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Wiz declined a $23 billion acquisition deal from Google to focus on an IPO and achieving $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. Co-founder Assaf Rappaport cited antitrust and investor concerns. Wiz, founded in 2020, rapidly grew to a $350 million annual revenue last year.

Its cloud security products appealed to large firms, which would have bolstered Google's competition with Microsoft. Google Cloud's CEO Thomas Kurian is under pressure to sustain growth. The decision disappoints major investors seeking significant returns. Wiz previously raised $100 million shortly after its founding and has benefited from the pandemic-driven shift to cloud-based software.

The CrowdStrike/Microsoft global cyber outage continues to send shockwaves through the economy, as Delta Air Lines canceled more than 600 flights on Monday. The outage has significant operational implications for the airline, taking down its crew tracking system. The number of flights Delta has canceled due to the event now exceeds 5,000.

While the Atlanta-based airline continues to suffer, flights have mostly returned to normal. CrowdStrike is assuring the public that the majority of the 8.5 million affected devices were back up, while Microsoft has since released a recovery tool.

In response to his company’s update, which led to the largest IT outage in world history, CrowdStrike CEO and founder George Kurtz released an official statement on Friday. In it, he addressed how a single issue in the CrowdStrike Falcon update led to so much chaos.

On X, Kurtz also promised, “As this incident is resolved, you have my commitment to provide full transparency on how this occurred and the steps we’re taking to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

Tech-giant Oracle has agreed to pay a $115 million settlement to end a consumer privacy lawsuit. The plaintiffs accuse Oracle of creating “digital dossiers” for hundreds of millions of people and then selling that data illegally. The data includes browsing history, banking information, credit card spending reports, and more. The lawsuit covers people whose data Oracle collected or sold since August 19, 2018.

Apart from the price tag, the settlement also includes an agreement that Oracle will not gather user-generated information from URLs of sites people visit or text they enter into forms not run by the company.

Interesting Read

While bad code led to the biggest cybersecurity headlines this year (so far), it’s important to remember that ransomware continues to be the leading concern for organizations of all sizes and types. This Trend Micro blog snaps us back into this reality with 15 stats that show us where we stand in mid-2024.

The stats might also be an excellent resource for your next presentation on the importance of basic cyber hygiene.

Twitter Highlights

Employment Tip: Open Your Search to Different Roles

If you are finding it challenging to find roles that match your exact needs, consider widening your search. Leveraging your skills in new ways could open up interesting new career paths, increase your earnings later on, and make you more flexible in the long-term.

For the latest openings in cybersecurity careers, check CybersecurityHQ.

Stay Safe, Stay Secure.

The CybersecurityHQ Team