In this week's roundup, we looked at the top news stories from the B2B tech & telecoms industry. The stories cover topics including malware, 5G, ransomware, start-ups, cybersecurity and smart cities.

Here are our highlights:

Sophisticated malware is being used to spy on journalists, politicians and human rights activists

The targets are on a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers believed to be of interest to clients of Israeli hackers for hire, NSO Group.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3ktTsux 

Marketers signal ‘strongest hiring intentions’ since 2016

Marketers are confident about employment prospects as the UK’s vaccination programme paves the way for the economy to open up again, following a year of budget cuts and redundancies.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3kzgeRM 

tuesday:

Ericsson’s lands largest contract ever with $8.3bn 5G deal with Verizon

The multi-year agreement will see Verizon use Ericsson’s 5G MIMO solutions for the C-band, low-band, and mmWave band to expand and improve coverage of Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband coverage.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3hSRNN6 

Telstra in talks to buy Digicel Pacific in Australian govt-backed bid

Telstra Corp Ltd is in talks to buy the Pacific operations of telecommunications firm Digicel Group in partnership with the Australian government, a move widely viewed as a political block to China's influence in the region.

Read the full story here: https://reut.rs/3rkoUgb 

wednesday:

Northern's ticket machines hit by ransomware cyber attack

UTEC launches a new initiative to help deep-tech founders commercialize their work

The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) is launching a new program to address a problem the venture capital fund says many deep-tech founders face.

Read the full story here: https://tcrn.ch/3rnJD2B 

thursday:

Intel and Airtel partner to accelerate 5G

Intel and Bharti Airtel (Airtel) are collaborating to develop 4G and 5G virtualised radio access network (vRAN) and open radio access network (RAN) technology.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3hXrBB2 

Safe Security raises $33 million led by BT

Safe Security has raised $33 million in funding, with the UK's BT Group leading the round. It takes the total amount raised by the Silicon Valley cyber security start-up to $50 million.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/2VaN7tq 

Friday:

Netflix reveals it's moving into gaming as subscriber growth slows

The streaming giant added 1.5 million paying customers in the second quarter compared with 10 million in the same period a year ago - and will begin its move into games with titles linked to popular shows.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3wURJ3L 

AT&T to Build US's First 5G Smart City in Virginia with Real Estate Firm

AT&T and JBG SMITH, a leading owner and developer of high-quality, mixed-use properties in the Washington, DC market, have entered into a letter of intent to deliver the first 5G Smart City at scale in National Landing. 

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/3BzBywz