A massive multi-million dollar cryptocurrency theft, failing facial recognition technology, and Uber’s highly-anticipated IPO.
From Reddit, we begin with a massive data breach affecting Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. More than $40 million dollars worth of cryptocurrency – which is over 7,000 bitcoin – has been stolen after hackers used phishing, viruses, and other techniques to breach the exchange. Binance says the hackers were able to get their hands on user information, including two-factor authentication codes. The theft hit about two per cent of its total holdings … but Binance says its secure asset fund for users will cover the losses.
Also from Reddit, new figures from the United Kingdom reveal that facial recognition technology has misidentified members of the public as potential criminals in a whopping 96 per cent of face scans so far in London. The Metropolitan Police have been testing out the tech since 2016 to help them catch criminals … but critics say it’s a waste of money and a violation of privacy. Police figures say only 8 criminals have been apprehended as a direct result of this tech … and admit at least one facial recognition camera had a 100 per cent failure rate.
And last but not least from LinkedIn, today’s the day for one of the most anticipated initial public offerings to hit the stock market in 2019. Uber is going public today and is valued at more than $90 billion US dollars. With that, embattled company founder Travis Kalanick could stand to make $8 billion … while early investor Jeff Bezos could see his 3 per cent share be worth more than $400 million. Uber drivers across the US spent yesterday walking off the job and protesting, saying their wages have been cut ahead of the IPO.
