Citrix completes $1.8B deal with Massachusetts company

Citrix completes $1.8B deal with Massachusetts company

Citrix completed Wednesday a major transaction with Massachusetts software company LogMeIn, finalizing the spin-off of a signature software service created by the Fort Lauderdale company.

The plan to divert GoTo, a line of remote-access software, was floated by Citrix (Nasdaq: CTXS) more than one year ago. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings indicated doing so would be costly.

The merger of the Citrix GoTo line of remote-access software products was officially announced in July 2016 — a $1.8 billion transaction that occurred amid other restructuring efforts within the company. Now finalized, the deal will shift LogMeIn (Nasdaq: LOGM) common stock to Citrix shareholders for each share of Citrix common stock owned as of Jan. 20.

LogMeIn was founded in 2003 and is based in Boston. Like Citrix, it is a provider of software as a service — often referred to as SaaS — and cloud-based remote connectivity services for collaboration, IT management and customer engagement.

Citrix today appears to be on solid footing, riding the wave of positive annual earnings that show year-over-year growth following. The report, released Thursday, included restructuring costs of about $71 million but showed strong financials overall; Citrix increased earnings by 68 percent — from $3.28 billion in fiscal year 2015 to $3.42 billion the following year.

“Overall, 2016 was a great year. We made significant strides in advancing our vision, strategy and culture, while at the same time rapidly expanding profitability and growth in our core business,” said Citrix CEO Kirill Tatarinov.

Apple Kicks Off 2017 With Big Hints About the Future

Apple Kicks Off 2017 With Big Hints About the Future

Apple’s 2016 ended with a bang, but could even bigger events be afoot?

Apple (AAPL, +0.39%) this week announced earnings for the three months ending Dec. 31. And it was a big quarter with nearly $18 billion in profits. Meanwhile, hardware sales, including the Mac and iPhone, reached a new record high, helping Apple post $78.4 billion on the quarter.
By most yardsticks, Apple is doing well.

This is Fortune’s weekly roundup of the biggest Apple news this week. To see last week’s roundup, click here.
But the company has no plans to stand still. Apple CEO Tim Cook has high hopes of cementing Apple and its iPhone as the remote control for any smart home. He also hinted during the earnings call that a big acquisition in the media industry is possible.
Beyond that, Apple’s past week was marked by some other milestones, including reports that it might start to produce iPhones in India starting this spring.
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Read on for all the important Apple news from the past week:

Apple had a record-breaking end to 2016. Apple’s cash hoard in its fiscal first quarter ending Dec. 31 grew to $246 billion, with the help of nearly $18 billion in profits. Apple’s iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch sales reached new quarterly records, and its Services business, which includes iTunes and Apple Music, among others, continues to soar.
During Apple’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook dropped some big hints that his company may be planning an acquisition of a major media company. Cook didn’t say which company, or whether he’d even make a deal, but it was enough to get some investors excited.
Cook also said that he uses a number of smart home products, including a connected coffee maker and connected lights, that can be controlled using his company’s mobile operating system and virtual personal assistant Siri. He said he wants to see Apple expand its presence in the smart home, where Amazon and Google are both making a push.
People got an updated peek at Apple’s new headquarters, called the Spaceship, in a new drone video this week. The video suggests Apple could be close to moving into its new campus within the next few months, as planned.

Apple may assemble some iPhones in India starting in April, an Indian government official told Bloomberg this week. The move, which Apple hasn’t confirmed, comes after months of discussions between Apple and India. Apple has hoped to dramatically expand its retail presence in India, but the government there has requested Apple invest in the country first.
Apple’s MacBook Pro with Touch Bar was banned from bar exams for would-be attorneys this week. Several state bar associations, including those in New York and Colorado, are concerned that the Touch Bar that sits above the MacBook Pro’s keyboard could be modified by test-takers to cheat on the exam.

Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York City has been closed for weeks for renovations. This week, Apple’s landlord, Boston Properties, said the company plans to expand the store, which sits under a glass cube along Fifth Avenue, to 77,000 square feet. The store was approximately 32,000 square feet before it was closed for renovations.

Apple was slapped with a class-action lawsuit this week over allegations that it intentionally turned off its FaceTime video-conferencing app in 2014. The lawsuit alleges Apple turned off the feature in iOS 6 in order to get users to upgrade to iOS 7. Apple hasn’t commented on the lawsuit, but previously said the problem was caused by a bug.

Cyber security news: Russian hacking takes aim at Europe

Cyber security news: Russian hacking takes aim at Europe

Russian hacks ‘aim to destabilise the West’ The UK’s defence secretary, Michael Fallon, has accused the Russian government of “weaponising misinformation” in an effort to destabilise the West.

Speaking at the University of St Andrews, Fallon laid the blame for the “post-truth age” squarely at the Kremlin’s door, saying it was a direct result the regime’s cyber FUD efforts.

He also alluded to recent attacks on Bulgaria, Ukraine and the Democratic Party’s servers, citing “the use of cyber weaponry to disrupt critical infrastructure and disable democratic machinery”.

“Russia is clearly testing Nato and the West. It is seeking to expand its sphere of influence, destabilise countries and weaken the alliance,” said Fallon.

“Nato must defend itself as effectively in the cyber sphere as it does in the air, on land and at sea, so our adversaries know there is a price to pay if they use cyber weapons,” he added, saying “it is in our interest and Europe’s to keep Nato strong and to deter and dissuade Russia from this course.”

Fallon also reiterated US president Donald Trump’s calls for all Nato members to honour the commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence.

What is cyber security?

Cyber security refers to any efforts to protect technology from hacking, malware and other forms of cyber attack. This can include anti-malware, firewalls, analytics, security updates and patching, and DDos prevention, as well as more basic countermeasures like using strong passwords and changing default credentials.

Cyber security in large businesses will likely be looked after by a dedicated person, such as a CISO, who may have an entire security team at their disposal. For medium-sized business, it will more normally be up to the CIO or CTO to look after cyber security.

However, it’s an important issue for businesses of all sizes – including small and micro businesses – which must all take reasonable measures to protect their own business operations and data, as well as those of customers and partners

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