2021 year in review – IT under attack

The rare sighting of a predator drone flying over protests causes a stir, a story about how messaging technology is helping protestors remain organized catches fire over the weekend, and social media gets hyped about the next Matrix sequel.

Amazon says Black Lives Matter while selling surveillance tech to police, Mark Zuckerburg defends his do-nothing approach to Trump’s offensive tweets, and the show goes on for CES 2021.

Google faces a $5 billion lawsuit for tracking ‘private’ internet use, Zoom revenues soar but it faces criticism for denying free users encryption, and lastly Microsoft rolls out the new Chromium Edge browser for Windows 10.

K-pop fans spam Dallas police ‘snitch’ app with videos and memes to support protesters, we take a glance at today’s most desirable skills, and Apple puts a call out to developers to find a serious bug in its system.

The anonymous hacker group returns, SpaceX successfully launches the first commercial flight into space and the ship’s main controls scream Star Trek, and a list of well-known websites that port scan their visitors circulates on Reddit.

People are trying to find the best ways to combat Zoom fatigue, law enforcement in the UK try to halt sales of a device that says it can protect you from 5G via quantum technology, and Trump is very mad with Facebook and Twitter.

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou loses the first challenge in her extradition case, Twitter fact checks one of President Donald Trump’s tweets, and new reports suggest Facebook knew its algorithms divided users but the tech giant didn’t care.

TikTok is booming during the lockdown, trainers open up about moving their clients to a virtual setting, and the demand for VPNs in Honk Kong surge after Beijing proposes tough new national security laws.

GitLab conducts an interesting exercise to test its employees’ cybersecurity chops, virtual escape rooms are gaining popularity, and a growing number of adults join the millions of school-age and university students who have been studying at home during lockdown.

Facebook’s work from home policies come with a catch, Apple’s latest iOS update includes coronavirus contact tracing, and researchers say a lot of the noise on Twitter around reopenining America is coming from bots.

Shopify is following Twitter’s footsteps and telling its employees they can work from home indefinitely, a ransomware gang executives a nasty attack against a law firm in New York City, and a medical repair database goes viral on Reddit.

LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence Index shows the impact remote work has Canadian workers, Apple Glass details leak, and more Shopify news.

Apple unveils its reopening plans, thousands of students take their anger to social media after they get Google Classroom notifications on a holiday, and hey look, it’s another preposterous COVID-19 conspiracy theory making its rounds on social media.

Uber says all of its drivers and passengers have to wear masks, longer workdays for people working remotely is leading to burnout, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants the FBI to collect records on Americans’ web-browsing and search histories without a warrant.

Facebook finally acknowledges its content moderator’s mental health deterioration, Google Play Music will get merged with YouTube Music later this year, two key executives leave Google Pixel phone development.