10 things you need to know in tech today

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July 7, 2015 11:22 AM

Start your morning with these ten things happening in the tech world today.

Cryptographer and security expert Bruce Schneier.

1. A leading security and cryptography expert is warning that David Cameron's proposed ban on encryption would "destroy the internet." The British Prime Minister has signalled he wants to ban secure communications that law enforcement cannot access — but Bruce Schneier told Business Insider that it would be a terrible idea.

2. Ellen Pao has apologised to Reddit users: "We screwed up." The CEO is acknowledging that mistakes were made after the abrupt dismissal of a popular staff member led to huge moderator protests that closed down hundreds of the site's most popular communities.

3. Sheryl Sandberg has joined the board of SurveyMonkey. Her late husband, Dave Goldberg, was CEO of the company for six years before he died.

4. A top US intelligence official "privately floated" a potential deal to bring Edward Snowden home. The former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower is currently living in exile in Russia. The plea bargain would have seen him face between one and five years behind bars in exchange for "full cooperation with the government."

5. One of the world's biggest banks has admitted that bitcoin could destroy existing finance firms. BNP Paribas thinks the decentralised digital currency has a lot of potential, and if applied to the securities industry, "existing industry players might be redundant."

6. Google-owned mapping company Waze is launching a ride-sharing app in Israel. Google acquired Waze in 2013 for $1 billion, and is now dipping its toe in the ride-sharing market — putting it on a collision course with the likes of Uber and Lyft.

7. Hacking Team, a hacked surveillance software company with ties to Russia and the Sudan, is reportedly in crisis mode. 400GB of highly sensitive internal data — ranging from emails to source code — leaked online on Sunday night. The company has now apparently reached out to all its customers to tell them to stop using its software, and is "in full-on emergency mode."

8. Samsung is warning it is going to miss on second quarter profits. Operating profit fell by around 4% after supply shortage issues for its latest smartphone launch.

9. Apple has been testing a giant iPad for at least three years. Business Insider understands the company has been testing large-screened prototypes as far back as 2012.

10. Yelp's traffic might be about to go into decline for the first time ever. It's all down to a change in Google's algorithm.

Via: BusinessInsider.

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