• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less

1

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
TechCyber Saturday

Data Sheet—Saturday, July 15, 2017

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 15, 2017, 3:08 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

When it comes to the business of security, provenance matters.

For years the United States has effectively banned the Chinese tech giant Huawei from entering its network equipment market for fear of possible government-mandated backdoors. Former President Barack Obama last year blocked a Chinese investment fund from acquiring Aixtron, a German chip equipment maker with a presence in the U.S., citing security concerns. China, meanwhile, has long barred western social media companies, like Facebook, from making inroads within the Middle Kingdom, where the Communist Party regards free speech as a threat.

Kaspersky Lab is the latest company to receive the brunt of a nation’s suspicions. The Russian cybersecurity firm has been taking heat in Washington, D.C., where U.S. officials have mulled restrictions on Kaspersky sales and where national security hawks have warned that the company’s proximity to Moscow threatens U.S. interests. Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and founder of his namesake firm, has been doing his damnedest to fend off accusations of alleged impropriety, even as news organizations attempt to dredge up anything that might be construed as an unseemly tie to the Kremlin. (To wit: this Bloomberg story, which is barely newsworthy, despite what its headline suggests.)

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Russia would sabotage one of its greatest software successes to meddle with American infrastructure. A move like that would immediately and irrevocably cast every business with a hint of Russian influence into disrepute. Retaliation would be swift and certain. The only circumstance under which I can imagine Russia abusing Kaspersky’s foothold on networks would be in the event that the U.S. and Russia were engaged in all out conflict. Then all bets are off.

That said, I also understand the U.S. view: wanting to prevent Russia—or a Russian business, more accurately—from having any leverage over its critical systems. The Kremlin has become far more brazen when it comes to hacking and cyber espionage in recent months. Why grant an adversary such a potentially strategic position?

Kaspersky has topnotch researchers, some of the best in the business. It’s a shame that its commercial aspirations, which have the potential to build common economic and diplomatic ground, must suffer amid this cloud of fomenting distrust. It’s like two sets of parents forbidding their children from playing together because the folks don’t get along. Like I said, a shame.

This week Fortune’s team is headed to Aspen, Colorado, for our Brainstorm Tech conference. There we’ll have a number of experts from the national security world taking the stage, including Stanley McChrystal, a former top military commander, Keith Alexander, ex-head of the NSA, and John Brennan, onetime CIA boss. We’ll be sure to share what we learn about private industry and public sector relations in an upcoming edition of Cyber Saturday. Stay tuned.

Robert Hackett

@rhhackett

robert.hackett@fortune.com

Welcome to the Cyber Saturday edition of Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily tech newsletter. Fortune reporter Robert Hackett here. You may reach me via Twitter, Cryptocat, Jabber (see OTR fingerprint on my about.me), PGP encrypted email (see public key on my Keybase.io), Wickr, Signal, or however you (securely) prefer. Feedback welcome.

THREATS

Dark market goes dark. AlphaBay, the dark web's biggest marketplace, where unscrupulous sorts could buy and sell drugs, stolen credit card information, weapons, and other criminal miscellany, was taken offline a week ago after a joint action by officials from the U.S., Canada, and Thailand. Authorities arrested Alexandre Cazes, a Canadian citizen living in Thailand and allegedly one of the site's operators. The suspect apparently hanged himself in a Thai prison cell on Wednesday. (Wall Street Journal, Wired)

Stolen Trump cards. Trump International Hotels Management, the company formerly run by U.S. President Donald Trump, disclosed a data breach on Tuesday that affected people who had booked reservations at 14 of its properties. Hackers stole the payment card information from the systems of Sabre, a service provider, between August 10, 2016 and March 9. (Reuters)

Los ojos en los celulares. The Mexican government has been targeting international human rights lawyers with iPhone spyware, according to security researchers at The Citizen Lab, an academic research group based in Toronto, Canada. The surveillance tools were created by NSO Group, an Israeli firm that sells hacking tools to governments so they may keep tabs on criminals and terrorists. As the latest research shows, its hard to prevent governments from using such tools against whomever they please, whether that be journalists, activists, investigators, or lawyers. (Fortune, New York Times, Citizen Lab)

Alphabet winks, Symantec blinks. Cybersecurity giant Symantec is reportedly mulling a sale of its website certification business after Alphabet's Google said it was running poor security checks. Symantec is apparently in talks with other companies and private equity firms about a deal to sell the division, which could be worth $1 billion. The move comes as Symantec CEO Greg Clark looks to shed slow-growth units and acquire new ones. (Reuters)

Before you toss that junk stashed in your attic, remember: One person's trash is another person's WWII-era crypto treasure.

Share today's Data Sheet with a friend:

http://fortune.com/newsletter/datasheet/

Looking for previous Data Sheets? Click here.

ACCESS GRANTED

Here's Fortune's Aric Jenkins with a primer on net neutrality, and why people are once again debating the principle's merits.

The general fear from advocates of net neutrality is that ISPs could fracture the web into two different internets — one faster version for the major companies who could afford to pay fast lane fees, and slower version for everyone else. Proponents additionally argue that rolling back net neutrality could lead to an increase in internet bills for everyday web users and dent the innovation that can sprout from an open, available web — smaller startups with new ideas might not be able to afford the ISP fees. Read more on Fortune.com.

FORTUNE RECON

Bitcoin Photobombers Crashed Janet Yellen's Fed Testimony—And Got Paid $10,000, by Jen Wieczner

Securitas CEO Declared Bankrupt After Identity Theft, by Mahita Gajanan 

Cisco Just Bought Security Startup Observable Networks, by Jonathan Vanian

Here Are Top 10 Phishing Email Lures. Would You Fall for Them?, by Robert Hackett

Google Search Will Show Torrent Sites With Pirated Content, by Lisa Fu

 

ONE MORE THING

Your password habit hurts Netflix. It's no secret that many people share passwords for video streaming services, like Netflix, HBO GO, and Hulu. According to Reuters, 1 in 5 people swap log-in credentials so they can get past paywalls to watch TV shows and films online. Quartz crunched the numbers and determined that Netflix password-sharing is eating hundreds of millions of dollars into the company's potential revenue. (Quartz, Reuters)

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Man in a suit and tie
InvestingAmazon
Bill Ackman, David Tepper, and other billionaire fund managers are quietly piling into Amazon
By Amanda GerutJune 25, 2026
4 hours ago
A college graduate in regalia rests his chin in his hand.
Future of WorkGen Z
Gen Z graduates are blaming AI for their unemployment woes when they should be looking somewhere else
By Sasha RogelbergJune 25, 2026
4 hours ago
Getting past the pilot: Why so many AI test projects have trouble scaling
SuccessBrainstorm Tech
Getting past the pilot: Why so many AI test projects have trouble scaling
By Alexei OreskovicJune 24, 2026
12 hours ago
‘Godmother of AI’ and tech entrepreneurs draw investors by pivoting from chatbots to ‘world models’ saying AI has to read the room, not just books
AIRobots
‘Godmother of AI’ and tech entrepreneurs draw investors by pivoting from chatbots to ‘world models’ saying AI has to read the room, not just books
By The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
14 hours ago
‘We are in agony’: Today Show host Savannah Guthrie begs public for help as reports surface her missing 84-year-old mom might be dead
North AmericaMedia
‘We are in agony’: Today Show host Savannah Guthrie begs public for help as reports surface her missing 84-year-old mom might be dead
By The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
14 hours ago
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
Commentaryarms, weapons, and defense
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
By Chris OberoiJune 24, 2026
14 hours ago

Most Popular

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
Success
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
Retail
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
20 hours ago
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
2 days ago
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
Asia
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
22 hours ago
Trump’s international student crackdown kicked off a domino effect that could shave nearly $500 billion off the economy
Economy
Trump’s international student crackdown kicked off a domino effect that could shave nearly $500 billion off the economy
By Tristan BoveJune 24, 2026
17 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.