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Craigslist founder Craig Newmark makes $100 million cybersecurity pledge
Craig Newmark, the founder of online classified-ads site Craigslist, thinks the U.S. has a cybersecurity problem.
The entrepreneur turned philanthropist has pledged to donate $100 million to help safeguard the country from potential future cyberattacks, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Newmark will allocate $50 million to protect infrastructure, like power grids, from cyberattacks, including from foreign nations. The other half of his donation will be put toward educating the general public about how to safeguard their personal information, according to the report.
Newmark, 71, retired from the company he founded in 2018.
“The country is under attack,” Newmark told the Wall Street Journal. He said that cybersecurity experts who are working to protect the country from attack “need people to champion them.”
Today, many households make use of connected appliances or smart devices that can make them vulnerable to being hacked by criminals. At the corporate level, cyberattacks have become increasingly common.
“In the current cyberwar, the fight is on our own shores, and we all need to play an active role for the protection of our country and ourselves,” Newmark writes on his website.
In June, a hacking group took down CDK Global’s software platform, crippling auto dealerships across the U.S. CDK said that hackers demanded a ransom in order to restore its systems. In February, hackers infiltrated payments manager Change Healthcare, paralyzing segments of the U.S. Health care system. They are but two examples of the tremendous repercussions a cyberattack can have on an industry.
As part of his latest commitment, Newmark, who has pledged to give away nearly all of his wealth to charity, is making donations to a project out of the University of Chicago’s public policy school that trains cybersecurity volunteers to strengthen local infrastructure. Child internet-safety group Common Sense Media, is another beneficiary, according to the WSJ report.
The large majority of the $100 million pledge has not yet been allocated, and organizations can apply for donations through Newmark’s philanthropic organization, Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
On the foundation’s website, Newmark says he likes to donate to organizations that he believes in and lets them spend the money as they see fit. “Okay, what I do is find people who are really good at their jobs, and who can tolerate my sense of humor. I provide them with resources, and then get outta their way,” he states.
In addition to cybersecurity, other causes Newmark champions include support for military families and veterans, safeguarding trustworthy journalism and pigeon rescue.
CBS News
United said Taylor Swift concerts drove 25% uptick in demand
United Airlines doesn’t have any bad blood with Taylor Swift, quite the contrary, as the pop star is driving up demand for its flights.
At a travel industry conference Wednesday, United said it has seen a 25% uptick in demand for flights on weekends during which Swift has held concerts abroad. Swift is having a similar effect on domestic travel too, Andrew Nocella, the airline’s EVP and chief commercial officer, added.
Swift is an economic force of her own, driving up spending and boosting the local economies wherever she performs. Market research firm QuestionPro estimated that all told, her Eras Tour could help add $5 billion to the global economy.
While United hasn’t added flights expressly for Swift’s concerts, at least one other airline has.
Budget carrier Southwest this summer said it was adding flights to accommodate strong demand for travel to Swift’s performances in Miami and New Orleans in October.
“Following strong demand from last year’s U.S. tour, the airline is adding more than 10 flights to its schedule to help Swifties get to and from her concerts,” the airline said in a statement to CBS News.
— CBS News’ Kathryn Krupnik contributed to this report
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Scarlett Johansson on what drew her to the role of Elita-1 in “Transformers One”
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Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder on writing songs while surfing
Pearl Jam is one of the world’s biggest, well-respected rock groups. Now, in a rare extensive interview with correspondent Anthony Mason, Eddie Vedder and bass player Jeff Ament open up about the band’s founding, being together for nearly 35 years, their latest album, and more for “CBS Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast Sunday, September 22 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
Mason caught up with Pearl Jam while on tour for a revealing, personal look, in which Vedder and Ament talk about their childhoods, making music together, their dedicated fan base, being on tour, growing older, and their friendship.
Watch the excerpt in the video player above featuring Vedder talking about writing lyrics while surfing to an instrumental tape sent to him by a group of Seattle musicians, and bassist Jeff Ament’s reaction when he heard them:
EDDIE VEDDER: I was doing those midnight shifts security. So, when I went for a surf in the morning … I remember it being super foggy and one of those days where you think, ‘Maybe I won’t go out.’ … But I had the music in my head, the instrumental, and just kind of wrote it. And then, I was still wet when I hit ‘record.’
ANTHONY MASON: When you heard what he sent back, what did you think?
JEFF AMENT: I listened to it. And then I remember I left and went and got a coffee, and then I came back, and I listened to it again. … And then I remember calling Stone [Gossard] and I said, ‘You need to come over here right now.’
Ament, and guitarists Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready flew Vedder up to Seattle to audition.
VEDDER: It was just, I was like, you felt it. Like, you were like, ‘Oh, this is what it is. Like, this is heaven.'”
You can stream Pearl Jam’s latest album, “Dark Matter,” by clicking on the embed below (Free Spotify registration required to hear the tracks in full):
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