Background Image

Hotwire Headlines #19

From Australia: The latest in tech and innovation

In recent news, Bitcoin steals headlines but not the hearts of CFOs, digital transformation is still firmly on the agenda, and payments giant PayPal is taking on the ‘buy now, pay later’ market.

After a year of COVID, CEOs say digital acceleration will leave laggards floundering

PwC’s 24th Annual Global CEO Survey has demonstrated just how embedded the new digital mindset is for business leaders. The study revealed a critical shift in the way CEOs are approaching crisis recovery, with 49 per cent focusing on significantly increasing their investments in digital transformation—a stark contrast to the cost-savings approach that led many businesses out of the global financial crisis.

Read more

Online safety laws get senate committee green light

The Australian Government’s controversial Online Safety Bill 2021 has been given the green light by the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee and is expected to be debated in parliament this week.

Read more

Bitcoin goes mainstream, but 84 per cent of CFOs still say it’s a financial risk

Bitcoin has been stealing headlines as institutional investors and influential individuals stake a claim in the emerging asset. However, only 16 per cent of finance executives say they plan to hold the cryptocurrency as part of their organisation’s financial strategy, according to Gartner.

Read more

PayPal creates AfterPay dupe

Global payments giant PayPal is taking on Australia’s ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) market with its own offering. The company announced last week it will launch its ‘Pay in 4’ service in June, allowing its nine million customers to split purchases of up to $1,500 over four equal fortnightly payments.

Read more

DearCry ransomware unleashed in Microsoft Exchange hack

Cybercriminals are deploying a new breed of ransomware on victim systems after hacking into on-premise Microsoft Exchange servers that remain unpatched. One victim has been faced with a ransom of USD 16,000, with experts expecting more bad actors to exploit the vulnerability.

Read more