Edition 1: Lost in cyberspace
(This newsletter was sent to email subscribers on December 6, 2019.)
Happy Friday, muggles. Welcome back to Below the Fold. In honor of our launch on Product Hunt, and all the shopping that took place this week, we’re leaning into all things happening in cyberspace.
Amazon may be hiding workplace injuries
Mon Dec 2
While we were busy shopping Amazon’s Cyber Monday deals, the company seemed busy covering up workplace injuries. A recent report shows that hundreds of workplace injuries have been mishandled. While most warehouses have an EMT-staffed unit on-site to offer “basic care,” a.k.a. giving out ice packs or Advil, anything more serious is *supposed* to be handled by an actual doctor.
But apparently, this rarely happens. Over the past four years, injuries were treated in-house, even though Amazon’s medical staff was not qualified — or legally permitted — to do so. Amazon’s sweep-it-under-the-rug mentality prevented their workers from seeking immediate medical attention — oftentimes worsening the injuries.
How the Grinch stole Christmas … with the help of robots
Thurs Nov 30
With the holidays approaching, “Grinch bots” are buying up popular items on online retailers and reselling them on third-party sites. These scams go deeper than turning a profit on limited-edition items. These bot engineers are also using third-party seller pages to steal their buyers’ credit card information. 🚨 So … shop safely this holiday season, and check your bank statements for suspicious charges!
Paying other companies … to pay off your ransom
Wed Nov 13
Ransomware attacks are an ongoing threat to corporations and government agencies. For example, two months ago, 22 local Texas governments were hit by a coordinated cyber attack. When an organization is hacked, it typically has two options if it wants its computer access back:
- Pay off the hackers
- Hire a data recovery firm to regain network access
… but it turns out that those two options may just be the same thing! An investigation by ProPublica found these data recovery firms, which offer “high-tech ransomware solutions,” often just pay the hackers’ ransom.
Global affairs that flew right past us
Turns out there’s a lot happening around the world that we missed.
- Political protests broke out in Iran last month over gas prices — and they turned deadly. Didn’t hear about it? That’s because a nation-wide internet blackout prevented anyone inside the country from sharing it with the outside world.
- The White House lifted a hold on $105 million in military aid for Lebanon. Why was it being held? No one seems to know.
- Trump may impose tariffs on French wine in retaliation to new taxes on American tech — wine lovers, brace yourselves.
That’s all for this week. Have a magical weekend. ✨
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