The technology section of El Economista presented a variety of topics to readers. Among those that caused the most interest was the fall of Facebook, both in March and in October.
1. Facebook disappeared from the internet: this is the reason why its apps are crashing, according to specialists
On Monday, October 4, around 10:40 am, the social networks Facebook and Instagram, as well as the messaging service WhatsApp stopped working. The cause was explained to El Economista by Hiram Alejandro, an expert in cybersecurity: “User devices do not find the routes by which to reach the IP addresses of the servers where they are stored.” In other words, it was not a cyber attack.
Facebook CEO Andy Stone took to Twitter to ask users for patience over the failure of his service. As a consequence, many people began to use Telegram, instead of WhatsApp and caused its saturation. Messages were sent slowly.
2. Users report downfall of Instagram and WhatsApp
On March 19, users from various parts of the world reported the downfall of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Through Twitter the news was released, after people could not send or receive messages on WhatsApp and Instagram and Facebook were not displayed normally. The countries most affected were: the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, France and Australia.
It is estimated that in the case of WhatsApp the fall affected 90% of users. This messaging service is estimated to have 2 billion active users per month.
3. 2020, in 12 hacks or security incidents in Mexico
This note published in January recounts the cyberattacks and relevant incidents during 2020, in Mexico. Throughout the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, cyber attacks increased; caused by negligence or errors in the systems. Both public and private institutions were the victims.
Among the government agencies that were involved in cyberattacks or security incidents are: Condusef, SAT, Banxico, Ministry of Public Function and ISSSTE. For their part, the private initiative organizations were: the Mexican fintech Yo Te Presto, the financial holding Gentera, CI Banco, Banco Base, Clip, iVoy and Bitso.
4. The era of hyperscalers in Mexico is just beginning
Hyperscalers are companies that require a large amount of data storage, processing, and traffic. With its arrival in Mexico, large data centers have been installed, driving an entire value chain. For this industry, our country is the second most important in Latin America.
Mexico is connected across the Atlantic by a cable installed in Quintana Roo of C&W Networks by the Pacific, in Mazatlán and Tijuana, and also interconnects with the United States in three land crossings: Tijuana-San Diego; Monterrey-Laredo and Monterrey McCallen.
5. 2021 will be for bitcoin what the fever of 1849 was for gold: industry
In mid-January, the consumer technology fair CES 2021 predicted the boom that bitcoin, the best-known cryptocurrency, would experience. The gold rush was the migration of around 300,000 people, in 1849, from the discovery of gold veins in California, whose dominance had just been transferred from Mexico to the United States.
The United States lacks access points to cryptocurrencies due to difficulties in its regulation. Faced with this, many people bought bitcoins abroad. However, recently the state of Wyoming passed 13 laws regarding blockchain and virtual assets. In Mexico, crypto assets are regulated by the Law to Regulate Financial Technology Institutions, also known as the Fintech Law.
6. Citizens of poor countries spend more time connected to the internet
Throughout 2020, Mexicans spent 9 hours a day connected to the internet. The Filipinos almost 11 hours. In countries with more developed economies, the number of connection hours decreases considerably. For example, the Japanese were the ones who spent the fewest hours on the internet, their average was 4 hours 25 minutes. Above Mexico, with more hours are Argentina, Colombia and the Philippines.
7. Profeco plans an official standard for compulsory electronic commerce
The Federal Attorney for the Consumer designed an Official Mexican Standard (NOM) in order to regulate electronic commerce. The goal is to protect the consumer. Companies that comply with the regulation must have a code of ethics and may display a badge on their e-commerce sites. The digital badge has a cost of 3,000 pesos plus VAT, valid for one year.
8. Morena’s proposal on the registration of biometric data raises alerts due to privacy concerns
Legislators from the Morena party tried to gather data on millions of people who own a mobile phone in a single registry. His justification was to combat kidnapping and extortion through having a biometric record (fingerprints and eye biometrics).
The reform was approved in the Lower House and sent to the Senate for discussion. Cell phone operators would be in charge of collecting customer data and sharing it with the government.
9. CES 2021 adapts to the digital world in the pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic forced the largest technology fair on the planet to leave its premises in Las Vegas to become a virtual event. For the first time in its 54 years of existence, the conferences will be held remotely.
The event, whose headquarters was the Las Vegas Convention Center, brought together 180,000 attendees, members of industry, international press and technology fans. It is expected that by 2022 the CES will be face-to-face again.
10. Monreal’s project to regulate social networks in Mexico would violate the T-MEC: ALAI
The amendment to the Federal Telecommunications Law would cause trade barriers without justification, which would violate the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC), the Latin American Internet Association (ALAI) said in a statement.
A Latin American group from the internet industry, which includes Facebook and Twitter, assured that a draft of the bill presented by Morena senator Ricardo Monreal would constitute a violation of the North American trade agreement.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx