn't conducting the probes for any specific enforcement purpose, though Mr. Simmons indicated they could lead regulators to seek to unwind improper acquisitions. The investigation also could prompt the commission to consider rule changes or other action to broaden the scope of acquisitions subject to review, he said, end quote.

Note that this sort of scrutiny would not cover something like Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, which the FTC has already okayed. Sources are saying that Airbnb had a $322 million net loss for the nine months through September 2019, down from a $200 million profit the year earlier. This would be concerning, considering Airbnb's state. dated target of going public later this year. Quoting the Wall Street Journal, Airbnb's profitability was expected to give it an edge as it wooed public investors. After the troubled debuts of Uber and Lyft, investors have grown increasingly suspicious of companies with

losses and no clear path to profitability. Any IPO this year would likely be in the third quarter or later, people close to the company said. Airbnb's drooping profitability is causing concern within the firm, according to people close to the company. The board in recent weeks grilled executives on why expenses are outpacing revenue, the people said. Airbnb increased its revenue to $1.65 billion in the third quarter, up almost $400 million from a year earlier, one of the people said. But costs rose faster. Net profit for the quarter was $266 million, less than the $337 million profit for the same period in 2018, and not enough to cover losses for the first six months of the year, the person added. Costs are likely to increase further, as a result of Airbnb's recent move to

spend more on safety issues affecting its platform. The company has struggled with theft, prostitution, and other crimes among its hosts and guests since its founding in 2008. After shooters tore through a house party in Arinda, California in October, the company announced a series of steps to increase safety for its members, including verifying all seven million of its listings for quality and accuracy. The company in early December announced details and additional measures including a commitment to spend $150 million on safety initiatives, end quote. Josh Constine tweeted, safety costs are strangling Airbnb just like Facebook. Turns out the margins in tech aren't so sweet if you have to pay for the consequences, end quote.

New research suggests that Apple Pay may make up about 5% of global card transactions and is maybe on pace to reach 10% of such payments by 2025. Quoting Quotes, Apple Pay accounts for about 5% of global card transactions and is on pace to handle 1 in 10 such payments. by 2025, according to recent trend data compiled by Bernstein, a research firm. Quote, there are indeed plenty of reasons to worry that Apple may attempt to disrupt the payments ecosystem. Bernstein analysts led by Harshita Rowat wrote in a research note. Apple Pay probably won't pose a challenge to the card giants anytime soon. While the tech company could, in theory, create its own network that runs outside of the card

systems, Bernstein argues that Apple still needs the card networks, which are ubiquitous and trusted. Visa and MasterCard, meanwhile, are used to dealing with partners, traditionally large card-issuing banks, with the kind of scale that even Apple Pay could muster. The same may not be true for other wallets, though. Quote, Apple Pay is indeed one of the long-term competitive threats to PayPal, Bernstein analysts wrote. For now, PayPal has a commanding lead in the world of online checkouts and also benefits from network effects that have been building up since the turn of the century. But Apple and PayPal could end up competing for the same turf in the coming years, end quote.

Hey devs, a couple of quick items to keep you abreast of your industry. A new report about the state of software engineering in 2019 from the site hired.com says that global demand for AR and VR engineers was up 1,400% last year, demand for gaming developers was up by 146% last year, and the demand for security engineers was up 49%. According to Robert Haft, 67% of IT managers plan to extend their teams in areas such as security, cloud computing, and business intelligence, but 89% reported challenges in recruiting that talent. Those challenges in hiring are even greater

for roles related to machine learning, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. There were 23 million software developers in 2018. This number is expected to reach 26.4 million by the end of 2019 and 27.7 million by 2023. Companies in August 2019 added 104,000 information technology workers, boosting the number of U.S. information technology jobs to more than 5.6 million, end quote. But is Infosec a bad job? ZDNet says the average tenure of a chief information security officer, CISOs or CSOs, is just 27 months. Why the intense turnover?

Apparently because the CISO job is just super intense, quoting ZD, Net. Many CISOs say the heightened stress levels of their jobs have led to mental and physical health issues, relationship problems, medication and alcohol abuse, and in some cases an eventual burnout, resulting in an average 26-month tenure before CISOs find new employment. The numbers, reported by NOMINET, represent a growing issue that's been commonly acknowledged, but mostly ignored across the information security community, but one that is slowly starting to rear its ugly head as once ignored Infosec roles are becoming more prominent inside today's companies. Today, many companies are adopting CISO roles. The constant threat of hacks, ransomware,

phishing and online scams makes establishing a cybersecurity department in any company an unavoidable decision. However, most companies are not ready to embed CISOs into their company culture and day-to-day operations. Today, CISO jobs come with low budgets, long working hours, a lack of power on executive boards, a diminishing pool of trains, professionals they can hire, but also a constant stress of not having done enough to secure the company's infrastructure against cyber attacks, continuous pressure due to newly arising threats and little thanks for the good work done. But all the blame if everything goes wrong, end quote. The survey took place this past November and spoke to 800 CISOs in companies

from the U.S. and UK, and these are indeed some grim stats. Eighty-eight percent of CISOs reported being moderately or tremendously stressed. percent of CISOs said work stress had had a detrimental impact on their mental health. 32% said that their job stress levels had repercussions on their marriage or romantic relationships, and 23% of CISOs said they turned to medication or alcohol to cope. It'll be a while until we get proper reviews, but some of the reports from the hands-on last night with the Galaxy Z-Flip phones have already started leaking out, and I'm surprised about how cautiously positive they've all been almost across the board. For example, here's Brian

Heater in TechCrunch. The company is vague about the specifics, but everything about the flip feels more solid than its predecessor, right down to the folding mechanism. It's sturdy. In fact, you can have the device open at a number of different angles to prop it up. Closing it requires more force than the fold, and that's a good thing, end quote. Here's Dieter at the verge. My biggest surprise yesterday was the quality of the Galaxy Z flip. Samsung seems to have done many of the things I said it needed to do to redeem the folding phone

category. The screen is glass. The build quality seems solid and the specs aren't underpowered. It's a good thing Samsung got so much right because if Motorola had to carry the banner for the folding phones, we'd be in a much darker place, end quote. And here's Chris Velasco at Engadget.

Quote, real world testing may reveal shortcomings, we just can't pick out right now. But I find myself feeling less concerned about what would happen to the Z-flip after a Butterfingers moment. It doesn't hurt that the hinge has been reinforced with special fibers to keep debris out of the phone itself. And I simply can't convey to you just how much better a proper glass screen feels to use than a plastic OLED. That nagging back of my head concern about scratching that internal screen is gone. Apart from the noticeable crease, using the Z-flip feels just like

using a regular phone. As it turns out, feel counts for a whole lot where foldables are concerned, and Samsung has a surprisingly good handle on it here. While the Z-flip doesn't click into place quite as convincingly as the razor does, it also doesn't make a telltale creaking sound. At least as far as I could tell, it was pretty loud in there. And to Samsung's credit, the hinge system in place here allows for more flexibility than what I've seen before. You can, for instance, prop the Z-flip open 90 degrees so you can rest the phone on a table and have it shoot with either of the 12 megapixel rear cameras. That might not sound terribly exciting, but if it saves from having to carry a tripod around, I'm all for it, end quote. Obviously now very, very early days, but might we have the first contender

for a foldable phone that can actually create a good reputation for the entire category? By the way, on the S20 tip, remember how you can now shoot 8K video on the S20s? Samsung apparently told the verge that shooting 8K video takes up around 600 megabytes per minute, or 3 gigabytes if you shoot 5 minutes of 8K video. So if you're considering buying an S20, maybe think long and hard about maxing out the storage. I think if you max out the phones in terms of storage and then top it off with a micro SD card, you can get a combined storage of 1.5 terabytes.

And if you're thinking of doing 8K video a lot, sounds like you're going to need that. So what you just heard was supposed to be the final segment today, but just as I was hitting record, word came down that the GSM was officially canceling Mobile World Congress 2020 after the coronavirus outbreak made it, quote, impossible to hold the event. quoting the statement from the GSM, with due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSM has canceled Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak,

travel concerns and other circumstances make it impossible for the GSM to hold the event. The host city parties respect and understand this decision. The GSMA and the host city parties will continue to be working in unison and supporting each other for Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, 2021, and future editions. Our sympathies at this time are with those affected in China and all around the world, end quote. So folks are probably now looking at Computex like, how are you feeling, bro? P.S., this is another one of those stories that I didn't think deserved a full write-up,

but is worth noting, WhatsApp said it now has two billion users worldwide, up from the 1.5 billion it announced two years ago. By the way, I was able to get the show out on time yesterday. You might have noticed because I came in early and recorded half the show before the Samsung event even started. But it was still chaotic. So this weekend's bonus episode, I just recorded a great conversation with Gizmodo's Sam Rutherford, where we take the time to sort out all of yesterday's announcements in greater detail.

Look for that on Saturday. Talk to you tomorrow.