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Global technology outage disrupts banks, businesses and flights

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A world technology outage on Friday paralyzed industries from travel to finance, but services began to return after several hours of disruption, highlighting the risks related to the worldwide shift to digital, connected technologies.

A software update developed by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (CRWD.O) is believed to have caused systemic issues which have grounded flights, forced some broadcasters to stop broadcasting and left customers without access to services reminiscent of healthcare and banking.

US President Joe Biden has been informed of the failure, a White House official said.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on social media platform X that a flaw had been found “in a single content update for Windows hosts” that affected Microsoft (MSFT.O) customers and that a fix was being rolled out. Microsoft said in a while Friday that the problem had been resolved.

“We are deeply saddened by the impact that we have had on customers, on travelers, on everyone affected by this, including our company,” Kurtz told NBC News. “A lot of customers are rebooting the system, and it is coming and it will work,” Kurtz said. “It may take some time for some systems to recover automatically.”

CrowdStrike shares fell 14.5% shortly after Wall Street opened, then recovered losses to fall 8.5%. Its cyber rivals rose, with SentinelOne up 3.6% and Palo Alto Networks up 1.7%. Microsoft fell 0.2%.

“This morning, the Crowdstrike update was responsible for disabling multiple Windows systems worldwide. We are actively working with customers to help them recover,” said Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s chief communications officer, in a post on X.

But whilst businesses and institutions began to revive normal services, experts say the cyber outage exposed the risks of an increasingly online world.

“It’s a very, very uncomfortable illustration of the fragility of the world’s basic internet infrastructure,” said Ciaran Martin, a professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and former head of the U.K.’s National Cyber ​​Security Center. While the underlying problem seemed easy, which must have made it short-lived, its immediate impact was extraordinary, Martin said.

“I’m having trouble imagining a failure of this scale.”

Over the past twenty years, the COVID-19 pandemic has made each governments and businesses increasingly depending on a handful of interconnected technology firms, which explains why one software problem has resonated a lot.

DISRUPTION

Early Friday morning, the biggest US airlines American Airlines (AAL.O), Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) and United Airlines (UAL.O) grounded flights, while other carriers and airports world wide reported delays and disruptions.

Banks and financial services firms in Australia, India and Germany warned customers of disruptions, and traders across all markets reported problems executing trades.

“We are facing the biggest crash in global markets history,” one trader said.

In the UK, booking systems utilized by doctors were offline, in keeping with multiple reports posted on X by medical officials, while Sky News, one among the country’s major news broadcasters, was taken off air and apologised for not with the ability to broadcast live. Manchester United Football Club said on X it needed to postpone a planned ticket launch.

Airports from Los Angeles to Singapore, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Berlin said some airlines were forced to envision passengers in manually, causing delays.

Government agencies have also been affected. The foreign ministries of the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates reported some disruptions.

As the day progressed, more and more firms reported a return to normal operations, including Spanish airport operator Aena (AENA.MC), U.S. carriers American Airlines, Frontier and Spirit (SAVE.N), the operator of Dubai International Airport and Australia’s Commonwealth Bank (CBA.AX).

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the transportation system appears to be working, and the hope is that by Saturday every little thing can be back to normal. He added that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t look like affected.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Revolut will introduce mortgage loans, smart ATMs and business lending products

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Revolutthe London-based fintech unicorn shared several elements of the corporate’s 2025 roadmap at a company event in London on Friday. One of the corporate’s important goals for next yr will be to introduce an AI-enabled assistant that will help its 50 million customers navigate financial apps, manage money and customize software.

Considering that artificial intelligence is at the middle of everyone’s attention, this move shouldn’t be surprising. But an AI assistant could actually help differentiate Revolut from traditional banking services, which have been slower to adapt to latest technologies.

When Revolut launched its app almost 10 years ago, many individuals discovered the concept of debit cards with real-time payment notifications. Users may lock the cardboard from the app.

Many banks now can help you control your card using your phone. However, they’re unlikely to supply AI features that might be useful yet.

In addition to the AI ​​assistant, Revolut announced that it will introduce branded ATMs to the market. These will end in money being spent (obviously), but in addition cards – which could encourage latest sign-ups.

Revolut said it plans so as to add facial recognition features to its ATMs in the longer term, which could help with authentication without using the same old card and PIN protocol. It will be interesting to see the way it implements this technology in a way that complies with European Union data protection regulations, which require explicit consent to make use of biometric data for identification purposes.

According to the corporate, Revolut ATMs will start appearing in Spain in early 2025.

Revolut has had a banking license in Europe for a while, which implies it may offer lending products to its retail customers. It already offers bank cards and personal loans in some countries.

Now the corporate plans to expand into mortgage loans – some of the popular lending products in Europe – with an emphasis on speed. If it’s an easy request, customers should generally expect immediate approval and a final offer inside one business day. However, mortgages are rarely easy, so it will be interesting to see if Revolut overpromises.

It appears that the mortgage market rollout will be slow. Revolut said it was starting in Lithuania, with Ireland and France expected to follow suit. Although all these premieres are scheduled for 2025.

Finally, Revolut intends to expand its business offering in Europe with its first loan products and savings accounts. In the payments space, it will enable business customers to supply “buy now, pay later” payment options.

Revolut will introduce Revolut kiosks with biometric payments especially for restaurants and stores.

If all these features seem overwhelming, it’s because Revolut is consistently committed to product development, rolling out latest features quickly. And 2025 looks no different.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is leaving PhonePe’s board

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Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.

Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.

Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.

Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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The company is currently developing washing machines for humans

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Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.

According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.

The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.

Apparently a version for home use is within the works.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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