Weekly news round-up: Amazon worth $1 trillion & WannaCry hacker charged

Amazon valued at $1 trillion
Wall Street has valued Amazon at $1 trillion, making it the second company ever to reach the milestone, only a few weeks after Apple. Its share price has risen from $18 in 1997 to $2,050 according to The Guardian. 

North Korean hacker charged for WannaCry
The US government charged and sanctioned a North Korean man in relation to the global WannaCry ransomware cyberattack from 2017 as well as the 2014 cyberassault on Sony. According to Reuters, Park Jin Kyok worked as part of a hacking team which has been responsible for major cyber intrusion with North Korean-controlled malware.

Twitter & Facebook testify to US Congress
In a final attempt to assure the correct lengths are in place to protect the US midterm elections in November, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg have been grilled before Congress this week. The Guardian reported, a member of Congress said: “tech companies were not doing enough to stop the flow of foreign influence”. Both executives assured the court “great strides” to clean up their sites have been made and any future interference will be intercepted.  

UK MPs call for urgent cybersecurity 
The government’s misuse of an online project management tool which triggered a leak of hundreds of sensitive documents and emails, according to an investigation from the Telegraph. The report highlighted the “shambolic” cybersecurity practices with MPs urging an inquiry into the ”egregious errors”. 

FCC Chief says tech regulation required 
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Ajit Pai has called for new rules to support and regulate the big technology companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter. Business Insider reported, despite repealing net neutrality Pai has now urged the need for greater transparency on internet companies due to the “unprecedented influence” they hold on society. 

Sky to invest in EU tech firms
UK pay-TV group Sky has plans to invest in tech startups in Europe and the Middle East by opening a new office in Germany and investing $4 million in an Israeli venture capital fund. Reuters reported, the talent in Berlin and Israel impressed the broadcaster which already has distribution platforms in Britain, Ireland, Italy and Austria. 

Netflix & Amazon commit to EU content creators 
A new European law will see a minimum quota for the amount of European content streamed from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The preliminary agreement will require at least 30% of content streamed in EU states to be locally-made programmes or films, according to Tech Radar with the opt-in option for individual nations to increase this to 40%.      

Sony Ten retains Champions League football rights 
A partnership extension between Sony Pictures Network (SPN) and EU’s football governing body UEFA will see the Champions League continue to be broadcast and live-streamed until 2020-21 on SPN’s network. Rapid TV News reported the rights agreement cover the broadcast of 138 matches in the UEFA Champions League and 205 matches in the UEFA Europa League.