Author Archives: Scalper1

To Boost Windows 10 Adoption, Microsoft Corporation Is Getting Serious About Cybersecurity

Windows 10 logo. Source Microsoft. Microsoft is becoming increasingly interested in cybersecurity. The Redmond tech giant has been involved in the creation of antivirus software for more than a decade, but in

Pfizer, Allergan To Kill Merger Wednesday Over New Tax Inversion Rules

Pfizer ( PFE ) and Allergan ( AGN ) will announce Wednesday morning that they are mutually ending their $160 billion merger agreement after the U.S. Treasury unveiled new rules to curb tax inversion deals Monday, according to widespread reports. Ireland-based Allergan stock closed down 14.8% to 236.55 on the stock market today amid concerns that the new rules imperiled the deal. Pfizer rose 2.1% to 31.36. U.S. companies have a strong incentive to redomicile overseas to reduce their exposure to America’s unusually high corporate tax rates and global reach. Pfizer did not want to alter the terms of the deal given there would no longer be tax benefits. The deal had a $3.5 billion breakup fee, but it drops to $400 million if they are adverse changes.

WhatsApp Just Added End-To-End Encryption For Over 1 Billion Users

The Apple ( AAPL )-FBI over iPhone privacy is so last month. While the FBI may have cracked the smartphone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists, Facebook ( FB ) unit WhatsApp on Wednesday launched end-to-end encryption. More than one billion people use Facebook’s WhatApp. WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum explained how the system will work in a blog post. “From now on when you and your contacts use the latest version of the app, every call you make, and every message, photo, video, file, and voice message you send, is end-to-end encrypted by default, including group chats. The idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us.” That means that WhatsApp couldn’t help governments crack your messages even if it wanted to. The app will work for the Apple iPhone, as well as smartphones using Alphabet-owned Google Android software or any other mobile device. Koum, who is WhatsApp’s CEO and a former Yahoo ( YHOO ) employee along with Acton, cited his childhood in the communist Soviet Union as key to his “desire to protect people’s private communication.” Facebook stock fell 0.3% to 112.22 in the stock market today . The stock is near a buy point of 117.69, which would be a new high. Facebook could be forming a handle that would create a slightly lower buy area. Apple fell 1.2% to 109.80 Tuesday after crossing above its 200-day line Monday and failing to close above that level. Alphabet fell 0.8% to 758.67, below a buy point at 810.45. Yahoo retreated 1.65%.