In This Issue:

• New malware makes you think you’re opening zoom 

• Workers ignoring back-to-work edicts; it’s different than meets the eye

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New malware makes you think you’re opening zoom

Malware infections are back on the rise. Penetration testing company, DeepStrike estimates that 6.5 billion infections will happen in 2025 compared to 5.8 billion in 2023.

Approximately 13% of users have been infected, and (here’s the worst part…) less than 25% of the victims are even aware they have been infected (according to digital security company, SpyCloud, who helps corporations clean up data breaches).

Symantec/Norton reports that historically, 60% of malware infections remain undetected until positive steps are taken to identify that a user has been infected.

A new report about malware that targets Mac users caught my eye, because the traditional targets are Windows and Android devices. That’s in part because Apple locks down its app ecosystem more tightly than either Microsoft or Google.

This new Mac-targeted malware is received as a Calendly meeting invitation making believe it’s from a colleague of the recipient who has connections in Telegram, a growing cross-platform messaging app. The invitation includes what appears to be a Zoom update; but in reality, the Zoom update link downloads and installs the malware.

According to Macworld, it then collects user data including login information of the Mac.

This one doesn’t target all Mac users, not even all Zoom or Calendly users. Seems they are interested in people who use blockchain – who might be investing in digital currency. It’s the Billy the Kid strategy. When Billy was asked why he robbed banks, he was said to have replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”

Learn more including other security risks to avoid from Mashable.

8 Real World Incidents Related to AI

Workers ignoring back-to-work edicts; it’s different than meets the eye

From the Department of You Knew It, Now the Data is Backing It Up, bosses and white- collar workers don’t see eye-to-eye on work from home.

You’ve probably heard that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase’s replied to a petition calling for him to allow work from home with “I don’t care how many people sign that F*** petition”; or that Elon Musk called for workers at Tesla to work AT LEAST 40 hours weekly in the office or risk being fired.

Now we’re hearing that workers are simply ignoring the orders. WFH surged when the pandemic started; and many people like the lifestyle. According to PNAS, work from home rates have stabilized at about 1 day per week from 2023 through 2025.

Recent data, though, shows that the percent of job openings with remote or hybrid work arrangements are down – from 10% in 2022 to 7.8%. (That’s effectively a 20% decrease.)

There are many reasons the bosses want to eliminate remote working, including the fact that remote and hybrid employees are more likely to leave to start their own businesses. Additionally, novice employees take longer to learn their jobs when working remotely.

I have managed remote and hybrid employees and contractors for 3 decades – and the most compelling reason I see to try to get everybody into the office is that it’s much harder to manage remote employees.

While there are various good reasons to have somebody remote, they are less likely to be current on important info that is typically conveyed informally, it is harder for most people to manage their time in a non-structure workplace, and the devil can get the best of even the most focused employees.

Although not a large enough data sample to be generalizable, over 3 decades, my remote workers washed out because they couldn’t perform to standards at a rate of over 2x those that worked in the office with others.

The skills to manage remote employees are different in many ways from those needed to manage employees within the same building; and the skills to work remotely are often different too – and frankly many companies and employees still have not reflected the differences in the way they train, communicate, or act.

👉 Read more on Inc.com

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