Google is reportedly in talks to acquire D2iQ, a cloud software company that specialises in application management.

The company was valued at $775 million after a Series D funding round in 2018, according to Axios, although it’s current value is thought to be considerably lower.

It’s not a done deal, and may not happen at all, an unnamed source told Axios, with at least one board member of D2iQ said to be against the acquisition. The cloud company laid off about 13% of its workforce last week to cut costs ahead of an estimated 40% drop in sales, according to Business Insider.

The company was formally known as Mesosphere but changed to D2iQ (which stands for Day-Two-I-Q) last year to better suit a change in strategy built around Kubernetes offerings.

“We chose the name D2iQ because it reflects both our legacy and future focus: to deliver enterprise-grade cloud platforms so that our customers can embrace prevailing open-source and cloud-native innovations while realising smarter Day 2 operations,” CEO Mike Fey wrote in a blog post.

It already has a relationship with Google as a Google Cloud and G Suite partner, but it’s thought that Google is interested in acquiring the firm due to its integrated Kubernetes software. The open source server management technology was originally developed by Google and the startup could be part of a strategy to help the tech giant compete with Amazon in the cloud computing market.

If a buyout goes ahead, it would be the third major acquisition for Google’s cloud business of 2020. The company announced two in February with Dutch-based mainframe migration specialist Cornerstone Technologies and data analytics firm Looker, which was subject to a review from the UK’s competition markets watchdog.

Zoom has rocketed in popularity around the world, since the start of the Coronavirus lockdown. But the video conferencing app has also been criticised for a number of privacy and security issues.

Here are some top tips for making Zoom more secure and if after reading you feel the video conferencing platform isn’t for you, some recommendations for alternatives.

What is Zoom?

Zoom is a free video conferencing app. It allows up to 100 participants to video chat at the same time, with a 40-minute time limit for free users.

The app has been used for teleconferencing, remote education, job interviews, and other purposes where video communication is necessary.

Following the enforcement of social distancing to combat the Coronavirus outbreak, Zoom has received a flood of new users, as people embrace video chatting for work and socialising.

It’s daily users have skyrocketed from 10 million back in December 2019 to to 300 million in April this year.

However, Zoom’s ability to protect user privacy has been heavily securitised. The company wrongly claimed earlier versions of its app had end-to-end encryption. It was also found to be passing users’ device data to Facebook and, in what has become known as “Zoom-bombing”, uninvited guests have crashed meetings.

Issues such as these have led to a string of companies, schools and governments avoiding the platform entirely.

In April, Zoom announced that its 5.0 update will introduce 256-bit encryption. This new version of the service focuses on fixing security issues that have been raised – including “Zoom-bombing”. The update is rolling out to users now, although the new security standard won’t take effect until 30 May.

Even if you’d prefer not to use Zoom, you may find yourself installing the app because it is what friends, family or colleagues have chosen. In that case, you’ll want to make sure your experience is as secure as possible.

How to improve Zoom security

General security

Regardless of what device you are using to access Zoom, keep these things in mind to improve your security:

• Use the latest version of Zoom: Make sure you’re running the latest version of the app to ensure you have access to the most recent security updates and features. Visit this page to see the latest versions of Zoom and find your device to check you’re up to date.

• Use a dedicated email address to sign up: Unless you’ve been instructed to use your work email by your employer, you can sign up using a different email address to the one you normally use.

• Review Zoom’s settings on your device: Zoom’s settings can be overwhelming, but checking a few essential ones are enabled, as detailed below, will help you stay secure when using the software.

How to secure your Zoom meetings

If you are hosting, these settings will help you keep your Zoom meetings and live streams more secure.

Some settings can be found and changed across all of Zoom’s platforms. For simplicity, we recommend accessing them via the Zoom web portal. You will need to be signed in as an administrator, and then go to Account Management > Account Settings.

Activate the Waiting Rooms feature: Zoom’s Waiting Room feature allows you to control when participants can join your meeting. It’s available to all Zoom users and is especially useful when hosting public events.

To activate it, scroll to the Meeting section, find the Waiting Room option, and check that it is enabled. Once it is, you can choose to place all participants or guests (those not on your Zoom contacts or not logged in) in a virtual waiting room before admitting them to the meeting.

Zoom’s waiting room feature should now be activated by default for basic, pro, and education accounts, but it’s worth double checking.

Allow only signed-in users to join: Authentication Profiles gives you the power to restrict participants from joining meetings, unless they are authorised. This feature is restricted to Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education plans, however, and is not available on the free tier.

To enable it, navigate to the Schedule Meeting section, check that the Only authenticated users can join meetings option is selected. Once activated, you must then set how you wish to authenticate your participants. See Zoom’s support page for how to do this.

Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID for public events: Think of Zoom’s Personal Meeting ID (PMI) as the keys to your virtual home. You don’t want to give it out to just anyone. And you certainly shouldn’t post it on social media. PMIs should only be shared with trusted contacts.

When scheduling your public meetings or one-off live streams, ensure the Use Personal Meeting ID option is disabled. Instead a random unique meeting ID will be generated and you can share that with your audience.

Lock a meeting: It’s also possible to lock your Zoom meeting so no new participants can join, whether they have a password or not. During the meeting, click the Participants pop-up menu and select Lock Meeting.

There are more ways to keep your meetings safe, including preventing participants from screen sharing, disabling participants video feeds, and ejecting unwanted guests. For further advice on Zoom privacy and security, visit Zoom’s help centre.

Zoom alternatives

Zoom isn’t the only video conferencing service around. Here are some alternatives you may want to consider.

Google Hangouts: The search giant’s meeting app allows up to 150 participants to chat via text or voice, but a maximum of 25 for video calls.

Microsoft Teams and Skype: Built into the Office 365 suite, many business and education users may have access to Microsoft’s video chatting apps without realising it. For Microsoft Teams, 250 participants can join a meeting, 20 for a private chat, but only 4 video participants will be shown at any one time. Meanwhile, Skype supports up to 50 participants on video calls.

FaceTime: Only available to those with Apple devices, up to 32 people can participate in a group FaceTime video call.

WhatsApp: This popular mobile messaging app also supports video calls, and recently increased its video group chats to up to eight users.

AWS has launched a service that improves machine learning model accuracy by continuously identifying and improving low confidence predictions. 

Amazon Augmented Artificial Intelligence (A2I), which is now generally available, allows for human review of model predictions using reviewers from Mechanical Turk, third-party vendors, or an organisations’ own employees.

The service aims to help developers build human review systems, structure the review process and manage the review workforce. AWS suggests that developers could use A2I to quickly spin up and manage a workforce of humans to review and validate the accuracy of machine learning predictions. 

This could be used for an application that collects financial information from scanned mortgage documents or even one that uses image recognition to identify counterfeit items online. The idea is that the review helps the predictive model get better over time. 

A2I could be used by AWS customers that use services such as Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Rekognition or Amazon Textract, which are often used in critical and sensitive cases that need often need human judgements. 

“Even with these advancements, our customers still say there are critical use cases where human judgment is required like in law enforcement investigations or times when human review can be used to resolve the ambiguity in predictions when confidence levels fall below a given threshold for less sensitive use cases, and the current human review process involves a lot of custom effort and cost,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, VP for Amazon Machine Learning.”

A2I is already being used by a number of organisations, including the National Health Service (NHS) Business Services Authority, which provides a range of support services to NHS organisations, NHS contractors, and patients. The organisation processes 54 million paper prescriptions each month, according to AWS. 

“Human judgment is critical and in fact is often required for decisions involving medical payments,” said Chris Suter, the head of cloud platforms and innovation at NHS BSA.

​Facebook will update its ecosystem of messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Portal, with a set of features aimed at capitalising on the heightened demand for video conferencing.

Messenger Rooms, which largely resembles the features included in video conferencing app Zoom, is set to be rolled out to Facebook and Messenger this week.

The free service will offer Facebook users the tools to host catchups with up to 50 participants with no time limits. The user interface (UI) will also allow up to 16 people to share the same screen.

This is in addition to added capabilities for existing video hosting features, such as allowing Facebook users able to join live broadcasts midway through.

While the likes of Messenger and WhatsApp have played a role in helping friends, family and colleagues stay in touch during the coronavirus lockdown, users have flocked to services like Zoom and Skype to maintain face-to-face contact.

“Lately Facebook has felt the demand for real-time video,” the company said in a statement. 

“Between WhatsApp and Messenger, more than 700 million accounts participate in calls every day. In many countries, video calling on Messenger and WhatsApp more than doubled, and views of Facebook Live and Instagram Live videos increased significantly in March. 

“Spending time with each other should be spontaneous, not strained. So to help people feel like they’re together, even when they are — or have to be — physically apart, we’re announcing features across our products that make video chat and live video easier and more natural.”

This massive spike in demand has seen the likes of Zoom prosper almost overnight, with the video conferencing service gaining 100 million new users within a three-week period. As a result, the company’s fortunes have expanded and its shares have risen sharply.

Like Zoom and Skype, Facebook’s video conferencing service can be used by those without an account by distributing a meeting link. No software is required, and catchups can be started through the News Feed, Groups or Events. The company is also exploring ways to create this functionality from Instagram Direct, WhatsApp and Portal too. 

WhatsApp, meanwhile, has been updated with Group Calls feature that can allow video-chatting between eight participants, all sharing the same screen. While primarily a consumer-oriented app, many businesses use the application for colleagues to stay in touch. The addition of expanded video functionality, with secured end-to-end encryption, may tempt users to stay in-app for meetings rather than shift across to other services.

The security and privacy settings within these services, meanwhile, will be of particular concern to many, with Facebook seen by a large number of people as questionable when it comes to gathering and handling user data.

Zoom came under significant criticism during its explosion in popularity for not featuring a number of important privacy and security controls. As a result, its rise in usage coincided with the emergence of a phenomenon known as ‘Zoom-bombing’, where unauthorised third-parties would invade meetings unannounced.

The company has recently worked to address these issues as part of a 90-day effort to improve the security of its platform. Last week, for example, the firm upgraded the software to version 5.0, introducing 256-bit encryption and administrative controls. 

Messenger Rooms includes a host of privacy and security settings, allowing users to manage, for example, who can join meeting rooms. Users can also remove participants from a call and locking an entire meeting down.

While Rooms offers a certain level of encryption, the video chats hosted through the service won’t benefit from end-to-end encryption as WhatsApp does. Facebook, however, insists it doesn’t watch or listen to audio or video calls, according to its privacy policy. 

The platform will also limit the information it asks non-users to provide to just their name, which will be shown to other guests.​

Slack is launching data residencies in Europe and the UK so organisations can have greater control over their data by choosing where it is stored.

The announcement follows the launch of residencies in Germany, France, Australia, and Japan in October.

Traditionally Slack stores data in the US, but to help its global customers have more control over their data, the company is opening up data residencies outside of the US, which includes one in London.

The move is designed to tap into those organisations currently not using Slack as they’re unable to store data locally and comply with industry regulations, such as those in financial services, the public sector, and healthcare.

“We’ve listened to our customers regulatory concerns around having their data hosted outside of the country or region where they operate, and our expansion of data residency into the UK is in direct response to their requests,” Ilan Frank, VP of product, enterprise at Slack told Information Age.

“We are making data residency technically and financially accessible so that users have the freedom of where they want to store their data.”

Slack is one of a number of cloud-based services that enable remote working to see a huge spike in usage since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the UK is the third-largest global market for the company, behind the US and Japan, in terms of daily active users.

User-generated data, such as message posts, files, and searches, can now be stored within the desired region, according to the company, and regardless of whether the data is in transit or rest, it’s always encrypted.

Although existing customers can move their organisation’s data to a new residency region, the entire business must be rooted in a single region.

Google has announced that, starting this summer, all advertisers will have to be verified before they are allowed to buy ad space on the search engine’s platform.

The announcement is Google’s latest effort to make their advertising practices more transparent, following the recent surge in online coronavirus scams, which take advantage of users’ fear of contracting the virus by selling fake medical masks. Earlier this week, the NCSC reported that it had taken down 2,000 online scams, of which 471 were from fake online shops.

Director of Product Management, Ads Integrity John Canfield, said that “advertisers will be required to complete a verification program in order to buy ads on our network”.

Amazon Web Services has launched an automated SaaS data transfer services, called AppFlow, to boost data privacy and security for its customers.

AppFlow is a fully managed service that automates the bidirectional flow of data between AWS and SaaS applications, without the need to write integration code. 

The service also works with AWS PrivateLink to route data flows through the cloud giant’s network instead of over the public internet, which results in stronger data privacy and tighter security, according to AWS. It can be used with no upfront charges and customers will only pay for the number of flows they run and the volume of data they process.

AppFlow is for customers with large datasets used for data lakes, analytics, machine learning, and IoT workloads, but it also takes the strain out of combining data from multiple sources and reduces silos and backlogs.

Rather than spending days writing code to build custom connectors and data transformations across different SaaS applications, AppFlow allows customers to configure private, bidirectional data flows between AWS services and SaaS apps without coding.

The service comes with a simple interface, according to AWS, which builds and executes data flows between sources in minutes. What’s more, it automatically encrypts data at rest and in motion using AWS or customer-managed encryption keys. This also includes controls to restrict data from transferring via the web for applications that are integrated with AWS PrivateLink.

“With Amazon AppFlow integrating directly with Salesforce Private Connect, joint customers will be able to establish a secure, private connection for passing data back and forth between the Salesforce and AWS platforms,” said Sarah Franklin, EVP & GM of platform, trailhead, and developers at Salesforce.

“And because these connections can be set up by Salesforce admins in just a few clicks, companies can cut down on costly and timely engineering resources, and begin doing more with their data faster than ever before.”

AppFlow is currently available in a number of countries across US, Asia and Europe – including the UK – with more regions being announced soon.

​The coronavirus will create a new normal based on digital processes and accelerate business transformation, according to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian. 

Speaking at NetApp Insight, Kurian called the potential impact of the pandemic “shock momentum” and said the world will “reimagine and create new opportunities” for what comes after the crisis. 

Since March, businesses around the world have been forced to use remote software and quickly change their operations to accommodate employees in lockdown. For Kurian, this has separated the leaders in digital transformation from the “laggers”.

“Many traditional businesses and ways of doing things will be reimagined digitally,” Kurian said. “For example, conferences and events that once were physically held together will now be complemented with digital events. 

“The business strategy operations and technology platforms of every institution will be reconsidered for the fact that agility, speed and resilience will become paramount as opposed to the traditional definitions of strength: size, scale, predictability and efficiency.”

Of course, digital transformation was a priority long before any mention of COVID-19, but the rapid impact of the pandemic will force every institution to prioritise services and products to be remote and digital, according to Kurian. 

“Schools will be complemented with much more significant online curriculum and telemedicine will bring the skills of doctors and nurses to places where medicine previously couldn’t reach,” he added.

The rapid scale of the crisis has accelerated the use of a number of technologies once thought to be the biggest disruptors to businesses and jobs. AI, automation and cloud computing have instead become tools that keep us connected to work as opposed to things to replace us. 

However, as the crisis dies down and the world goes out into the “new normal”, more and more businesses will need to embrace digital technologies. According to Kurain, leaders will transition quickly from the idea of business continuity to business transformation.

“Everything will have to be about speed and agility because as we said before, speed is the new scale,” he said. ​

​Zoom has rolled out a flagship update comprising data encryption and front-end security-centric functionality as part of the company’s 90-day plan to address privacy and security gaps. 

The company hopes the implementation of the 256-bit AES-GCM encryption standard in Zoom 5.0 will give users concerned over the security of meetings some reassurance that their data is protected from cyber criminals. 

With the added layer of encryption, Zoom Meeting, Zoom Video Webinar and Zoom Phone data will be protected against tampering, the company insists, with this latest update providing a level of confidentiality that wasn’t present in previous iterations.

The standard will take effect once all accounts are enabled with GCM, with system-wide account implementation set to take place on 30 May.

Zoom was previously criticised for not using end-to-end encryption to safeguard meetings despite claiming to on promotional materials.

The network improvement comes in addition to Control Data Routing, which allows account administrators to choose which data centre regions their account-hosted meetings and webinars use for real-time traffic. This measure was announced by the company earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the front-end user interface (UI) will be overhauled to include a host of additional functionality, from host controls to passwords for cloud recordings.

“We take a holistic view of our users’ privacy and our platform’s security,” said Zoom CPO Oded Gal. “From our network to our feature set to our user experience, everything is being put through rigorous scrutiny. On the back end, AES 256-bit GCM encryption will raise the bar for securing our users’ data in transit. 

“On the front end, I’m most excited about the Security icon in the meeting menu bar. This takes our security features, existing and new, and puts them front and centre for our meeting hosts. With millions of new users, this will make sure they have instant access to important security controls in their meetings.”

As part of the major update, users will be given a central security hub, which can be accessed through a security icon on the host’s interface. Hosts can, for the first time, report a user to Zoom, and disable the ability to participants to rename themselves, among other controls. The virtual waiting room, meanwhile, will be enabled by default so hosts can control who can enter meetings at all times.

The latest version of Zoom will also support a new data structure for larger organisations, allowing them to link contacts across multiple accounts so people can seamlessly search and find meetings, phone contacts or chats.

Improvements to the dashboard will allow account administrators to view how their meetings are connected to Zoom data centres, which includes any data centres connected to HTTP Tunnel servers, as well as Conference Room Connectors and gateways.

The company has ploughed its resources into resolving a host of well-documented security issues which have arisen since the video conferencing platform was thrust into the spotlight following an explosion of user activity.

While many have opted to use the service in light of the coronavirus pandemic forcing employees to work from home, a string of organisations have instead banned the platform, including the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Google.

Screenless devices have seen massive expansion over the last three years. According to Strategy Analytics, 20% of UK households now have a smart speaker. In the US, which currently leads the world in smart speaker adoption, the figure is currently 30%, with Loup Ventures predicting that number will rise to 75% by 2025.

While we live in a time where visual content seems to be king, audio remains an important part of the consumer landscape. Radio consumption has continued to be buoyant, and with a renaissance in audiobook purchasing coupled with the rise of podcasts, screenless content is set to become an essential business channel over the next decade.

In a late-2019 report, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) stated: “Audio is an emotive modality: sound influences emotion. This is why music is a central cultural marker. It’s also why a speech can inspire millions to action. The ability for brands, therefore, to lean into audio as a method to tell meaningful, personal stories stands as a primary benefit of this channel.”

Businesses, then, need to adjust how they use content to reach their audiences. With increasing screen demands on consumers, many are escaping into audio as not just respite from screen time, but to obtain new experiences and education. Brands need to understand how sound is now an essential component of their communications.

Steve Austins, co-founder of the podcasting company Bengo Media, tells Cloud Pro: “Audio has survived because it’s a simple, effective and convenient form of communication, and it’s personal too. Over the last two decades, I’ve seen first-hand how important radio presenters can be to people – and how personally they take it when you make changes! A presenter is in a listener’s life day in, day out. Often, they spend more time with them than they do with their own friends and family.”

Audio is the new video

The ease of access to audio content is one of the key drivers behind the massive expansion of this content. Smartphones now have a raft of apps that connect with the leading audio content providers. Wireless earphones have also made accessing audio content convenient and smart speakers are now an essential part of everyday life.

Podcasts have also become incredibly popular: In 2019, over seven million people in the UK listened to a podcast each week according to Ofcom, an increase of nearly a quarter (24%) on the previous year. 

“Podcasts are transforming the ways people listen to audio content, just as on-demand video is changing how people watch television. It’s fantastic to see how UK radio broadcasters, as well as newspapers and other media companies, are embracing podcasting and offering more choice about what we listen to than we’ve ever had before,” commented Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s director of market intelligence, at the time.

The interesting thing about podcasts from a business perspective is their current low level of competition. There are now approaching a million podcasts in the marketplace. Compare this to 80 million Facebook business pages and it’s clear how podcasting can potentially be more effective for brand communication. 

What’s more, over 60% of podcast listeners will listen to the podcast to the end. Ads and promotions placed in a podcast are listened to, unlike ads in video, which are often skipped. According to research from the BBC, brand mentions in the podcast deliver on average 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding than the surrounding content.

Speaking to Cloud Pro, Alex Orosciuc, tech lead at JBi Digital, says: “There is much that today’s generation of audio content makers can learn from radio. Those who are making audio content, like podcasts, are standing on the shoulders of giants, and the medium has well and truly exploded in recent years. At the rate at which the landscape is changing, however, it could be argued that radio can learn from podcasts and other, newer forms of audio content as well.”

Podcasts are, though, just one type of audio content all businesses can explore: Audiobooks have exploded over the last few years driven mainly to the range of great apps that are available on smartphones. Deloitte predicts 2020 will see audiobook sales increase by 30%, generating £115 million.

Other forms of new audio content are also being produced. The New Yorker regularly creates audio versions of its features, for example, and blogging platforms like Medium also encourage their writers to record an audio version of their work. Businesses, meanwhile, are beginning to develop spoken-word versions of reports and whitepapers. 

“I think the most significant factor around audio content is that there is no trend to what content is being consumed,” says Mark Kendrick, founder of Ventoux Digital. “Unlike mainstream media, the podcast has found success in reverting from broadcasting to ‘nichecasting.’ Take a look at the top 100 podcasts in Apple Podcasts, and you’ll note that there is a real mix from crime to football to news to comedians to businesses. You get to see that there is an audience for everything, so make something which you are passionate about, and it finds like-minded people.”

Screenless strategies

Developing an audio strategy for your company is now essential, but there are obstacles to success that organisations may not have had to consider in the past.

Bengo Media’s Steve Austins advises: “Creators need to remember that audio is an intimate medium. You are talking to one person, not many people. Also, be clear and descriptive – people can’t see you or what you are describing, so you need to create a vivid picture with your words. 

“Sound quality is also really important. Bad audio can result in a very unpleasant listening experience, with erratic sound levels and distracting background noise becoming hugely irritating. This is especially the case for headphone listeners.”

Marek Wrobel, head of media futures at Havas Media Group, highlights another major hurdle. “One of the main challenges for advertisers is making screenless content actionable, as, with no screen, listeners can’t simply click on a banner and land on a website,” he says. “Historically, some brands have used discount codes which can be then applied in the purchase journey and therefore made it possible to measure the impact of the audio content.”

“However, this solution can only work for certain use-cases,” he continues. “Audio platforms have started experimenting with interactive ad formats. One such format is ‘shake-to-action’, which asks the listener to shake their phone while listening to open a website that they can browse after they finish listening. Spotify has worked with Unilever on voice-controlled audio ads – the idea is that when a user hears an ad, they can say “play now” and be taken to a piece of relevant content.”

The future of your business communications will have a growing audio component. The IAB concludes: “A world where consumer touchpoints are increasingly screenless is rapidly approaching, and brands must represent themselves without visuals. This requires a shift toward audio-first creative or at least equal amounts of audio and visual. In the same way, brands have spent the last century, creating recognition with visual branding, the immediate point of access for marketers is to be creating the same recognition sonically.”

Advertisers have for decades been honing their skills to attract our visual attention to their messages. However, humans react faster and with more emotion to sound than to visual content. Radio has shown its longevity and its abilities to connect with an audience. Audio in the broader business context is mostly unexplored. Make 2020 the year your business becomes a sonic communicator.