Techmeme
December 18, 2017, 8:05 AM

Top News

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:
Inside the investigation led by the FBI to identify key perpetrators behind the Mirai Botnet, which was created initially to DDoS Minecraft servers  —  THE MOST DRAMATIC cybersecurity story of 2016 came to a quiet conclusion Friday in an Anchorage courtroom, as three young American computer …
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Facebook is clamping down on “engagement bait”, posts that ask people for Likes or shares, by demoting them in the News Feed  —  Facebook has identified a new kind of spam: Engagement baiting.  —  Facebook is cracking down on a new type of clickbait: Posts that ask people …
Matthew Hughes / The Next Web:
Opera Software rebrands to Otello Corporation after selling its browser business to a group of Chinese investors in 2016  —  Reuters is reporting that Opera Software — the Norwegian company best known for its web browser — is rebranding to Otello Corporation.
More: Reuters
Benedict Evans:
How Amazon's decentralized operating structure and small, independent teams that use common internal systems, are integral to the company's unending scalability  —  When you look at large manufacturing companies, it becomes very clear that the machine that makes the machine is just as important as the machine itself.
Mike Murphy / Quartz:
The number of AmazonBasics products available on Amazon.com grew from about 250 products in June 2013 to over 1,500 products now, according to Internet Archive  —  Amazon launched a house brand, called AmazonBasics, in 2009.  It was originally a way for Amazon to sell low-cost …
Axios:
Source: Amazon in advanced talks to acquire Sqrrl, a startup that analyzes big data to detect cybersecurity threats; Sqrrl has raised nearly $30M in VC funding  —  Amazon is in advanced talks to acquire Sqrrl, a Massachusetts-based cybersecurity software company whose founders used to work for the NSA, Axios has learned.
Reuters:
France files complaint against Amazon seeking a fine of €10M for abusing its dominant position with some suppliers  —  PARIS (Reuters) - The French government has filed a complaint with the Paris Commerce Court against e-commerce company Amazon for abusing its dominant position with some suppliers …
More: TechCrunch
Erin Griffith / Wired:
Behind Fitbit's gradual pivot toward personal medical devices via its b2b arm, Health Solutions, as revenue declines and competition from Apple Watch rises  —  FITBIT SPENT ITS first decade selling activity trackers.  With its latest moves, the company is starting to look less …
More: diginomica

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Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Kate Conger / Gizmodo: