5 Companies That Had A Rough Week

The Week Ending Sept. 8

Topping this week's roundup of companies that had a rough week is Apple, which is reportedly facing delays for its much-anticipated iPhone 8 release. Also making the list this week is Lenovo, which paid a $3.5 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission; Equifax, which revealed a massive data breach; Amazon Web Services, which faced a leak of sensitive data; and Arcserve, whose CEO departed for an undisclosed opportunity elsewhere.

Not everyone in the IT industry was having a rough go of it this week. For a rundown of companies that made smart decisions, executed savvy strategic moves – or just had good luck – check out this week's 5 Companies That Came To Win roundup.

Apple Reportedly May Face Delays On The iPhone 8

With Apple expected to announce a potentially game-changing iPhone model redesign on Tuesday, a report from the Wall Street Journal said the device may face delays in getting to customers. The report cited a series of setbacks that occurred during Apple's development of the device, which is unofficially being referred to as the iPhone 8. The issues surrounded the adoption of a new type of display for the iPhone 8, using OLED technology, and a related difficulty with integrating Touch ID fingerprint recognition. Apple ultimately gave up on Touch ID and is instead planning to use facial recognition for authentication on the new iPhone, according to the report. While the report didn't say specifically how long buyers may have to wait to get the iPhone 8, the delays reportedly set back the phone's production timeline by roughly a month. Apple did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Lenovo Pays $3.5M Fine For Installing Adware On Laptops

Lenovo has reached a settlement over accusations that it installed software on some U.S. laptops that bypassed security to deliver advertising. Hong Kong-based Lenovo had faced the accusations from the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney generals of 32 states, and will pay $3.5 million in connection with the settlement. The so-called "Superfish" case -- named for the company that developed the adware -- stemmed from 2014 and involved Lenovo creating "serious security vulnerabilities" so that it could "access consumers' sensitive information without adequate notice or consent," according to the FTC. In a statement on the settlement, Lenovo said that though it "disagrees with allegations contained in these complaints," it halted the use of Superfish's software in early 2015. "To date, we are not aware of any actual instances of a third party exploiting the vulnerabilities to gain access to a user’s communications," Lenovo said.

Credit Services Company Equifax Reports Massive Data Breach

Equifax Thursday revealed a data breach affecting 143 million customers of its credit and information services. The credit reporting agency said the breach included information on names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, addresses, and some driver's license numbers. It also included more than 200,000 credit card numbers and nearly 200,000 other documents with personal identifying information. Equifax said the breach did not appear to impact its core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases. The company said it "acted immediately to stop the intrusion" after discovering the breach on July 29. Equifax also said it has engaged a "leading, independent cybersecurity firm" – which wasn't named – and is already working with law enforcement. A preliminary investigation found the breach was due to a vulnerability in a U.S. website application, which allowed hackers access to certain files, according to the company.

Military Vet Data Exposed In The Latest Data Leak Involving Unsecured AWS Storage Buckets

A newly revealed data leak involving Amazon Web Services storage has exposed personal information about veterans and the sensitive work they did for the U.S. military. Security firm UpGuard says it found thousands of documents from veterans applying for jobs at security firm TigerSwan sitting in an AWS S3 bucket. The information could have been accessed by anyone who stumbled upon the company's URL, UpGuard reported. The veterans who were exposed had submitted information about their past military duties, some including sensitive details of their overseas deployments. They also submitted addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and driver's licenses.

Arcserve CEO Leaves For 'Another Growth Opportunity'

This week, Mike Crest (pictured) departed as CEO of data backup and recovery firm Arcserve to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Crest had been CEO since Arcserve was spun out of CA Technologies in 2014. Company chairman Dave Hansen will take over as interim CEO, and Arcserve said it's looking for a permanent replacement. In a prepared statement, Hansen said that Crest "was a tremendous asset in laying the foundation for our robust future, and we understand his decision to pursue another growth opportunity." Neither Crest nor any other Arcserve spokespeople were available to provide more specifics. Before joining Arcserve, Crest spent 14 years in executive positions at CA.