The year 2024 has begun with the release of our monthly digest! We have collected the most interesting news of January for you to peruse and learn about the latest developments in the industry.
IT Layoffs
The IT community experienced significant layoffs at major technology companies at the start of the year.
RiotGames, a major game developer responsible for League of Legends, VALORANT, and Teamfight Tactics, announced in early January that it is refocusing on fewer high-impact projects to move towards a more sustainable future. According to the company's official website, approximately 11% of the staff, or about 530 roles worldwide, will be cut. The most affected will be specialists and teams outside of core development.
Unity Software (U.N.) announced that it will lay off approximately 25% of its workforce, or 1,800 jobs, by the end of March 2024, making it the largest layoff in the company's history.
In December 2023, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy decided to shut down the service in South Korea, citing costs that were ten times higher than in other regions. A month later, it was revealed that the company was not profitable and that about 500 people would be laid off.
Alphabet (GOOGL.O) announced that Google is laying off hundreds of employees from its assistant, hardware, and engineering teams. Additionally, Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman are leaving the company. It is important to note that in January 2023, Google stated that it would be laying off about 12,000 employees.
Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off several hundred employees at its Prime Video streaming service and Amazon MGM Studios movie studio.
Unfortunately, the list of companies conducting mass layoffs does not end there.
Wi-Fi Alliance Announced Wi-Fi 7
The Wi-Fi Alliance has officially announced the certification of the Wi-Fi 7 standard, which includes improved features such as:
- 320 MHz channels.
- Multi-Link Operation (MLO).
- 4K QAM.
- 512 compressed block sections.
- Multiple RUs per STA.
- Triggered uplink access.
- Emergency Preparedness Communications Services (EPCS).
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 suits technologies that demand high bandwidth and improved reliability for mission-critical traffic. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the next generation of Wi-Fi will enable the evolution of multi-user AR/VR/XR, immersive 3-D learning, gaming, hybrid work, industrial IoT, and automotive applications.
Over 233 million Wi-Fi 7-enabled devices are expected to be available in the market by 2024. Smartphones, PCs, tablets, and access points (APs) are expected to be the first to adopt the new Wi-Fi technology. At the same time, customer premises equipment (CPE) and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) equipment will follow suit.
New Hacker Campaign Attacks Vulnerable Docker Services
Cado Security researchers have identified a cyberattack campaign that targets vulnerable Docker services. The attackers use these services to deploy the XMRig mining application and the 9hits DDoS attack program.
Presumably, the Shodan network scanning service is used to search for vulnerable systems. It is essential to be aware of these potential consequences. Compromising servers can harm their resources, causing high CPU usage with XMRig miner and significant bandwidth and memory usage with 9hits.
It is necessary to enhance security measures for Docker servers and address any known vulnerabilities in light of this incident.
56 VMware Products Achieved End Of Availability (EOA) Status
VMware has recently announced a transition from perpetual licensing to a subscription-based model, resulting in significant changes.
Several VMware software solutions will now only be available as part of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) or VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF). They will no longer be offered as standalone point solutions. Additionally, Aria SaaS services will expire, but customer support will continue until the end of their subscription term.
EOA status has been granted to several VMware products, including:
- VMware vSphere Enterprise.
- VMware vSphere+.
- VMware vSphere ROBO.
- VMware Cloud Foundation.
- Менеджер SDDC VMware.
- VMware vSAN and others.
In general, all services that are now only available through a shared subscription will remain accessible to customers until the end of their active subscription for a particular solution.
Vulnerability Helps Steal Data Locally via AMD, Apple, Qualcomm and Imagination GPU Software
Trail of Bits specialists conducted tests and reported on the CVE-2023-4969 vulnerability. The experiment revealed that this vulnerability enables data recovery from GPU local memory created by another process on Apple, Qualcomm, AMD, and Imagination GPUs.
The rapid iteration of GPU hardware and software stacks, along with frequent changes to the architecture and programming model, has led to the emergence of complex system stacks and fuzzy specifications. Experts believe this is the main problem behind the appearance of the vulnerability.
Another application, program, or user can carry out the attack on a shared machine using Large Language Models (LLM) and Machine Learning (ML) process software for GPU processors. The attacker only needs the ability to run GPU computing applications, such as those using OpenCL, Vulkan, or Metal. These frameworks are widely supported and usually do not require elevated privileges. Using these techniques, an attacker can access the data the victim has stored in their local GPU memory. The attack program can be created with less than ten lines of code.
Currently, GPU browser frameworks, such as WebGPU, are not vulnerable to attacks because they include dynamic memory checks in GPU cores.
The Most Profitable Games on Steam Ranking
Video Game Insights, an analysis company for the gaming industry, has analyzed the top 10 highest-grossing games on the Steam store for 2023.
- RPG Baldur's Gate 3 ($657 million).
- Hogwarts Legacy ($341 million).
- Starfield от Bethesda ($235 million).
- Resident Evil 4 ($159 million).
- Sons of the Forest ($116 millions).
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon ($87 million).
- EA Sports FC 24 ($81 million).
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ($68 million).
- Lethal Company ($52 million).
- Cities: Skylines 2 ($50 million).
Over 14,000 games were released in the past year, but only 309 were free-to-play. The number of new games doubled compared to 2019, exceeding all expectations. The revenue generated from game sales amounted to approximately $9 billion, double the amount generated in 2019.
Action and adventure games continue to dominate Steam, but RPGs had a successful year in 2023. Meanwhile, the simulation, casual, and MMO genres experienced a significant decline in market share.
Video Game Insights compiled the top 10 best-selling Steam games of 2023. Baldur's Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy, and Lethal Company took the top three spots, followed by Overwatch 2, Sons of the Forest, and Starfield. The list was rounded out by BattleBit Remastered, Resident Evil 4 remake, The Finals, and Armored Core 6.
Overall, the research provides valuable data on the gaming industry. This information can assist in shaping your strategy to enter the market or improve your position.
Have a great month, and see you in the following is*hosting digest!
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