IT pros skilled in the many areas of networking are in high demand in today’s job market. Those serious about their IT careers should consider one or more of these best-of-breed networking certifications to set themselves apart from their competitors.
When it comes to the care and feeding of modern networks, there’s quite a lengthy list of tools and technologies that qualified IT professionals must master – especially those who aspire to work as network administrators. In addition to the servers and clients that make up the endpoints in such environments, there’s a lot of network infrastructure to worry about. This includes switches and routers (both physical and virtual), plus a raft of appliances and services, such as unified threat management (UTM), next-generation firewalls (NGFs), software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions, virtualization (NFV) components and WAN optimization, as well as spam, email, and content filtering.
Wrapping your head around all these certification options and specialties can be challenging, but knowing where to start can help. We looked at five networking certifications (in their order of appearance in the job boards table that follows) that we consider leaders in the field of networking for 2019 and beyond.
To pick our leaders, we looked at the state of networking certification, examined various market and salary surveys, and performed an informal job board survey that revealed the number of job posts across the U.S. in which our featured certifications were mentioned on a given day.
Making its first appearance on the leader board this year is the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP). It replaces the Juniper Enterprise Routing and Switching, Expert (JNCIE-ENT) credential. While the JNCIE remains a great credential, job board numbers for the SCP were stronger, earning it a slot in the top five. The other featured credentials include the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), CompTIA Network+ and WCNA Certification for Wireshark (WCNA).
Certification |
Total |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CCIE (Cisco) |
1,318 | 1,705 | 3,000+ | 1,033 | 7,250 |
CCNP (Cisco) |
3,296 | 4,225 | 7,000+ | 1,904 | 16,425 |
Network+ (CompTIA) |
537 | 739 | 1,000+ | 78 | 2,090 |
SolarWinds Certified Professional |
282 | 314 | 527 | 147 | 1,270 |
WCNA (Wireshark) |
10 | 16 | 27 | 11 | 64 |
The featured certifications represent all major tiers of networking job roles, from the entry level (Network+) to the expert level (CCIE). According to Glassdoor, a person just starting out in networking, most likely as a technician or junior administrator, can expect to make about $67,000. Midtier network administrators and engineers make an average of $79,000 to $90,000, while CCIEs average around $119,000.
An evergreen and high-value networking certification is the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), which comes in several tracks. The annual production of CCIEs remains small enough that Cisco can still claim itself able to hire all of them itself, with demand and appreciation for this difficult and rewarding certification always stratospheric. Over the past few years, the Storage Networking credential gave way to Collaboration, and a Data Center credential made its debut, as well as other new certification tracks.
Although the road to obtaining a CCIE is long and hard, it is well worth the effort, time, and money. This credential opens doors to plenty of job opportunities and high salaries for networking professionals.
Certification name | Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) |
---|---|
Prerequisites and required courses | None.
Cisco recommends eight years of relevant job experience. |
Number of exams | Every CCIE track requires both a written and lab exam. Written exam scores are valid for 18 months. Lab exams must be attempted within 18 months of the written exam. CCIE candidates may not schedule a lab exam until receiving a passing score on the written exam. Candidates must retake the written exam if they do not pass the lab exam within three years. All written exams are 90 to 110 questions, 120 minutes.
Note: New CCIE Collaboration Written and Lab Exams will be utilized beginning on Feb. 24, 2020, though candidates’ progress to date before the cutover will be transferred to the new program.
Note: New CCIE Data Center Written and Lab Exams will be utilized beginning on Feb. 24, 2020, though candidates’ progress to date before the cutover will be transferred to the new program.
Note: New CCIE Security Written and Lab Exams will be utilized beginning on Feb. 24, 2020, though candidates’ progress to date before the cutover will be transferred to the new program.
Note: New CCIE Service Provider Written and Lab Exams will be utilized beginning on Feb. 24, 2020, though candidates’ progress to date before the cutover will be transferred to the new program.
Note: New CCIE Enterprise Wireless Written and Lab Exams will be utilized beginning on February 24, 2020, though candidate’s progress to-date before the cutover will be transferred to the new program. |
Cost per exam | Written exam: $450 or equivalent worldwide
Lab exam: $1,600 or equivalent worldwide Exam rates vary based on exchange rates and local taxes (VAT, GST). |
URL | https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications/expert.html |
Self-study materials | CCIE learning opportunities include study documents, recommended reading, test examples, training opportunities, online communities and study groups, all available through the Cisco Learning Network. |
The Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) takes aim at platforms and products from a leading networking equipment vendor found at most communications and internet service providers, not to mention enterprises and businesses of all sizes, including government, research, and academia. It’s hard to go wrong with Cisco certification nowadays, and the CCNP is its most important midrange credential across a wide variety of specialties.
Cisco offers several flavors of the CCNP: Cloud, Collaboration, Data Center, Routing and Switching (the most popular), Security, Service Provider, and Wireless. The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is a required steppingstone to the CCNP. What usually comes after the CCNP for networking professionals could be another CCNP (different specialty), one or more Cisco Specialist certifications, or the advanced Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), also available in numerous specializations.
Certification name | Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certifications:
|
---|---|
Prerequisites and required courses | A valid CCNA or CCIE credential is required. |
Number of exams | The primary CCNP certification (Enterprise) requires the core exam plus one of the concentration exams below:
Concentration Exams:
Other CCNP certifications require four exams. |
Cost per exam | $300 |
URL | https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications/professional.html |
Self-study materials | Recommended training is listed online for each CCNP Certification track. Self-study materials include books, flash cards, practice tests, and virtual and physical labs. |
There aren’t that many entry-level networking IT certifications around, probably because CompTIA’s Network+ credential more or less owns this niche. Many IT and certification pundits, including us, believe the Network+ to be an important early checkbox element in any savvy IT professional’s basic certification portfolio. If you’re just starting out, this is a certification for you.
CompTIA Network+ is also a vendor-neutral certification and a steppingstone to a variety of more advanced networking credentials. Some vendor-specific certification programs even include it as a prerequisite.
Our sole newcomer to the top five this year is the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP). Headquartered in Austin, Texas, SolarWinds makes simplicity its business. At SolarWinds, businesses and IT professionals will find tools, products, and solutions to Boost performance and monitoring and to solve real-world problems easily and efficiently. SolarWinds offers solutions across six areas: network management, system management, security, database management, IT help desk and the cloud.
SolarWinds currently offers a single credential, the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP), designed to validate a candidate’s skill, knowledge and expertise in using either the SolarWinds system management or network management product portfolio. Candidates can choose to test for the SCP on either the Network Performance Monitor (NPM) or Server and Application Monitor (SAM) path. Either way, a single exam is required to earn the credential.
SolarWinds is committed to ongoing education and ensuring that SCP credential holders maintain skill currency as new products and technologies are released. To accomplish this, SolarWinds requires SCP credential holders to maintain a SolarWinds subscription and attend events and training. The subscription provides SCPs with webcasts, online training, invitations to in-person and online events, enhanced support, opportunities to study with SolarWinds experts, and more. An annual subscription fee of $200 is required. Credentials expire after three years if a candidate fails to maintain a subscription and attend training.
Founded in 2007 by major networking geeks Gerald Combs and Laura Chappell, Wireshark University offers only a single certification but makes it worth your while. The WCNA for Wireshark Certification (WCNA) recognizes knowledge of network packet and protocol sniffing and analysis using Wireshark, as well as TCP/IP network communications, network troubleshooting, and network security. To achieve this credential, candidates must pass one multiple-choice exam, which is DoD 8570-certified.
The WCNA is good for three years, but certification holders must obtain a total of 20 continuing professional education (CPE) credits each year to maintain their credentials in good standing. These CPE credits must focus on activities related to the WCNA exam objectives (sniffing, analysis, etc.) and not be tied directly to job tasks. For example, attending a Sharkfest or Black Hat conference, or even studying the Wireshark Network Analysis Study Guide, can net some CPEs.
Along with administering the WCNA program, Wireshark University offers self-paced, instructor-led and customized training options for anyone who wants to learn about Wireshark and packet analysis. An All-Access Pass is a one-year subscription to all WCNA for WireShark training courses and costs $699.
There are lots of other choices for networking professionals to investigate and pursue outside of these five.
Another interesting and upcoming Open Linux Networking focused credential comes from Cumulus Networks – namely the Cumulus Networks Open Networking Professional (CCONP).
While it didn’t make the top five this year, the Juniper Enterprise Routing and Switching-Expert (JNCIE-ENT) remains an excellent credential for candidates interested in Juniper technologies.
Many other major networking vendors, including F5 and HPE, offer networking-focused credentials that ascend all the way to advanced or expert credentials. Serious network professionals will also want to check out the certifications from Avaya, Citrix and Extreme Networks.
The wireless networking space has exploded in latest years and wireless technologies have become a connectivity game-changer. The advent of fourth-generation (4G) wireless wide-area networking technologies and the emergence of LTE (Long Term Evolution) and 5G technology further underscore wireless networking’s critical role in business today.
The demand for professionals with wireless networking knowledge and expertise is at an all-time high. As wireless professionals map their career paths, adding respected wireless networking certifications to their resumes can show hiring managers they have the cutting-edge, in-demand career skills to take their organizations to the next level.
We’ll highlight the best wireless networking certifications IT professionals can obtain to demonstrate their skills to current and prospective employers.
Earning the best IT certifications, including wireless networking certifications, is an excellent career advancement asset that validates your skills and knowledge.
According to Salary.com data, wireless engineers earn about $98,99 to $125,000 annually. However, bonuses, commissions, location, seniority and many more factors can affect earnings and boost pay much higher. The right certifications can increase your value and salary.
Here are our picks for the top wireless networking certifications.
The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certification is one of many Cisco certifications. It’s considered to be one of the most reliable certifications for professionals navigating the ever-changing IT industry. The exam is comprehensive and covers the following topics:
Cisco doesn’t insist on stringent prerequisites for this certification. However, there are age requirements: No one younger than 13 can take the exam, and those aged 13 to 17 must have parental consent to proceed. Additionally, Cisco recommends that applicants have at least one year of experience using and implementing Cisco products and solutions, a basic knowledge of IP addressing, and an understanding of network fundamentals.
Passing the CCNA certification exam will provide opportunities for wireless professionals in the following job roles:
After you pass the certification test, your status is valid for three years. After three years, you must apply for recertification via one of two options: passing a qualifying exam or earning 30 continuing education credits.
Certification information |
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) |
---|---|
Prerequisites and required courses |
There are no formal prerequisites for this certification. However, Cisco recommends candidates have one or more years of experience implementing and administering Cisco solutions. |
Number of exams |
One exam, 120 minutes long |
Cost per exam |
$300 (with the option to use Cisco learning credits instead of paying) |
Exam website |
|
Preparation materials |
Cisco offers an online course: Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA). You can purchase this course through several online learning models and resources. Visit Cisco’s CCNA exam preparation web page for more information. |
The CCNA certification is also recommended when pursuing the best computer networking certifications and the best data center certifications.
If you’re seeking a job maintaining and troubleshooting global enterprise networks, the Cisco Certified Network Professional Enterprise (CCNP Enterprise) certification is a significant credential upgrade. The CCNP Enterprise certification will test your mastery in the following areas:
The CCNP Enterprise certification is more complex than the CCNA. You’ll need to complete the following examinations.
When you pass the two required exams, your certification will be valid for three years. You’ll have expanded opportunities for the following job roles:
Certification information |
Cisco Certified Network Professional Enterprise |
---|---|
Prerequisites and required courses |
There are no formal prerequisites for this certification. However, Cisco recommends that candidates possess three to five years of relevant experience in implementing enterprise network solutions. |
Number of exams |
Two exams are required.
|
Cost per exam |
$400 |
Concentration exams |
Select one of the following:
|
Exam website |
|
Preparation materials |
Cisco offers an online course: Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR). You can purchase this course through several online learning models and resources. Visit Cisco’s CCNP Enterprise exam preparation web page for more information. |
The CompTIA Network+ is a wireless networking and cybersecurity certification that assesses a wireless professional’s technical skills in establishing, troubleshooting and maintaining networks for any business on any platform. Additionally, the Network+ certification serves as a prerequisite for other CompTIA certifications, including those listed below:
The CompTIA Network+ exam examines a candidate’s IT professional capacity and skills in designing and implementing functional networks, configuring and maintaining essential network devices, and implementing network security standards and protocols. Here are some of the courses covered:
When you pass this certification exam, your certification will be valid for three years. You’ll benefit from expanded opportunities in the following job roles:
CompTIA Network+ certification is a prerequisite for the CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI certification, which is considered one of the best Linux certifications for an IT career.
The CWNA (Certified Wireless Network Administrator) certification was developed by the Certified Wireless Network Professional (CWNP) organization. It’s a long-standing certification for IT professionals, particularly those who want to specialize in installing and maintaining wireless networks. The exam covers the following topics:
The CWNA certification is considered a foundational wireless LAN certification under the CWNP program. Candidates must achieve a score of at least 70 percent to be deemed certified.
When you pass this certification exam, your certification will be valid for three years, after which you can apply for recertification. While your credential is still valid, you’ll need to take and pass a professional-level exam — CWSP, CWDP, or CWAP — to renew your certification. You can also recertify by retaking the CWNA exam.
The Certified Wireless Security Professional certification is a step toward achieving a Certified Wireless Network Expert (CWNE) certification. It’s a professional-level wireless LAN and cybersecurity certification for which you must first achieve CWNA certification.
The exam covers the following topics:
To pass the CWSP exam, professionals must score at least 70 percent, and instructors must score at least 80 percent. When you pass this certification exam, your certification will be valid for three years, after which you can apply for recertification. Recertification is possible only if you hold a valid CWNA credential and pass the current CWSP exam. If you meet these requirements, the certification will be renewed for another three years.
Information security professionals should also consider the best infosec and cybersecurity certifications as more business owners seek to protect their companies by hiring qualified cybersecurity experts.
While the five featured certification exams are among the most well-regarded in the industry, other certifications can benefit IT professionals seeking to augment their skills and credentials. Here are two more to consider.
Achieving respected, rigorous wireless networking certifications can help IT professionals expand their credentials and land more profitable job opportunities. Additionally, they’ll demonstrate their willingness to learn to hiring managers.
While certifications take time and money, the rewards of career growth and higher compensation more than justify the investment.
Ed Tittel and Mary Kyle contribute to the reporting and writing in this article.
More organisations are adopting hybrid work across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region but the experience for many workers is less than ideal, according to a senior Cisco executive.
Speaking to Computer Weekly on a latest visit to Singapore, Jeetu Patel, executive vice-president and general manager of security and collaboration at Cisco, said with most meetings having at least one remote participant, spaces will need to be configured not only for people in a physical meeting room, but also for those who are not in the room.
“Today, if you have four people in a conference room and three people who are not in the room, the experience for the three people is not that great because what happens is someone invariably gets up and starts drawing on a whiteboard.
“They wouldn’t know what’s going on and won’t be able to read the facial expressions and non-verbal cues of those in the room. That’s such an important part of communication,” he said.
Patel said Cisco has been working on solving that problem for the past 18 months to make sure hybrid work arrangements will provide everyone in a meeting, whether they are participating virtually or in person, a seat at the table.
This can be done through its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that work behind the scenes to remove background noise and zoom in on everyone in the room, in addition to digital whiteboards that meeting participants can use to jot down or edit content during a meeting.
“We want to make sure our AI capabilities can take the experience to the next level. We started with predictive AI, and now, with generative AI, it gets even better. If you missed a meeting, we could tell you what you missed based on the permissions you had on the meetings you could have attended but chose not to,” Patel said.
While organisations in APAC have been progressive in adopting hybrid work arrangements, Patel cautioned them against making the mistake of mandating that employees work in the office all the time.
“It’s much better to create a magnet than a mandate,” he said. “Give people a reason to come back to the office because when they collaborate in the office, there’s going to be this X factor that they don’t get when they are 100% remote.”
Patel said adopting hybrid work would also help organisations recruit the best talent from anywhere in the world, enabling more people to participate equally in a global economy.
“The opportunity is very unevenly distributed right now, but human potential is pretty evenly distributed, so it would be nice if anyone in a village in Bangladesh can have the same economic opportunity as someone in Silicon Valley.
“Most of the time, the mindset is that you are distance-bound, so if you don’t happen to be in the same geography, then you don’t have access to opportunity. That’s a very archaic way of thinking and we need to think about this in a much more progressive manner,” he said.
But societal changes are needed to maximise the potential of a hybrid workforce. For one thing, business leaders will have to learn how to build relationships with people without meeting them in person.
“A 30-minute video conference is usually very structured. There’s an agenda and an end. If no one’s talking after 23 minutes, someone will invariably say we can provide you back seven minutes. That always happens.
“But when you have dinner with someone – if there’s a lull, you don’t just say you’re going to leave. You’ll ask about that person’s family or whatever it might be. Those questions provide you context and texture about the person, which creates familiarity and the ability to engage in debate without taking things personally. And conflict is such a necessary condition of business that if you don’t have that familiarity, it doesn’t work.”
Enabling hybrid work also brings with it a set of security considerations. Patel said while there is an implicit level of trust between people about who they are when they are engaged in a face-to-face conversation, that trust needs to be present in a hybrid work environment as well.
“How do you prevent deep fakes from coming into a meeting? How do you make sure your private data does not get stolen? How do you create security conditions so that people can use the systems without worrying about being hacked?
“Those are the baseline security capabilities that you need in any hybrid work solution. I would take it a step further and say that in the future, the absence of security will completely deter anyone from using a system,” he said.
Stocks: Real-time U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only; comprehensive quotes and volume reflect trading in all markets and are delayed at least 15 minutes. International stock quotes are delayed as per exchange requirements. Fundamental company data and analyst estimates provided by FactSet. Copyright 2019© FactSet Research Systems Inc. All rights reserved. Source: FactSet
Indexes: Index quotes may be real-time or delayed as per exchange requirements; refer to time stamps for information on any delays. Source: FactSet
Markets Diary: Data on U.S. Overview page represent trading in all U.S. markets and updates until 8 p.m. See Closing Diaries table for 4 p.m. closing data. Sources: FactSet, Dow Jones
Stock Movers: Gainers, decliners and most actives market activity tables are a combination of NYSE, Nasdaq, NYSE American and NYSE Arca listings. Sources: FactSet, Dow Jones
ETF Movers: Includes ETFs & ETNs with volume of at least 50,000. Sources: FactSet, Dow Jones
Bonds: Bond quotes are updated in real-time. Sources: FactSet, Tullett Prebon
Currencies: Currency quotes are updated in real-time. Sources: FactSet, Tullett Prebon
Commodities & Futures: Futures prices are delayed at least 10 minutes as per exchange requirements. Change value during the period between open outcry settle and the commencement of the next day's trading is calculated as the difference between the last trade and the prior day's settle. Change value during other periods is calculated as the difference between the last trade and the most latest settle. Source: FactSet
Data are provided 'as is' for informational purposes only and are not intended for trading purposes. FactSet (a) does not make any express or implied warranties of any kind regarding the data, including, without limitation, any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use; and (b) shall not be liable for any errors, incompleteness, interruption or delay, action taken in reliance on any data, or for any damages resulting therefrom. Data may be intentionally delayed pursuant to supplier requirements.
Mutual Funds & ETFs: All of the mutual fund and ETF information contained in this display, with the exception of the current price and price history, was supplied by Lipper, A Refinitiv Company, subject to the following: Copyright 2019© Refinitiv. All rights reserved. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Lipper content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Lipper. Lipper shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrency quotes are updated in real-time. Sources: CoinDesk (Bitcoin), Kraken (all other cryptocurrencies)
Calendars and Economy: 'Actual' numbers are added to the table after economic reports are released. Source: Kantar Media
Zoom has been in the crossfire this week.
Photo 207113187 © Daniel Chetroni | Dreamstime.comIn a whirlwind week of developments for Zoom, speculation about privacy issues connected to the company’s terms of service (TOS) has sparked concerns—along with some panic—about how it uses customer data to train AI models. This echoes broader concerns about privacy and data security across the digital communication landscape. Plus it’s another instance in which questions about the handling of AI are arising as quickly as AI technology is advancing.
The breaking news here at the end of the week is that the backlash had led Zoom to change its TOS to avoid the issue of data collection for AI altogether. Let’s unpack what happened.
The level of vitriol in the Zoom example has not been trivial. Some industry leaders publicly called out Zoom for mishandling this situation, which is understandable. Zoom has been on the wrong side of data privacy guardrails before. The company, which grew at an astronomical rate during the pandemic, was found to have misrepresented the use of certain encryption protocols, which led to a settlement with the FTC in 2021. That’s the part specific to Zoom. But the company is also being condemned as one more example in the litany of bad actors in big tech, where lawsuits about and investigations into data practices are countless. It’s no surprise that the public assumes the worst, especially given its added unease about the future of AI.
Fair enough. No one put Zoom in that crossfire. Nonetheless, it’s still true that software makers must strike a delicate balance between user data protection and technological advancement. Without user data protection, any company’s reputation will be shot, and customers will leave in droves; yet without technological advancement, no company will attract new customers or keep meeting the needs of the ones it already has. So we need to examine these concerns—about Zoom and more broadly—to shed light on the nuanced provisions and safeguards that shape a platform's data usage and its AI initiatives.
An analyst’s take on Zoom
By pure coincidence, around 20 other industry analysts and I spent three days with Zoom’s senior leadership in Silicon Valley last week. During this closed-door event, which Zoom hosts every year to get unvarnished feedback from analysts, we got an in-depth look into Zoom's operations, from finance to product and marketing, acquisitions, AI and beyond. Much of what we learned was under NDA, but I came away with not only a positive outlook on Zoom's future, but also a deeper respect for its leadership team and an admiration for its culture and ethos.
It’s worth noting that we had full access to the execs the whole time, without any PR people on their side trying to control the narrative. I can tell you from experience that this kind of unfettered access is rare.
You should also know that analysts are a tough crowd. When we have this kind of private access to top executives and non-public company information, we ask the toughest questions—the awkward questions—and we poke holes in the answers. I compared notes with Patrick Moorhead, CEO and principal analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy, who’s covered Zoom for years and attended many gatherings like this one. He and I couldn’t think of one analyst knowledgeable about Zoom’s leadership and operations whose opinion has soured on the company because of the furor about the TOS.
Still, we were intent on finding out more, so Moorhead and I requested a meeting with key members of Zoom's C-suite to get a better understanding of what was going on with the TOS. We had that meeting mid-week, yet before we could even finish this analysis, our insights were supplemented by a startlingly vulnerable LinkedIn post by Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. In that post, he said Zoom would never train AI models with customers' content without explicit consent. He pledged that Zoom would not train its AI models using customer "audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments and other communications like poll results, whiteboard and reactions."
What happened with Zoom's terms of service change?
In March 2023, Zoom updated its TOS “to be more transparent about how we use and who owns the various forms of content across our platform.” Remembering that Zoom is under FTC mandates for security disclosures, this kind of candor makes sense. Where the company went wrong was in making this change quietly and with a lack of clear delineation of how Zoom would use data to train AI.
In our discussions with Zoom this week, the company took full ownership of that lack of communication. I don’t believe that the company was trying to hide anything or get anything past users. In fact, many of the provisions in the TOS don’t currently affect the vast majority of Zoom's customers. In being so proactive, the company inadvertently got too far ahead of itself, which caused unnecessary alarm among many customers who weren’t ever affected by the issue of AI training data.
Once the (understandable) panic began, Zoom released an updated version of its TOS, along with a blog post explaining the changes from the company's chief product officer, Smita Hashim. Hashim clarified that Zoom is authorized to use customer content to develop value-added services, but that customers always retain ownership and control over their content. She also emphasized the wording added to the TOS: “Notwithstanding the above, Zoom will not use audio, video or chat Customer Content to train our artificial intelligence models without your consent.”
The day after Zoom released its blog post explaining the TOS changes, Yuan addressed the communication failure and the company’s plans for training AI more directly and soberly. The CEO took responsibility in his LinkedIn mea culpa, saying the company had an internal process failure. The post on his personal page addressed users’ concerns, similar to Zoom’s official blog post, but Yuan emphasized the promise not to train AI with customer data with a bold statement. He wrote, “It is my fundamental belief that any company that leverages customer content to train its AI without customer consent will be out of business overnight.”
By the end of the week, Zoom cemented Yuan’s commitment not to use customer data to train AI and issued a revised TOS, effective August 11, 2023. Hashim’s blog post was also updated with an editor’s note reiterating Zoom’s AI policy. What’s more, the company made immediate changes to the product.
Will this satisfy everyone who believes that Zoom steals their information and can’t be trusted? Maybe not. Yet with all of this in mind, let’s take a clear-eyed look at the different aspects of how Zoom uses data.
How Zoom uses customer data
First, let's distinguish between the two types of data addressed in Zoom's TOS. Zoom can gather two categories of data: "service-generated data," which includes telemetry, diagnostic and similar data, and "customer content," such as audio recordings or user-generated chat transcripts.
Zoom owns the service-generated data, but the company says it is used only to Boost the service. Meanwhile, video content, audio, chat and any files shared within the virtual four walls—that is, the customer content—of any Zoom meeting is entirely owned by the user. Zoom has limited rights to use that data to provide the service in the first place (as in the example that follows) or for legal, safety or security purposes.
The usage rights outlined in the TOS for meetings are used to safeguard the platform from potential copyright claims. These rights protect Zoom’s platform infrastructure and operation, allowing the company to manage and store files on its servers without infringing on content ownership.
Here's an example: a budding music band uses the platform to play some music for friends. Zoom, just by the nature of how the service works, must upload and buffer that audio onto company servers (among other processes) to deliver that song—which is considered intellectual property—to participants on the platform. If Zoom does not have the rights to do so, that band, its future management, its record label or anyone who ever owns that IP technically could sue Zoom for possessing that IP on its servers.
This may sound like a fringe use case, and it would be unlikely to hold up in court, but it is not unheard of and would expose the company or any future company owner to legal risk.
Is Zoom using your data to train AI models?
After this week’s changes to the TOS, the answer to this question is now a resounding No. When Zoom IQ Meeting Summary and Zoom IQ Chat Compose were recently introduced on a trial basis, they used AI to elevate the Zoom experience with automated meeting summaries and AI-assisted chat composition. But as we are publishing this article on August 11, Zoom says that it no longer uses any customer data to train AI models, either its own or from third parties. However, to best understand the series of events, I’ll lay out how the company previously handled the training of models.
Account owners and administrators were given full control over enabling the AI features. How Zoom IQ handled data during the free trial was addressed transparently in this blog post, which was published well before the broader concerns around data harvesting and AI model training arose. (The post has now been updated to reflect the clarified policy on handling customer data.)
When Zoom IQ was introduced, collecting data to train Zoom's AI models was made opt-in based on users' and guests’ active choice. As with the recording notifications that are familiar to most users, Zoom's process notified participants when their data was being used, and the notification had to be acknowledged for a user to proceed with their desired action. Separate from the collection of data for AI, Zoom told me this week that the product alerts users if the host has even enabled a generative AI feature such as Meeting Summary.
User data was collected to enhance the AI models' capabilities and overall user experience. Given the latest change to the TOS, it is unclear how Zoom plans to train its AI models now that it won’t have customer data to work with.
Until this week, here is what the opt-in looked like within the Zoom product.
How account owners and administrators previously enabled and controlled the Zoom IQ for Meeting ... [+]
ZoomAnd here is what it looks like as of August 11, 2023.
How account owners and administrators now enable and control the Zoom IQ for Meeting Summary feature
ZoomZoom's federated AI approach integrates various AI models, including its own, alongside ones from companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as select customer models. This adaptability lets Zoom tailor AI solutions to individual business demands and user preferences—including how models are trained.
Responsible AI regulation will be a long time in the making. Legislators have admitted to being behind the curve on the rapid adoption of AI as industry pioneers such as OpenAI have called for Congress to regulate the technology. In the current period of self-regulation, the company’s AI model prioritizes safety, interpretability and steerability. It operates within established safety constraints and ethical guidelines, enabling training with well-defined parameters for decision making.
The bottom line: Zoom is using your data, but not in scary ways
Amid widespread privacy and data security concerns, I believe Zoom's approach is rooted in user control and transparency—something reinforced by this week’s changes to the TOS. There are nuanced provisions within Zoom's TOS that allow it to take steps that are necessary to operate the platform. This week’s events have highlighted the need for Zoom to communicate actively and publicly what I believe they are already prioritizing internally.
As technology—and AI in particular—evolves, fostering an open dialogue about data usage and privacy will be critical in preserving (or in some cases, rebuilding) trust among Zoom's users. This week has shown that people are still very skittish about AI, and rightfully so. There are still many unknowns about AI, but Moor Insights & Strategy’s assessment is that Zoom is well positioned to securely deliver a broad set of AI solutions customized for its users. Zoom has established that it intends to do so without using customer content to train its AI models. As the company navigates data privacy concerns, I hope it can strike a balance to meet users’ concerns while advancing technology to meet their business needs.
The company admittedly had an operational misstep. Let’s not confuse that with reprehensible intent. Zoom as an organization and its CEO personally have acknowledged its customers’ concerns and made necessary adjustments to the TOS that accurately reflect Zoom's sensible data privacy and security governance. I now look forward to seeing Zoom get back to focusing on connecting millions of people worldwide, bringing solutions to meetings, contact centers and more to make people and gatherings more meaningful and productive.
Note: This analysis contains content from Moor Insights & Strategy CEO and Chief Analyst Patrick Moorhead.
Moor Insights & Strategy provides or has provided paid services to technology companies, like all tech industry research and analyst firms. These services include research, analysis, advising, consulting, benchmarking, acquisition matchmaking, and video and speaking sponsorships. The company has had or currently has paid business relationships with 8×8, Accenture, A10 Networks, Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Amazon Web Services, Ambient Scientific, Ampere Computing, Anuta Networks, Applied Brain Research, Applied Micro, Apstra, Arm, Aruba Networks (now HPE), Atom Computing, AT&T, Aura, Automation Anywhere, AWS, A-10 Strategies, Bitfusion, Blaize, Box, Broadcom, C3.AI, Calix, Cadence Systems, Campfire, Cisco Systems, Clear Software, Cloudera, Clumio, Cohesity, Cognitive Systems, CompuCom, Cradlepoint, CyberArk, Dell, Dell EMC, Dell Technologies, Diablo Technologies, Dialogue Group, Digital Optics, Dreamium Labs, D-Wave, Echelon, Ericsson, Extreme Networks, Five9, Flex, Foundries.io, Foxconn, Frame (now VMware), Fujitsu, Gen Z Consortium, Glue Networks, GlobalFoundries, Revolve (now Google), Google Cloud, Graphcore, Groq, Hiregenics, Hotwire Global, HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Honeywell, Huawei Technologies, HYCU, IBM, Infinidat, Infoblox, Infosys, Inseego, IonQ, IonVR, Inseego, Infosys, Infiot, Intel, Interdigital, Jabil Circuit, Juniper Networks, Keysight, Konica Minolta, Lattice Semiconductor, Lenovo, Linux Foundation, Lightbits Labs, LogicMonitor, LoRa Alliance, Luminar, MapBox, Marvell Technology, Mavenir, Marseille Inc, Mayfair Equity, Meraki (Cisco), Merck KGaA, Mesophere, Micron Technology, Microsoft, MiTEL, Mojo Networks, MongoDB, Multefire Alliance, National Instruments, Neat, NetApp, Nightwatch, NOKIA, Nortek, Novumind, NVIDIA, Nutanix, Nuvia (now Qualcomm), NXP, onsemi, ONUG, OpenStack Foundation, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Panasas, Peraso, Pexip, Pixelworks, Plume Design, PlusAI, Poly (formerly Plantronics), Portworx, Pure Storage, Qualcomm, Quantinuum, Rackspace, Rambus, Rayvolt E-Bikes, Red Hat, Renesas, Residio, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Semi, SAP, SAS, Scale Computing, Schneider Electric, SiFive, Silver Peak (now Aruba-HPE), SkyWorks, SONY Optical Storage, Splunk, Springpath (now Cisco), Spirent, Splunk, Sprint (now T-Mobile), Stratus Technologies, Symantec, Synaptics, Syniverse, Synopsys, Tanium, Telesign,TE Connectivity, TensTorrent, Tobii Technology, Teradata,T-Mobile, Treasure Data, Twitter, Unity Technologies, UiPath, Verizon Communications, VAST Data, Ventana Micro Systems, Vidyo, VMware, Wave Computing, Wellsmith, Xilinx, Zayo, Zebra, Zededa, Zendesk, Zoho, Zoom, and Zscaler. Moor Insights & Strategy founder, CEO, and Chief Analyst Patrick Moorhead is an investor in Fivestone Partners, Frore Systems, Groq, MemryX, Movandi, and Ventana Micro.
Is the inevitable backlash against generative artificial intelligence at hand? Some early signals suggest the possibility, but you’d never know it from all the fundings and new products streaming out this week, as SiliconANGLE documented in a raft of stories this week.
We also covered the better-than-expected quarterly earnings from Cisco Systems Inc., which gave investors hope that a tech spending lull might be easing. Meantime, though, some cybersecurity companies are struggling as generative AI could be siphoning off information technology investments. Crypto isn’t dead yet despite the ongoing wintry conditions. And Intel Corp. dropped its bid for Tower Semiconductor after China’s regulators essentially nixed it — another in a string of bad news for the struggling chipmaking giant — even as Arm Ltd.’s IPO moves ahead.
For an insightful and entertaining take on this and other news in enterprise and emerging tech, check out this week’s theCUBE Pod, John Furrier’s and Dave Vellante’s weekly podcast. And this weekend, look for Vellante’s Breaking Analysis, his weekly deep dive on an enterprise tech trend.
I’ll kick things off this week with a look at the current state of the cybersecurity industry through the lens of one of its top leaders, Palo Alto Networks Inc., which announced earnings today.
Palo Alto held a highly unusual presentation on its earnings and a review of its strategy today — unusual in that Friday announcements are usually reserved for bad news. Not so today, since in Palo Alto’s case, the news was plenty good. (As Chief Executive Nikesh Arora apologetically explained on the call, which was kicked off with a remix of Rebecca Black’s 2011 earworm “Friday,” he wanted to leave time to talk one-on-one with analysts over the weekend before a planned company sales meeting that starts Sunday, on top of a board meeting this week.)
Anyway, the company reported its fiscal fourth-quarter profit before certain costs such as stock compensation jumped 90% from a year ago, to $482.5 million, or $1.44 a share. Net profit hit $227.7 million, or 64 cents a share. Revenue rose 26%, to $2 billion.
The outlook was positive as well. For its fiscal first quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $1.15 to $1.17 a share, up 40% at the midpoint, on a 16% to 18% rise in revenue, to as much as $1.85 billion. For the full year, the revenue forecast is a tick higher, between 18% and 19%, with adjusted earnings up 19% to 22%.
Investors liked the results. Palo Alto’s shares were rising more than 8% in after-hours trading. Shares were already up 80% on the year through the start of August.
“The report is better than feared,” Ivana Delevska, founder and chief investment officer of investment adviser Spear Invest, told me. “Guidance is light, but given the timing of the report many investors were expecting something much worse like an accounting restatement, or management change.”
Arora touted the “changing environment” that drove more customers toward “platformization,” meaning customers that buy multiple product lines. To that end, Arora said the company was surprised by the strength of its extended security intelligence and automation management, or XSIAM, product, with bookings of more than $200 million in its first year.
XSIAM, in its Cortex line, combines endpoint detection and response or EDR, security orchestration automation and response or SOAR, attack surface management or ASM, and security information and event management or SIEM technologies into a single solution. Many other companies offer these separately, which can be a pain point for customers that often must juggle many different cybersecurity products from different companies.
Despite the positive results, it’s no easy sledding these days, given high interest rates that are tamping down spending. “There is more scrutiny” on deals, Arora said. “There are some that get stretched or get canceled.”
During a 90-minute presentation, Arora dug into the evolution of what he says is a $213 billion cybersecurity market. There are new segments such as SASE, cloud security and internet of things security that contribute $29 billion, transforming segments such as endpoint and XDR as well as SIEM and network security at a collective $72 billion, steady segments such as identity, app security, data and email security at a total of $31 billion, and $81 billion in services.
“We were told customers don’t want platforms, they wanted best-of-breed solutions,” Arora noted. Instead, he said, Palo Alto is aiming to do both, through what the company calls a “build and buy” strategy, to become the largest pure-play cybersecurity provider. Cisco and Microsoft are larger, but of course cyber is just part of their businesses.
The upshot of all this is that Palo Alto looks to continue as a consolidator in this industry, along with a few others such as CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., Check Point Software Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. The industry does seem to be splitting between larger companies continuing to grow and roll up smaller companies and others struggling to maintain traction either because of aging technology or because IT departments are diverting more spending toward AI. Just in the past week or so, Rapid7 and Secureworks laid off workers. And Arora noted that there are 3,000 cyber startups out there — clearly unsustainable.
“We believe M&A will pick up significantly in the second half and 2024 and companies like Palo Alto that have the capital availability are in a solid position to benefit,” Delevska said. “We see ‘shift left’ as a major theme for M&A, that is, cybersecurity embedded earlier in the software development cycle.”
She also thinks there will be only a limited number of industry consolidators, in particular Palo Alto and CrowdStrike. “M&A has been hit-and-miss in cybersecurity and therefore track record is key,” she said.
Going forward, Arora sees a need for, and shift to, more real-time and autonomous security. “We will see a standard platform for security,” he vowed. “That’s the only way we’re going to get to the future we need for real-time and AI-based security.”
More cyber news below.
A well-known AI skeptic raises doubts about generative AI that are worth studying even if the essential critique is, as often with Gary Marcus, points to inflated expectations more than a complete lack of utility: What if Generative AI turned out to be a Dud? Also, Benedict Evans is unimpressed so far, though it’s a bit mystifying he can’t find any good use for it. Plus, gen AI has landed right at the top of Gartner’s Hype Cycle and you know what that means.
Axios talks to larger companies struggling to implement generative AI.
Some observers even think the AI startup Gold Rush is ending: A.I. startups are losing their bloom for seed investors, argues one VC
But that seems slightly early, many startups keep on coming: Former Google researchers launch startup to build nature-inspired neural networks and Elemental Cognition, led by IBM Watson’s former head, raises $60M
It’s getting competitive on the gen AI infrastructure front: Continuing AI investment is why the GPU battle, for one, keeps intensifying — and the software matters as much as the hardware, which is why Modular could raise so much money: AI software startup Modular seeks bumper Series A round to challenge Nvidia. Of course, the big guys such as Amazon are already well into this chips-and-software race: How Amazon is racing to catch Microsoft and Google in generative A.I. with custom AWS chips. Meantime, per the New York Times, the GPU shortage rages on.
And then there’s the endlessly fundraising Databricks: Databricks looking to raise ‘hundreds of millions’ in fresh funding to fuel generative AI push But Furrier notes in theCUBE Pod podcast that it’s not out of need for cash but striking while the AI iron is hot.
For better or — in the case of the Iowa school board that wants to ban books they can’t be bothered to read — for worse, harnessing chatbots for content moderation: OpenAI finds GPT-4 can Boost online platforms’ content moderation efforts
Even the big large language model creators are looking to provide industry-specific AI models: Anthropic raises $100M from SK Telecom to build AI for telecommunications Do they become AI superclouds? And in the same vein: Arthur launches open-source tool to help companies make data-driven decisions about LLMs
About the worry over those LLM data leaks — someone’s working on that: DynamoFL raises $15.1M to tackle language model data leaks
“Hey Google, what should I do?” Google DeepMind reportedly developing at least 21 new generative AI features Not scary at all, nope.
And the hardware suppliers see an opportunity to bundle things to make AI development easier, though it’s not clear how big a market there is for this kind of thing outside the big cloud providers: Nutanix offers quick-start approach to AI development
OpenAI makes its first acquisition: OpenAI acquires digital products company Global Illumination for undisclosed price
Amazon finds some low-hanging gen AI fruit: Amazon adds AI-powered review summaries to its e-commerce marketplace
Cybersecurity companies still cutting costs perhaps as AI steals some budget: Cybersecurity provider Secureworks to let go 15% of its workforce, on the heels of Rapid7 layoffs last week.
Strom looks at the latest CPU attacks and concludes they will be tough to fix quickly: Mitigating the latest processor attacks will be a chore on many levels
Same deal with phishing: New reports show phishing is on the rise — and getting more sophisticated
And another security issue in IoT (maybe take the stairs next time): New widespread IoT compromise could affect millions of logic controllers
Finally, here’s detailed advice on how to avoid security fatigue: How to prevent multifactor authentication fatigue attacks
Cisco earnings beat estimates and its stock rises a bit after-hours. At first a seemingly weak forecast from the industry bellwether raised doubts about tech infrastructure spending, but subsequent company comments and analysis indicate a good quarter and equally good outlook after all: In a positive sign for tech spending, Cisco’s stock rises on strong earnings and prospects for AI
More China economic war fallout: Intel scraps its $5.4B acquisition of Tower Semiconductor Vellante and Furrier think Intel’s in deep trouble, as they describe on theCUBE Pod. Tower wasn’t a game-changer in itself, but it’s hard to see how CEO Pat Gelsinger can revive Intel’s fortunes anytime soon.
Arm’s IPO to get rolling next month: SoftBank reportedly buys back 25% Arm stake from its Vision Fund unit
Crypto ain’t dead yet: Despite crypto downturn, BitGo raises $100M at $1.75B valuation and ZetaChain raises $27M. Plus Coinbase secures approval to offer crypto futures to US customers. And Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger teams up with PayPal
That was quick: SUSE to be taken private by its majority shareholder
Eliminating the decryption tax for querying encrypted data: MongoDB unveils data encryption tech for developers to boosting data privacy and compliance
Supercomputers in the cloud: Harvard researchers clone supercomputer on Google Cloud
Sassine Ghazi to become CEO of chip design software firm Synopsys
Big changes in Europe for big tech: Doing business in Europe? Time to focus on its new Digital Services Act – now
VMware Explore runs Aug. 21-24, and SiliconANGLE and theCUBE will be covering it in Las Vegas.
Earnings from Zoom, Nvidia, Snowflake, NetApp, Splunk, Autodesk and Workday
Then the following week, Aug. 29-31, is Google Cloud Next, also to be covered onsite at Moscone Center in San Francisco by SiliconANGLE and theCUBE.
THANK YOU
Sundry Photography/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Networking giant Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) is set to report its fourth-quarter results on Wednesday after market close, with investors closely looking at order trends, and seeking updates to the company's full-year 2024 outlook.
Wall Street analysts expect Cisco to post earnings per share of $1.06 on revenues of $15.05 billion, which would mark a jump of nearly 15% year-over-year.
While analysts expect the network equipment maker to suffer from weak cloud service provider sales, they expect it to be offset by improving enterprise spending, supporting revenue growth.
The company is expected to outperform its peers, including Arista Networks (ANET) and Juniper Networks (JNPR), on the back of strong enterprise demand.
Cisco shares have surged over 11% YTD.
Investors will be watching for any updates to the company's 2024 guidance, seeing if the company can stick to its previously provided full-year outlook.
In June, the company unveiled two new AI-focused networking chips to compete with existing rival offerings.
Seeking Alpha contributor Tradevestor said, "The company is undergoing a product-based transformation and has seen increasing expectations for its Q4 earnings."
Fellow contributor Dair Sansyzbayev added, "The company's capital allocation approach is very shareholder-friendly, with massive buybacks and a strong track record of dividend growth."
Cisco has seen substantial changes to its estimates over the last three months. Earnings per share forecasts have been revised upwards 19 time, while revenue estimates have been revised up 13 times vs. 4 downward revisions.
Seeking Alpha analysts at large consider Cisco a Buy. This compares with average Wall Street rating of Buy and SA Quant rating of Hold.
Is the inevitable backlash against generative artificial intelligence at hand? Some early signals suggest the possibility, but you’d never know it from all the fundings and new products streaming out this week, as SiliconANGLE documented in a raft of stories this week.
We also covered the better-than-expected quarterly earnings from Cisco Systems Inc., which gave investors hope that a tech spending lull might be easing. Meantime, though, some cybersecurity companies are struggling as generative AI could be siphoning off information technology investments. Crypto isn’t dead yet despite the ongoing wintry conditions. And Intel Corp. dropped its bid for Tower Semiconductor after China’s regulators essentially nixed it — another in a string of bad news for the struggling chipmaking giant — even as Arm Ltd.’s IPO moves ahead.
For an insightful and entertaining take on this and other news in enterprise and emerging tech, check out this week’s theCUBE Pod, John Furrier’s and Dave Vellante’s weekly podcast. And this weekend, look for Vellante’s Breaking Analysis, his weekly deep dive on an enterprise tech trend.
I’ll kick things off this week with a look at the current state of the cybersecurity industry through the lens of one of its top leaders, Palo Alto Networks Inc., which announced earnings today.
Palo Alto held a highly unusual presentation on its earnings and a review of its strategy today — unusual in that Friday announcements are usually reserved for bad news. Not so today, since in Palo Alto’s case, the news was plenty good. (As Chief Executive Nikesh Arora apologetically explained on the call, which was kicked off with a remix of Rebecca Black’s 2011 earworm “Friday,” he wanted to leave time to talk one-on-one with analysts over the weekend before a planned company sales meeting that starts Sunday, on top of a board meeting this week.)
Anyway, the company reported its fiscal fourth-quarter profit before certain costs such as stock compensation jumped 90% from a year ago, to $482.5 million, or $1.44 a share. Net profit hit $227.7 million, or 64 cents a share. Revenue rose 26%, to $2 billion.
The outlook was positive as well. For its fiscal first quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $1.15 to $1.17 a share, up 40% at the midpoint, on a 16% to 18% rise in revenue, to as much as $1.85 billion. For the full year, the revenue forecast is a tick higher, between 18% and 19%, with adjusted earnings up 19% to 22%.
Investors liked the results. Palo Alto’s shares were rising more than 8% in after-hours trading. Shares were already up 80% on the year through the start of August.
“The report is better than feared,” Ivana Delevska, founder and chief investment officer of investment adviser Spear Invest, told me. “Guidance is light, but given the timing of the report many investors were expecting something much worse like an accounting restatement, or management change.”
Arora touted the “changing environment” that drove more customers toward “platformization,” meaning customers that buy multiple product lines. To that end, Arora said the company was surprised by the strength of its extended security intelligence and automation management, or XSIAM, product, with bookings of more than $200 million in its first year.
XSIAM, in its Cortex line, combines endpoint detection and response or EDR, security orchestration automation and response or SOAR, attack surface management or ASM, and security information and event management or SIEM technologies into a single solution. Many other companies offer these separately, which can be a pain point for customers that often must juggle many different cybersecurity products from different companies.
Despite the positive results, it’s no easy sledding these days, given high interest rates that are tamping down spending. “There is more scrutiny” on deals, Arora said. “There are some that get stretched or get canceled.”
During a 90-minute presentation, Arora dug into the evolution of what he says is a $213 billion cybersecurity market. There are new segments such as SASE, cloud security and internet of things security that contribute $29 billion, transforming segments such as endpoint and XDR as well as SIEM and network security at a collective $72 billion, steady segments such as identity, app security, data and email security at a total of $31 billion, and $81 billion in services.
“We were told customers don’t want platforms, they wanted best-of-breed solutions,” Arora noted. Instead, he said, Palo Alto is aiming to do both, through what the company calls a “build and buy” strategy, to become the largest pure-play cybersecurity provider. Cisco and Microsoft are larger, but of course cyber is just part of their businesses.
The upshot of all this is that Palo Alto looks to continue as a consolidator in this industry, along with a few others such as CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., Check Point Software Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. The industry does seem to be splitting between larger companies continuing to grow and roll up smaller companies and others struggling to maintain traction either because of aging technology or because IT departments are diverting more spending toward AI. Just in the past week or so, Rapid7 and Secureworks laid off workers. And Arora noted that there are 3,000 cyber startups out there — clearly unsustainable.
“We believe M&A will pick up significantly in the second half and 2024 and companies like Palo Alto that have the capital availability are in a solid position to benefit,” Delevska said. “We see ‘shift left’ as a major theme for M&A, that is, cybersecurity embedded earlier in the software development cycle.”
She also thinks there will be only a limited number of industry consolidators, in particular Palo Alto and CrowdStrike. “M&A has been hit-and-miss in cybersecurity and therefore track record is key,” she said.
Going forward, Arora sees a need for, and shift to, more real-time and autonomous security. “We will see a standard platform for security,” he vowed. “That’s the only way we’re going to get to the future we need for real-time and AI-based security.”
More cyber news below.
A well-known AI skeptic raises doubts about generative AI that are worth studying even if the essential critique is, as often with Gary Marcus, points to inflated expectations more than a complete lack of utility: What if Generative AI turned out to be a Dud? Also, Benedict Evans is unimpressed so far, though it’s a bit mystifying he can’t find any good use for it. Plus, gen AI has landed right at the top of Gartner’s Hype Cycle and you know what that means.
Some observers even think the AI startup Gold Rush is ending: A.I. startups are losing their bloom for seed investors, argues one VC
But that seems slightly early, many startups keep on coming: Former Google researchers launch startup to build nature-inspired neural networks and Elemental Cognition, led by IBM Watson’s former head, raises $60M
It’s getting competitive on the gen AI infrastructure front: Continuing AI investment is why the GPU battle, for one, keeps intensifying — and the software matters as much as the hardware, which is why Modular could raise so much money: AI software startup Modular seeks bumper Series A round to challenge Nvidia. Of course, the big guys such as Amazon are already well into this chips-and-software race: How Amazon is racing to catch Microsoft and Google in generative A.I. with custom AWS chips. Meantime, per the New York Times, the GPU shortage rages on.
And then there’s the endlessly fundraising Databricks: Databricks looking to raise ‘hundreds of millions’ in fresh funding to fuel generative AI push But Furrier notes in theCUBE Pod podcast that it’s not out of need for cash but striking while the AI iron is hot.
For better or — in the case of the Iowa school board that wants to ban books they can’t be bothered to read — for worse, harnessing chatbots for content moderation: OpenAI finds GPT-4 can Boost online platforms’ content moderation efforts
Even the big large language model creators are looking to provide industry-specific AI models: Anthropic raises $100M from SK Telecom to build AI for telecommunications Do they become AI superclouds? And in the same vein: Arthur launches open-source tool to help companies make data-driven decisions about LLMs
About the worry over those LLM data leaks — someone’s working on that: DynamoFL raises $15.1M to tackle language model data leaks
“Hey Google, what should I do?” Google DeepMind reportedly developing at least 21 new generative AI features Not scary at all, nope.
And the hardware suppliers see an opportunity to bundle things to make AI development easier, though it’s not clear how big a market there is for this kind of thing outside the big cloud providers: Nutanix offers quick-start approach to AI development
OpenAI makes its first acquisition: OpenAI acquires digital products company Global Illumination for undisclosed price
Amazon finds some low-hanging gen AI fruit: Amazon adds AI-powered review summaries to its e-commerce marketplace
Cybersecurity companies still cutting costs perhaps as AI steals some budget: Cybersecurity provider Secureworks to let go 15% of its workforce, on the heels of Rapid7 layoffs last week.
David Strom warns of a deadline for EU privacy regulations next week: Doing business in Europe? Time to focus on its new Digital Services Act – now
Strom looks at the latest CPU attacks and concludes they will be tough to fix quickly: Mitigating the latest processor attacks will be a chore on many levels
Same deal with phishing: New reports show phishing is on the rise — and getting more sophisticated
And another security issue in IoT (maybe take the stairs next time): New widespread IoT compromise could affect millions of logic controllers
Finally, here’s detailed advice on how to avoid security fatigue: How to prevent multifactor authentication fatigue attacks
Cisco earnings beat estimates and its stock rises a bit after-hours. At first a seemingly weak forecast from the industry bellwether raised doubts about tech infrastructure spending, but subsequent company comments and analysis indicate a good quarter and equally good outlook after all: In a positive sign for tech spending, Cisco’s stock rises on strong earnings and prospects for AI
More China economic war fallout: Intel scraps its $5.4B acquisition of Tower Semiconductor Vellante and Furrier think Intel’s in deep trouble, as they describe on theCUBE Pod. Tower wasn’t a game-changer in itself, but it’s hard to see how CEO Pat Gelsinger can revive Intel’s fortunes anytime soon.
Arm’s IPO to get rolling next month: SoftBank reportedly buys back 25% Arm stake from its Vision Fund unit
Crypto ain’t dead yet: Despite crypto downturn, BitGo raises $100M at $1.75B valuation and ZetaChain raises $27M. Plus Coinbase secures approval to offer crypto futures to US customers. And Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger teams up with PayPal
That was quick: SUSE to be taken private by its majority shareholder
Eliminating the decryption tax for querying encrypted data: MongoDB unveils data encryption tech for developers to boosting data privacy and compliance
Supercomputers in the cloud: Harvard researchers clone supercomputer on Google Cloud
Sassine Ghazi to become CEO of chip design software firm Synopsys
VMware Explore runs Aug. 21-24, and SiliconANGLE and theCUBE will be covering it in Las Vegas.
Earnings from Zoom, Nvidia, Snowflake, NetApp, Splunk, Autodesk and Workday
Then the following week, Aug. 29-31, is Google Cloud Next, also to be covered onsite at Moscone Center in San Francisco by SiliconANGLE and theCUBE.
THANK YOU