Amaya Toman In our summary of the day today, we will briefly discuss three different news items. The first concerns the World Mobile Congress, which had to be canceled last year due to the incipient COVID-19 pandemic. This June, however, the event will finally take place, but under certain conditions. It will also talk about the cyber attacks that users of SolarWinds software have to face in the US. Finally, we will discuss the cooperation between Microsoft and Bosch, which are about to enter the waters of the automotive industry.
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Mobile World Congress will be held this year
It will be almost a year since it was announced that the June Mobile World Congress will not be held due to the incipient COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the event should take place again - like every year except last year, Barcelona, Spain will be the venue for Mobile World Congress, and like every year, the event will be held in June. However, the organizers do not intend to neglect anything and are very well aware that even in June the risk of infection with the coronavirus will probably still be present. At the same time, however, they have no illusions that the majority of the population could be vaccinated already in June, and they also take into account the fact that the vaccine may simply not work for someone.
It is for these reasons that the organizers of this year's World Mobile Congress stated that they will not require confirmation of vaccination from the participants. But this does not mean that they neglect the prevention of the spread of the disease in any way: "From our point of view, it would be great if the whole world was vaccinated, but we can't count on that in 2021," stated John Hoffman in an interview for Mobile World Live, and further added that the organizers will only require negative tests for COVID-19 from the participants of the congress. These tests will need to be no more than 72 hours old. The organizers further stated that, as part of prevention, they want to create as much of a contactless environment as possible at the congress. This year's event should also be considerably more intimate, and instead of the usual hundred thousand participants, roughly half should take part.
Cyber Attacks in America
The United States government announced this week that several companies and federal organizations were targeted by a cyberattack on software from SolarWinds. "To date, nine federal agencies and approximately one hundred private sector companies have been affected," Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser, said in a press statement yesterday. According to her, the attack has its roots in Russia, but the hackers specifically carried it out in these cases on the territory of the United States. Software from SolarWinds is quite widely used in the United States, not only by government organizations, but also by companies such as Nvidia, Intel, Cisco, Belkin or VMWare. In connection with the attacks, Anne Neuberg also stated that the United States government is currently planning to implement appropriate measures that should lead to the resolution of the identified security problems.
Microsoft and Bosch have entered into a partnership
Microsoft and Bosch have joined forces to create a new software platform for cars. It should be a system that will enable seamless and secure software updates for cars over-the-air. Updating the software through the aforementioned upcoming platform should resemble, for example, updating the iOS operating system for iPhones in its speed, simplicity and security. But at the same time, it should also give drivers quick access to new functions and digital services for their cars. Security is key in this case, which will probably be the most demanding factor in the development of the entire system. The as-yet-unnamed platform should be built on the basis of the Microsoft Azure cloud service, Microsoft and Bosch also plan to use the GitHub platform and also use some open-source elements for easier and more efficient sharing of selected tools across the automotive industry.
