Tag Archive for: BILLION

Amazon is buying Roomba maker iRobot for $1.7 billion in cash

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TL;DR: Amazon in a surprise announcement said it has agreed to acquire Roomba maker iRobot. The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $1.7 billion, or $61 per share, and represents a 22 percent premium over iRobot’s closing price of $49.99 at the end of trading on Thursday.

The deal gives Amazon a stronger foothold in the field of robots. Last year, the e-commerce giant launched a consumer home robot named Astro designed to serve as a mobile security camera, an entertainment hub and a communications tool.

The Wi-Fi connected, Snapdragon-powered bot features stereo speakers, dual cameras, a 10-inch touchscreen and even a USB-C port. Astro can only be purchased by invite and will set you back $999.99 during the ongoing introductory period. After that, expect to pay $1,449.99 for an opportunity that not everyone believes is ready for mainstream audiences.

Amazon has also invested in other gadgets designed to make life easier such as the Ring doorbell and its array of Alexa-powered speakers. Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot, however, is substantially larger than Ring and represents one of the largest moves yet by newly minted CEO Andy Jassy, who replaced founder Jeff Bezos at the helm a little over a year ago.

In fact, the iRobot deal ranks as Amazon’s fourth largest to date behind Whole Foods, MGM and One Medical at $13.7 billion, $8.45 billion and $3.9 billion, respectively.

Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices, said they are excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.

iRobot was founded way back in 1990 by Colin Angle, Rodney Brooks and Helen Greiner, who previous worked in MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. Its first robotic vacuum cleaners for consumers arrived in 2002, and the company went public in 2005. iRobot also has a line of mopping robots for hard-surface floors and has added multiple features to its vacuums including automatic dust bin emptying.

Per usual, the deal will be subject to customary closing conditions including shareholder and regulatory approval. iRobot’s Colin Angle will remain as CEO post-acquisition, we’re told.

Image credit: Kindel Media

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China Fines Didi $1.2 Billion as Tech Sector Pressures Persist

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The authorities in China on Thursday fined the country’s ride-hailing giant, Didi, $1.2 billion for data security violations, the latest in a string of regulatory actions that have laid low China’s once-soaring internet sector.

The penalty, announced by China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, ended a yearlong investigation into the data practices of the ride-sharing giant that spoiled a blockbuster listing in the United States and ultimately led to a decision to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. The regulator said it would also fine two top executives at the company.

The firm violated several Chinese data security laws, the regulator said, by collecting millions of addresses, phone numbers, images of faces, and other data.

The eye-watering fine most likely clears the way for the one-time Wall Street-darling to list its shares in Hong Kong. But the regulator’s announcement did not mention whether it would allow Didi to put its app back on Chinese app stores and to restore its ability to register new users. The government had imposed the restrictions on Didi’s operations last July as part of its investigation.

The fine broadly matched penalties paid out by other Chinese internet giants, in terms of the share of the companies’ annual revenue, during a nearly two-year regulatory crackdown on the sector.

Some analysts have argued there are signs that a frenzied period of rule-making and harsh enforcement by China’s regulators may be on the wane. Even so, more government oversight and a willingness to punish China’s innovation leaders appears to have become the new normal. In this month alone, China’s antitrust regulator punished Didi and other internet firms for failing to report mergers for antimonopoly review, while the country’s central bank fined Didi for mishandling customer data.

In a long list of infractions that included excess collection of data, the Cyberspace Administration of China singled out Didi’s chief executive and founder, Cheng Wei, and its president, Jean Liu. Each was fined roughly $150,000.

“Didi’s illegal operations have brought serious security risks to the security of the country’s key information…

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MarketsandMarkets Forecasts $60.7 Billion Zero Trust Security Market

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MarketsandMarkets is predicting that the demand for Zero Trust Security solutions will more than double in the next five years. The firm specifically believes that the Zero Trust Security Market will jump from $27.4 billion in 2022 to a robust $60.7 billion in 2027, which corresponds to a CAGR of 17.3 percent for the forecast period.

MarketsandMarkets Forecasts $60.7 Billion Zero Trust Security Market

Organizations are expected to adopt Zero Trust security methods in an effort to combat the rising number of cyberattacks, and to lower the risk of a costly data breach. In that regard, MarketsandMarkets noted that cybercriminals are engaging in more targeted attacks, with ransomware attacks becoming more and more common in the past few years.

Zero Trust security can help mitigate that threat. MarketsandMarkets indicated that the demand for multi-factor authentication solutions will be particularly high, making MFA the fastest-growing segment of the market. MFA solutions prevent hackers from gaining access to a system even if they can crack someone’s password, since they still need to get past another (often biometric) layer of security. The tech is expected to become the norm in any industry that handles sensitive personal and payment information, including finance and healthcare.

The increasing number of data protection laws will be another driver of market growth in the coming years. More businesses will need to enhance their security to achieve compliance, and many will implement biometric authentication in order to do so. The Asia Pacific market will grow at the fastest rate, with two-thirds of the organizations in the market having already made the switch to Zero Trust and 58 percent of the rest planning to do so in the next 12 months. There has also been a rush of legislative activity, with India, Japan, and Singapore pushing new cybersecurity policies to thwart ransomware activity.

Finally, MarketsandMarkets is expecting to see significant growth amongst small and medium enterprises. Like their larger counterparts, SMEs are pursuing digital transformation and migrating to a cloud environment. However, that shift has exposed them to new cyberthreats, and is forcing them to update their security practices to protect their infrastructure.

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Global Cyber Security Services Market to Reach $390 Billion

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Westford, USA, July 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The total cost of cybercrime globally is estimated to be around $1 trillion and is expected to zoom to $10.5 trillion by 2025 annually. This includes the direct costs of things like data breaches, system downtime, and recovery as well as the indirect costs associated with damaged reputation, lower productivity, and loss of customer trust. The average cost of a data breach in the global cyber security services market is now around $92 million, and it’s estimated that each incident causes an average of 9 hours of downtime. Cybersecurity insurance can help offset some of these costs, but it’s still a significant burden for businesses of all sizes.

There has been a marked increase in the number of cyber-attacks in recent years, with a wide variety of targets and motivations. These attacks can be broadly divided into two categories: those that seek to exploit vulnerabilities for financial gain, and those that are motivated by political or ideological goals. The most common type of attack in the cyber security services market is aimed at stealing personal information or money. Hackers will often target online banking platforms or e-commerce sites in order to steal credit card details or login credentials. These types of attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and many organizations are struggling to keep up with the latest threats.

Another growing type of cyber-attack is ransomware in the global cyber security services market. This is where hackers encrypt a victim’s files and demand a ransom payment in order to decrypt them. This can be particularly devastating for businesses, as it may result in the loss of critical data. Ransomware attacks have been on the rise in recent years, and they show no sign of slowing down. Political and ideological cyber-attacks are also on the rise. These may be motivated by a desire to disrupt an organization or government, or to embarrass them publicly. In some cases, these types of attacks can be very damaging indeed.

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As Incidences of Ransomware Attack Increases, the Demand for Cyber…

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