Uber stock jumps, Tesla stumbles after Elon Musk’s Cybercab reveal

October 11, 2024 Coin Telegraph

7 real-world cloud computing examples to know

March 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Airbnb

From streaming videos to cloud storage solutions, cloud computing has become an integral part of our everyday lives.

Cloud computing has become an important part of our lives, whether we realize it or not. Many of the services and applications we use on a daily basis, such as messaging and streaming music and video, are powered by cloud computing.

Here are real-world cloud computing examples to know.

Netflix

Netflix uses cloud computing to provide streaming services to millions of users worldwide. By hosting its content on cloud servers, it can ensure reliable and scalable delivery to a global audience.

Netflix uses a variety of cloud computing services and technologies, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and content delivery networks (CDNs). The majority of Netflix's cloud computing requirements, including storage, processing power and data management, are met by AWS. Netflix makes use of CDNs to guarantee that its users receive its content fast and consistently. To enable users to access the content from the closest location, CDNs keep copies of the content in many locations around the globe.

Also, netflix uses CDN (Content Delivery Networks) and they have servers around the world hosted on AWS (Amazon Web Services). The file/video you request is sent to the Content Delivery Network closest to you.
— Timi (@_timiowo) April 13, 2020

Slack

Slack is a cloud-based messaging and collaboration platform that allows teams to communicate and collaborate in real time. It utilizes cloud computing to provide scalability, reliability and accessibility to its users. Slack's cloud infrastructure allows it to support a large number of users and messages, and to provide seamless access to its platform from multiple devices and locations.

Slack runs on cloud-based architecture that is designed to be highly available and fault-tolerant. It uses multiple data centers to ensure that its services are always available, even in the event of a failure in one data center.

Salesforce

Salesforce provides customer relationship management (CRM) services through cloud computing. This allows businesses to manage customer data, automate workflows and streamline sales processes.

Salesforce cloud computing involves the use of a variety of cloud services and technologies, including:

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): Salesforce employs IaaS companies like Microsoft Azure and AWS to supply the underlying infrastructure for its cloud-based platform.
Software as a service (SaaS): Salesforce offers its software products as an SaaS platform rather than as traditional software that must be installed on local devices.
Platform as a service (PaaS): To enable developers to create and distribute unique apps on the Salesforce platform, Salesforce also makes use of PaaS technologies like Force.com and Heroku.
Mobile computing: Salesforce also offers its users mobile apps that provide them access to their customer and sales data whenever and wherever they are.

Airbnb

Airbnb is a cloud-based platform for the sharing economy. Using Airbnb's website or mobile app, hosts may offer their properties for rent, and visitors can book such rentals. Massive amounts of data, including property listings, booking information and customer preferences, are stored and managed by Airbnb using cloud computing.

As a result, the platform can offer features like real-time availability and pricing, secure payment processing, and customized recommendations that make the experience easy for both guests and hosts.

Air is the new Cloud. Airbnb, Airtable, Airbyte, Airbase, Airkit...
— Dmitriy Ryaboy (@squarecog) March 23, 2022

Uber

Uber uses cloud computing to manage its ride-hailing platform, including real-time location tracking, trip routing and fare calculation. This allows the platform to provide fast and reliable transportation services, with features such as real-time payment processing and personalized ride options. Cloud computing also enables Uber to scale its services to meet demand, provide 24/7 support, and ensure the safety and security of riders and drivers.

GitHub

GitHub is a cloud-based platform that provides hosting for software development and version control using Git. It allows developers to store and collaborate on code with their team members, manage project tasks and track changes to code over time.

Please don't apply for senior dev roles unless your GitHub looks like this pic.twitter.com/6wptzkrMb2
— Nat Miletic (@natmiletic) February 27, 2023

While GitHub itself is not a cloud computing platform per se, it is often used in conjunction with cloud computing services such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure. Developers can use GitHub to host their code and then deploy it to the cloud using services such as AWS Elastic Beanstalk or Microsoft Azure App Service.

Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud Platform is a cloud computing platform provided by Google that enables users to build, deploy, and scale applications and services using a wide range of computing resources. It is an example of cloud computing because it provides access to a wide range of computing resources on demand, including virtual machines, storage, networking, databases and other services, all delivered through the internet.

One example of how Google Cloud can be used is for building and deploying web applications. Developers can use Google Cloud's compute resources to host their application code and data, and use services such as load balancing, autoscaling and container orchestration to manage the application's performance and availability. They can also use Google Cloud's machine learning services to add intelligent features to their applications, such as image recognition or natural language processing.

Is blockchain a part of cloud computing?

No, blockchain is not a part of cloud computing. While both blockchain and cloud computing are used in the context of modern computing, they are distinct technologies with different characteristics and use cases.

Cloud computing is a delivery model for computing resources such as servers, storage and software applications over the internet. Users who use cloud computing can use these services whenever they need to without having to buy and maintain their own physical IT infrastructure.

Blockchain, on the other hand, is a distributed digital ledger technology that records transactions in a safe, open and unchangeable way. Blockchain is frequently used to build relationships of trust between parties who do not already know or trust one another. In order to prevent any one person or entity from tampering with the data, it accomplishes this by using a decentralized network of computers to verify and record transactions.

While it is possible to use cloud computing to host blockchain-based applications, blockchain is not inherently a part of cloud computing.

Coinbase clarifies bug bounty policy in response to Uber extortion verdict

November 30, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The policy clarification stated that participants cannot make threats, use extortion, or access customer data beyond what is accidental or occurs in good faith.

In a blog post on November 30, Coinbase sought to clarify its bug bounty program policies in response to the recent Uber data breach verdict.

The company stated that it still welcomes “responsible” disclosure of security issues, but users who abuse this process will not be awarded bug bounties:

“The key word in all of this is ‘responsible’. In the wake of the recent Uber verdict, there is a lot of concern in the industry about bug bounty submissions becoming extortion attempts. At Coinbase, [...] we’ve put a lot of thought into how we operate our bug bounty program to stay on the right side of the law.”

The official Coinbase bug bounty reporting page at HackerOne

The verdict Coinbase was referring to was issued on October 5. Joe Sullivan, former Uber security chief, was found guilty of colluding with attackers to cover up evidence of a data breach, according to a report by the Washington Post. Sullivan had originally claimed that the attackers had submitted the breach as a bug bounty and that the company had paid them as a bug bounty reward.

Tech companies often use bug bounties to encourage white hat hackers to find security vulnerabilities and report them. But the Sullivan verdict has raised the question of how far a bug bounty program can go in awarding prizes to hackers without running afoul of the law itself.

In its post, Coinbase stated that it has encountered some bug bounty participants who claim to have committed criminal actions that would prevent the company from being able to legally make a payout.

For example, a participant submitted multiple emails to the team saying that they had “306 million users data fully dehashed” and a “bypass” to skip the 48 hour waiting period on new devices. According to Coinbase, if this person had such information, it would mean that they accessed customer data beyond what could be considered “good faith” or “accidental.” In such a case, Coinbase would not be able to pay the bounty.

In this particular case, Coinbase said they believed that the participant was making a false claim. The participant did not provide any information that would allow the claim to be verified, so the team ignored the request for a bounty. But even if the person making the claim had been telling the truth, it would have been illegal to pay out the reward to them.

Coinbase also emphasized that threats or other extortion attempts will not result in a bug bounty payout:

“Most important of all — a bug bounty submission can never contain threats or any attempts at extortion. We are always open to paying bounties for legitimate findings. Ransom demands are an entirely different matter.”

The practice of paying bug bounties is sometimes controversial. Critics say that it can encourage malicious behavior, while supporters say it often allows vulnerabilities to be discovered safely. On Oct. 19, an attacker drained the Moola Market DeFi app of $9 million worth of cryptocurrency. But when the developer offered to let the attacker keep $500K as a bug bounty, the attacker returned the other $8.5 million.

A similar attack occurred on the decentralized exchange, KyberSwap, in September. In this case, the attackers stole $265K, and the developers offered to let them keep 15% of the funds if they would return the rest. Suspects in the case were later identified, but the funds have not been returned, and the hackers appear to still be at large.

Web3 is the solution to Uber’s problem with hackers

October 1, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Centralized databases on Web2 are a honeypot for hackers. Decentralizing data on Web3 eliminates a major vulnerability for companies like Uber.

Uber is a staple of the gig economy, for better or worse, and a disruptor that once sent shockwaves throughout the mobility space. Now, however, Uber is being taken for a ride. The company is handling a reportedly far-reaching cybersecurity breach. According to the ride-hailing giant, the attacker has not been able to access sensitive user data, or at least, there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. Whether or not sensitive user data was exposed, this case points to a persistent issue with today’s apps. Can we continue to sacrifice our data — and thereby our privacy and security — for convenience?

Web2, the land of hackable honeypots

Uber’s track record for data breaches is not exactly spotless. Just in July, the ride-hailing giant acknowledged hushing up a massive breach in 2016 that leaked the personal data of 57 million customers. In this sense, the timing of the new incident could not have been worse, and given how long it takes to establish the damage done in such breaches, the full scale of the event has yet to reveal itself.

Uber’s data breach is not anything out of the ordinary — Web2 apps are ubiquitous, ever reaching further into our lives, and many of them, from Facebook to DoorDash, have suffered breaches as well. The more Web2 apps proliferate across the consumer space and beyond, the more often we will get such incidents in the long run.

The issue comes down to the very architecture of apps built on Web2. Through their centralized tech stacks, they naturally create honeypots containing users’ sensitive data from payment details to consumer behavior. As users funnel more and more data through various consumer apps, hackers have more and more honeypots to pursue.

The only true solution to the problem is also the most radical one — consumer apps should embrace Web3, restructure their data and payment architectures to grant users more security and privacy, and welcome this new era of the internet.

What would a Web3 Uber look like?

Web3 does not necessarily mean a change in the app interfaces we interact with. In fact, one could argue that continuity and similarity are key to adoption. A Web3 Uber would look and feel pretty much the same on the surface. It would have the same overall purpose and function as existing Web2 ride-hailing apps. Below the deck, however, it would be a very different beast. All the benefits of Web3 such as decentralized governance, data sovereignty and inclusive monetization models — systems that distribute earnings democratically — are engineered below the surface.

Web3 is all about verifiable ownership. It is the first time that people can verifiably own assets, be it digital or physical, through the Web. This pertains to ownership of value in the form of cryptocurrencies, but in the case of Web3 ride-hailing, it also pertains to retaining ownership of your data and ownership of the apps, underlying networks and the vehicles themselves.

Web3, Web 2.0, Uber, Hacks, Hackers, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Data

In practical terms, a Web3 Uber will allow users to control how much data they give, to who and when. Web3 Uber would ditch centralized databases in favor of peer-to-peer networks. Self-Sovereign Identities — decentralized digital IDs that you own and control — would allow people and machines alike to have decentralized digital passports which are not dependent on any one central authority for their proper function.

Drivers and passengers would be able to verify themselves on the Web3 ride-hailing app with their SSI in a fully peer-to-peer manner. They would also be able to choose what data they’d like to share or sell and to whom, exercising full ownership over their personal information and digital footprint.

Decentralized governance will make for another monumental shift. It will mean that all stakeholders, be it drivers, passengers, app developers and investors alike, will have the ability to co-own, co-govern and co-earn on all levels - from the infrastructure powering the decentralized application (DApp) to the intricacies of the DApp itself. It would be a ride-hailing app by users, for users.

Imagine for a moment that the fees charged by Uber were voted on by drivers and passengers, not dictated by a boardroom in Silicon Valley. Ask the next Uber driver what they think of that. Users, for their part, will be able to vote things like disaster-time price surges into the bin. For drivers all over the world, Web3 ride-hailing will mean being paid fairly without a third-party corporate intermediary taking a cut.

Web3 also enables a new kind of sharing economy, one where anyone, anywhere is able to own the vehicles being used by ride-hailing apps or any other kind of vehicle-focused app via machine nonfungible tokens (NFTs) — tokens that represent ownership over pools of real-world vehicles. It will be possible for the communities in which these vehicles operate to have ownership rights over those same vehicles, granting the ability to vote on how they’re used and giving them an income stream. The more these increasingly intelligent machines provide goods and services to the community, the more the community earns. Web3 is turning the status quo on its head.

A shift to Web3 in consumer apps will address the root cause of the persistent breaches, removing the very need for centralized data honeypots without necessarily making things more complicated for users. Despite that being an enormous paradigm shift in and of itself, data sovereignty is just one of the advantages a Web3 Uber would have over Web2 Uber.

In the future, blockchain will become something as unseen as the inner workings of Google Pay — just fully accessible to those who wish to view it. It will be something users unknowingly interact with when ordering a pizza or hailing a ride — yet absolutely fundamental to a fairer, more democratic society in the digital age.

Max Thake is the co-founder of peaq, a blockchain network powering the Economy of Things on Polkadot.

This article is for general informational purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.