5 Companies That Had A Rough Week

The Week Ending Nov. 18

Topping this week's roundup of companies that had a rough week is Cisco Systems, which said it expects a revenue decline of between 2 percent and 4 percent in its current quarter due to a slowdown in spending by service providers.

Also making the list this week were Quest Software solution providers who may find themselves competing with Dell EMC's direct sales reps; Microsoft, which faces an antitrust investigation in Russia following a complaint from Kaspersky; anyone with an account at AdultFriendFinder, which was the victim of a massive security breach; and PacketSled's CEO, who was forced to resign this week after a Facebook post about the election went terribly wrong.

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.

Cisco Forecasts Q2 Revenue Decline, Blames Slowdown In Service Provider Spending

Cisco's stock plunged 5 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday after the networking technology company projected a revenue decline of between 2 percent and 4 percent in its current (fiscal 2017) second quarter.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins blamed the lowered forecast to a slowdown in spending by service providers – largely outside the U.S. – due, in turn, to uncertainty created by the U.S. election results and global political developments.

Partners Predict Sales Conflict As Dell EMC Removes Quest Software From Its Channel Program

Dell EMC solution providers got an unwelcome surprise this week when they learned that Dell EMC's relationship with Quest, the software business Dell sold off before acquiring EMC, doesn't include the channel. That could put solution providers in a position of competing with Dell EMC's direct sales teams for Quest business.

Where solution providers were previously able to sell Quest software as part of their Dell line cards, they now have to join Quest's channel program if they want to continue selling those products. And because Dell EMC didn't set up a two-tier reselling relationship with Quest, partners are worried they'll have to compete with Dell EMC sales reps in the field for Quest business within Dell EMC accounts.

Microsoft Under Fire, Kaspersky Alleges Antitrust Activity

Kaspersky Lab is alleging that Microsoft is trying to edge out competitors with the latest Windows 10 update in ways that violate antitrust laws.

Kaspersky said this week that it was given just one week to make its software compatible with the latest security updates to Windows 10. The company also said that when Windows users upgrade to the latest release, Kaspersky's antivirus software is disabled and Microsoft's competing Windows Defender system takes over.

Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service is investigating.

Security Breach At AdultFriendFinder, Related Sites, Expose 412 Million Accounts

It was a bad week for AdultFriendFinder.com, the online "sex and swinger community." It was an even worse week for the 339 million people whose accounts were exposed in a massive security breach.

The attack targeted Friend Finder Network, an adult dating and entertainment company, which owns AdultFriendFinder. Along with the 339 million exposed accounts from that site, the cyberattack also exposed 62 million accounts from Cams.com, 7 million from Penthouse.com and a few million more from other Friend Finder Network properties.

The compromised AdultFriendFinder data included 15 million deleted accounts that had not been purged from the company's databases.

PacketSled CEO Resigns Following Social Media 'Joke' To Assassinate President-Elect Trump

File this one under 'What were you thinking?'

Matt Harrigan (pictured), founder and CEO of San Diego cybersecurity startup PacketSled, resigned this week after his election night postings about assassinating President-elect Donald Trump came to light. Monday the company said Harrigan had been placed on leave and on Tuesday announced that he had resigned.

On election night Harrigan made several posts on his Facebook page, including one saying, "I'm going to kill the president. Elect," according to a Los Angeles Times story. And later, after a friend responded, Harrigan wrote that he was "getting a sniper rifle and perching myself where it counts. Find a bedroom in the White House that suits you. … I'll find you."

Harrigan said later on Twitter that his comments were "a flawed joke" and apologized.