Week InReview
Friday | Jun 5, 2020
#wfh | How Do You (Really) Feel?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce, and half of all “information workers,” are able to work from home. Though the number of people working partially or fully remote has been on the rise for years now, the Covid-19 pandemic may have pressed the fast-forward button on this trend.

With millions of people taking part in this work-from-home experiment, it’s worth asking the question  —  how do people and companies actually feel about working from home?

in case you missed it...
U.S. bank regulators are poised to resume easing Wall Street rules after spending the past few months carrying out emergency actions to help the economy weather the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a newly designated federal watchdog. (Bloomberg Markets | Jun 3)

It used to be understood that if haven assets rise, then the risky ones would fall. Now, with both rallying, investors are having to rethink their playbooks. The rally for U.S. stocks stands out against some haven strength, but the latest clash between China and the U.S. complicates the outlook. (Bloomberg Markets | Jun 2)

The Labor Department finished drafting a revised fiduciary rule to be aligned with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation Best Interest and sent it to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had vacated the previous version. (Financial Advisor | Jun 2)

A controversial plan to test whether delayed disclosure of the biggest corporate bond trades would boost market liquidity is stalled because of strong industry opposition. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority received 31 comments on its proposal, with 25 opposing the plan. The self-regulator had intended to examine whether keeping block trades secret for 48 hours would make banks more willing to execute transactions for certain corporate debt. (Bloomberg Law | Jun 1)

The weak financial condition of seven U.S. public pension plans threatens to deplete their assets by 2028, leading to severe risks for the living standards of thousands of American employees and retired workers. Many U.S. public pension plans had not fully recovered from the 2007/08 financial crisis before Covid-19 struck, triggering turmoil across financial markets. The correction in the U.S. stock market has increased the long-term structural problems across the entire U.S. public pension system, particularly for the weakest funds. (Financial Times | May 31)
the cyber cafe
Valak malware now exfiltrates enterprise data
The Valak malware, which installed banking Trojans when it first appeared in late 2019, has been modified to exfiltrate data, security firm Cybereason reports. The attackers' focus on high-level enterprise data "creates a very dangerous combination of sensitive data leakage and potentially large-scale cyber spying or infostealing," Cybereason's report states.

Phones are a growing attack surface for company breaches
Hackers seeking to breach enterprise networks increased their smartphone-focused phishing attacks by 37% worldwide in early 2020 compared with late 2019, cybersecurity firm Lookout reported. Malware red flags in apps and email are more difficult to detect on smartphones because of screen size and mobile design, a Lookout executive said.
—  ZDNet

Deepfake videos: The next ransomware?
Cybercriminals are increasingly interested in the potential use of deepfake videos to pressure people into paying ransom or divulging sensitive information, Trend Micro reports. Images and audio can be pulled from social media accounts to create convincing videos for extortion, the company warns.
MORE CYBER SECURITY NEWS HERE:
binge reading disorder
Facebook executives shut down efforts to make the site less divisive
A Facebook Inc. team had a blunt message for senior executives. The company’s algorithms weren’t bringing people together. They were driving people apart. That presentation went to the heart of a question dogging Facebook almost since its founding:  Does its platform aggravate polarization and tribal behavior? The answer it found, in some cases, was yes.

An epidemiologist and an exposure scientist explain: how to stay safe when flying
We have been thinking through this issue as moms and as an exposure scientist and an infectious disease epidemiologist . While we’ve decided personally that we’re not going to fly right now, we will walk you through our thought process on what to consider and how to minimize your risks.

Satire: Protestors criticized for looting businesses without forming private equity firm first
“Look, we all have the right to protest, but that doesn’t mean you can just rush in and destroy any business without gathering a group of clandestine investors to purchase it at a severely reduced price and slowly bleed it to death,” said commenter Amy Mulrain.
—  The Onion
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