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Following in the footsteps of Netflix and YouTube, Amazon has announced that it will also reduce streaming quality in Europe in order to lessen the strain being put on broadband networks. Apple tells The Verge it too is reducing streaming quality in Europe for its TV Plus platform.

“We support the need for careful management of telecom services to ensure they can handle the increased internet demand with so many people now at home full-time due to Covid-19,” a spokesperson told The Guardian. “Prime Video is working with local authorities and internet service providers where needed to help mitigate any network congestion.”

Amazon is currently reducing bitrate speeds in...

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• An immigrant rights group is calling on ICE to stop hunting down undocumented immigrants amid the coronavirus crisis.
• Mijente said the agency has waged a cruel campaign that poses risks to undocumented immigrants detained at facilities where they face new health risks.
• Mijente's call was supported by a group of Microsoft workers who also backed the group's campaign, calling on tech companies not to share their technologies with ICE.
• "They're putting people's lives in danger, and they should be stopped," Mijente organizer Jacinta Gonzalez told Business Insider. "And if Trump won't stop them, then the tech companies that are facilitating their work and facilitating their targeting of immigrant communities should do everything they can to make sure that ICE and have access to their tools."
• ICE, for its part, made temporary adjustments to operations starting Wednesday, saying it "will exercise discretion to delay enforcement actions until after the crisis or utilize alternatives to detention, as appropriate."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories

An activist group blasted US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for continuing to hunt down undocumented immigrants even as the nation reels from the spread of the coronavirus.

Mijente said Thursday that the federal agency is waging a cruel and dangerous campaign at a time when immigrant communities throughout the US are bracing themselves for a public health crisis.

"We think that the way that ICE is operating is reckless," Mijente senior campaign organizer Jacinta Gonzalez told Business Insider. 

Mijente cited a number of what it called "horrific operations" over the past week, including the arrest of a 56-year-old man in Los Angeles as he was buying food for his family and another man who was arrested in Pennsylvania as he was leaving a hospital emergency room.

Mijente also said a couple was arrested in Denver and taken to a facility where 10 people were under quarantine.

"They're putting people's lives in danger, and they should be stopped," Gonzalez said. "And if Trump won't stop them, then the tech companies that are facilitating their work and facilitating their targeting of immigrant communities should do everything they can to make sure that ICE doesn't have access to their tools."

Mijente has been campaigning to convince major tech companies, including Microsoft, Amazon and Palantir, not to share their technologies with ICE, saying these tools have been used to hunt down undocumented immigrants. Amazon, Palantir and Microsoft could not immediately be reached for comment.

Microsoft workers rally in support

But Mijente's call for an end to raids against undocumented immigrants got the support of a group of Microsoft workers.

"ICE's horrendous behavior may seem like it's out of our hands," a group called MSWorkers For Good said in a statement. "But they're using our company's technology — the software that we've built — to do so. Because of this, we have an opportunity and an obligation to speak out."

ICE said it has made temporary adjustments to operations starting Wednesday, saying it "will exercise discretion to delay enforcement actions until after the crisis or utilize alternatives to detention, as appropriate."

"Consistent with its sensitive locations policy, during the COVID-19 crisis, ICE will not carry out enforcement operations at or near health care facilities, such as hospitals, doctors' offices, accredited health clinics, and emergent or urgent care facilities, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances," ICE said in a statement. "Individuals should not avoid seeking medical care because they fear civil immigration enforcement."

But Gonzalez suggested the policy is vague and uses "the same language ICE  has used before justify their operations."

Undocumented immigrants who are detained could face serious health risks as the coronavirus continues to spread, she said.

"Most detention centers don't have soap and water," she said. "The conditions inside are horrendous. Folks do not have adequate medical assistance. Folks are in crowded rooms. So it's not only about social distancing. There has been such an erosion of conditions in detention centers under the Trump administration. And already these conditions were very bad."

Got a tip about Microsoft, Amazon, Palantir or another tech company? Contact this reporter via email at bpimentel@businessinsider.com, message him on Twitter @benpimentel or send him a secure message through Signal at (510) 731-8429. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

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• Slack added 7,000 new paid customers between February 1 and March 18, the company said in a new filing on Thursday.
• The workplace chat app has seen increased usage due to the coronavirus, which has caused more people to work from home. 
• Slack's recent surge in paid customers is a ~40% increase over each of its previous two quarters: It added approximately 5,000 paid customers in both the third and fourth quarter, or around 10,000 between August 1 and January 31.
• The news comes the same day that rival Microsoft Teams announced it added 12 million daily active users in the last week, bringing its total to 44 million.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.  

Slack added 7,000 new paid customers between February 1 and March 18 this year, the company said in a new filing on Thursday. That's more in less than two months than in either of its previous two quarters, as it sees a surge in usage due to the coronavirus, which is forcing more people to work from home. 

Slack's stock popped over 19 percent on Thursday on the announcement. 

The surge in paid customers is a ~40% increase over each of its previous two quarters: It added approximately 5,000 paid customers in both Q3 and Q4, or around 10,000 users between August 1 and January 31, the filing notes.

Workplace collaboration apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom have become increasingly important to allow remote workers to keep communicating effectively as the coronavirus forces more people to work from home. 

When Slack reported quarterly earnings last week it said it had seen a significant spike in new users due to the coronavirus, but that it was too soon to tell whether that new usage would translate to paying customers and increased revenue for the company. At the time, it said it had 110,000 paid users total. 

Slack's rival Microsoft Teams announced earlier Thursday that it added 12 million daily active users in the last week, bringing its total to 44 million, as it also sees a surge in usage due to coronavirus. 

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield has previously criticized Microsoft's accounting of Teams user growth, saying that users of older Microsoft products are being forced to adopt Teams, since it comes bundled with many business versions of the Office 365 productivity suite. In short: While many companies may have access to Teams, he argued, they may not necessarily be using it. Slack customers, by contrast, are highly-engaged with the app, he said. 

Microsoft pushed back on that criticism by explaining that it counts daily active users as the number of users who take "an intentional action" over a 24-hour period, which includes things like sending or replying to a message, joining a meeting, or opening a file in Teams. Passive actions, like auto booting the app, minimizing a window, closing the app, or Skype do not count towards its Teams user count. 

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pzaveri@businessinsider.com or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

SEE ALSO: Cloud software companies like Salesforce and Zoom have a more flexible business model that might help them withstand any possible recession, experts say

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• The spike in remote work and an impending recession have accelerated the industry's transition to cloud-based cybersecurity serving remote workers' needs.
• New data out Thursday shows investment in small security firms is down this year, and investors say startups will need new focus.
• A market analyst says little security companies are about to be gobbled up as companies that provide a suite of services get bigger.
• The startup Attila Security, FireEye, Crowdstrike, Zscaler, Cisco, and Palo Alto Networks will all benefit by changes, analysts say.
• Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince says the virus may be a seminal event in how companies work and protect their work: "I don't know if this has accelerated things one year or by five years, but things are different."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The boom in remote working and the impending recession are morphing the global workforce and its security needs before our eyes – and accelerating a corresponding reinvention of the cybersecurity industry itself, experts say.

Traditional, office-based network security is out, cloud-based remote tools are in. Startups providing an innovative solution are likely to be gobbled up by companies that can provide a broad solution to cash-strapped companies. An era of fruitful stability in cybersecurity is being replaced by a newly energized hustle to serve a workforce exploded by a pandemic.  

Just three weeks ago the historic RSA security conference presented traditional security products on its show floor in San Francisco, just like always. "If you walked around the floor of RSA, there were still lots of people selling boxes," says Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince. 

Less than a month later remote workers' needs are being met by Prince's firm, as well as tools like Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and Docs – and the cybersecurity industry is struggling to keep pace. 

The cybersecurity industry has boomed over the past decade with an explosion of small companies bringing innovation in the areas of mobile security, browser security, and artificial intelligence to fight vulnerabilities. But American businesses now face an urgent need for cloud-based tools to protect a suddenly remote workforce. And cybersecurity budgets will be strapped. So many of those little companies won't survive, and big cloud-based companies will gather up innovation to provide businesses with a big-box solution they can afford.

"A lot of the security industry really is stuck in a previous world, and the events of the last few weeks show the solutions people need are very different," Prince says.  

Data released Thursday by DataTribe, a Washington, D.C.-area startup incubator focusing on cybersecurity, shows investment in cybersecurity startups is down, with 43 deals in the first two months of this year, compared to 103 and 91 in 2018 and 2019, respectively, for early stage investments. 

"Our belief is that [cybersecurity] will be less affected than other sectors in tech," says John Funge, chief product officer at DataTribe. "But early stage companies will have to work really hard to justify funding, keep accurate timelines, and manage their cash." 

Funge looks for any startups that address data security, cloud security, and remote-working needs, such as DataTribe's investment into Attila Security, which provides remote security to executives.

Among large companies, Funge sees promise for companies that have a broad suite of services and products, such as FireEye, and endpoint firms that protect each employee's devices, such as CrowdStrike. 

Another analyst also says the legion of little security firms will shrink in a hurry.

"You can expect to see a wave of acquisitions," says Jonathan Penn, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity market analyst. "Little companies are facing a cash crunch, and VCs will be picking winners and losers in their portfolio."

Companies that serve remote workforces, software-as-a-service (SaaS, or cloud) applications, data security, network security, and training and awareness will all do well, Penn says. 

"If I'm a [chief information security officer], my workforce is now working from home and I have to re-evaluate my needs." 

Analysts say that quantum shift benefits companies like Zscaler, the Silicon Valley cloud-based security company; Cisco, the giant tech company that provides cloud-computing and user-authentication services; and Palo Alto Networks, a maker of cloud-based firewalls and other security products. 

Cloudflare's Prince says the virus may be a seminal event in how companies work and protect their work.  "I don't know if this has accelerated things one year or by five years, but things are different."

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NOW WATCH: Most maps of Louisiana aren't entirely right. Here's what the state really looks like.

As more and more workplaces transition to being remote, we’re learning how to navigate all the aspects of working digitally. Meetings are moving entirely online, which means that we’re attending a lot of video conference calls. If you don’t have a lot of experience with video conferencing, it may take some getting used to — especially when your whole team’s now working remotely. While it’s helpful to treat it like an in-person meeting, there are also a few more things you have to consider when you’re on a video call. Here’s a guide to the do’s and don’ts of video conferencing.

Set up your space

If you can, find a private place to take the call. If not, use headphones to minimize background noise. If you have roommates, partners, or...

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A leaked video has provided a rare insight into Microsoft’s thoughts on Zoom Video Communications. Zoom has quickly turned into a popular app for video conferencing, and some analysts estimate it may have nearly 13 million monthly active users. Many Zoom users combine the video calling service with Google’s G Suite, Slack, and other productivity apps that rival Microsoft’s Office dominance.

“Zoom is seen as an emerging threat to Microsoft,” is the message in what appears to be a training video for Microsoft’s vast partner network that sells the company’s products and services. The video even includes an audio watermark for premiumbeat.com, a Shutterstock service for royalty-free music. Posted on Twitter by WalkingCat, the video reveals...

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Oracle recently announced Java 14. JDK 14 includes sixteen new features, most targeted at improving developer productivity. Additionally, the release includes three features in preview: Pattern Matching for instance of (JEP 305), Records (JEP 359), and Text Blocks (JEP 368).

• As the coronavirus outbreak continues, more people may find themselves looking for entertainment or education while staying inside.
• Podcasts are a great option for those hoping for escapism, or who just want to use their time inside to learn something new.
• In the last decade, podcasts became a part of mainstream media, thanks to true crime shows like "Serial" and interview shows like "WTF with Marc Maron."
• We've compiled 20 podcasts that will teach you a little bit about everything, from politics to history to Hollywood.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you're social distancing or quarantining during the coronavirus outbreak, a good podcast can provide some (virtual) companionship — and perhaps even a chance to learn something new. Luckily, there's an abundance of pods for you to choose from. In the last decade or so, podcasts have gone from a niche interest to mainstream media.

True-crime podcasts like "Serial," which premiered in 2014, became national sensations. Then there was comedian-turned-podcaster Marc Maron, whose "WTF" became popular enough for President Barack Obama to be a guest in June 2015.

According to the Pew Research Center, 32% of Americans age 12 or older have listened to at least one podcast episode per month as of 2019, up from 15% in 2014. That trend doesn't show any signs of slowing down, with the field slated to cross the $1 billion annual revenue mark in 2021. 

There are tons of great podcasts on nearly any subject you can think of, but we've collected some of our favorites that are perfect for those of us always eager to learn something new, whether it's about the economy, history, or even the inner workings of Hollywood.

Here's some prime listening material for your days of social distancing.

Ivan De Luce contributed to a previous version of this post.

SEE ALSO: All the books you need to read to build wealth, get ahead in work, and live life to its fullest

'This American Life' provides a deep look into American society.

"This American Life" has become a byword for oral storytelling.

Beyond being a place for moving and hilarious stories, "This American Life" does staggering levels of reporting; few outlets made the financial crisis as human and understandable as Ira Glass and the gang.

It lives up to the hype.

Start listening here.

'Fresh Air' will give you an intimate look at your favorite writers, celebrities, and journalists.

NPR's "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross has been on the air for more than four decades, and her interviewing skills have earned her accolades like the Peabody award, the Columbia Journalism Award, and a spot in the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Gross may have a smooth, relaxed speaking style, but the way she digs deep into her interview subjects will keep you engaged throughout the conversation, whether it's about Jake Gyllenhaal's acting process or how filmmaker Lulu Wang made a movie inspired by her terminally ill grandmother or historian David Blight on his new biography of Frederick Douglass.

Start listening here.

'Freakonomics Radio' will show you surprising connections.

Journalist Stephen J. Dubner and economist Steven D. Levitt became sensations when their book "Freakonomics" was published in 2005.

In 2010, Dubner launched a podcast with the same mission as their bestselling books: ferreting out connections between seemingly unrelated things.

Unsurprisingly, the shows tend toward the intellectually provocative, with the biggest hits having titles like "Is College Really Worth It?" and "How Much Does the President of the US Really Matter?"

Start listening here.

'Marketplace' will keep you up to date with the world's top business news.

Every weeknight host Kai Ryssdal guides you through the day's top business news on the podcast version of American Public Radio's "Marketplace."

Besides a rundown of top stories, you'll also be able to hear exclusive interviews with the likes of Twitter cofounder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey and even former President Obama.

You may also hear Business Insider senior finance editor and "Marketplace" contributor Linette Lopez weigh in with some commentary.

Start listening here.

'Planet Money' will simplify some of the most complex and important economic issues in the world today.

NPR's "Planet Money" team describes its show as: "Imagine you could call up a friend and say, 'Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy.' Now imagine that's actually a fun evening. That's what we're going for at Planet Money."

Twice a week, you'll get an entertaining, well-reported look at issues like the Tijuana tech boom that will leave you satisfied with a foundational understanding of the subject, all in just 15 minutes.

Start listening here.

'Masters in Business' will give you insight into the brightest minds on Wall Street.

Investor and author Barry Ritholtz sits down each week with a power player from the business world for his podcast produced by Bloomberg.

With his unmistakable Long Island accent, Ritholtz discusses his subjects' careers and research, whether it's "Bond King" Jeffrey Gundlach, renowned economist Richard Thaler, or even celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Start listening here.

'WTF' offers unexpected revelations about success.

Few things can be more instructive than a life story, and comedian-turned-broadcaster Marc Maron draws the ups and downs of life out of people with a certain raucous grace.

Some especially intellectual episodes include his interviews with comedian Wanda Sykes, actor Vince Vaughn, or the late Robin Williams.

Start listening here.

'Radiolab' will help you appreciate how mysterious science is.

WNYC's "Radiolab" — the brainchild of top reporters Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich — investigates everyday oddities with a blend of science, philosophy, and music.

The duo is able to make high-level science both remarkably accessible, practical, and fun.

You may want to start with the "Colors" episode, where you can learn about a sea creature with so many colors the human eye can't even process all of them.

Start listening here.

'Invisibilia' will lead you on a journey to the frontier of psychology.

Radiolab made a spin-off, "Invisibilia," whose name is Latin for all things invisible.

It's a podcast about the unseen, unconscious forces that guide our lives: biases, dreams, and quirks of perception.

The first episode tells the story of a boy who couldn't communicate for 12 years. His only company was his thoughts — until, one day, it wasn't. 

Start listening here.

'The Tim Ferriss Show' will help you understand the mechanics of success.

Tim Ferriss puts the life into life hacking. His "4-Hour Workweek," "4-Hour Body," and "4-Hour Chef" books have all become bestsellers for the way he combines insight with irreverence.

His podcast carries that rascally inquisitiveness into long-form interviews, with subjects ranging from billionaire investor Peter Thiel to Pixar cofounder Ed Catmull and neuroscientist Sam Harris.

Start listening here.

'Startalk Radio' will open your mind to the cosmos.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is the public face of astronomy, and his voice is just as magnetizing.

Dig into his podcast to learn about space tourism, comets, and the basics of astrophysics, to name a few.

Start listening here.

'The New Yorker: Politics and More' will give you some smart takes on the biggest stories in politics.

Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of "The New Yorker," leads a weekly discussion with some of her writers about the week's top stories, from the 2020 presidential race to US border policy.

Each episode only lasts about 16 minutes, but you'll gain some valuable insight and hear smart debate without the inflammatory rhetoric of cable news.

Start listening here.

'StartUp' chronicles the glorious challenge of founding a company.

NPR veteran Alex Blumberg wanted to make a podcast startup. So he made a podcast about it. (Which then turned into a Zach Braff sitcom.)

Since Season 1, Blumberg's company, Gimlet Media, has started two other popular shows (including "Reply All," also on this list) and continues to grow.

Season 2 follows the dating site Dating Ring through all of its trials and tribulations as a young company, setting the template for each new season of "Start Up" being about a new business.

Start listening here.

'Reply All' immerses you in the weird world of the internet.

You probably use the internet every day, but Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt will give you more insight into its effects on our culture than you were ever aware of.

They've covered great stories like the ways ISIS uses social media and how an Orthodox Jew ultimately left his family behind because of the world he discovered online.

And Goldman and Vogt's goofy rapport will keep you hooked from episode to episode.

Start listening here.

'99% Invisible' will give you the lowdown on design.

"99% Invisible" is probably the coolest design podcast on earth.

Roman Mars' show uses design as a lens to look at the thought behind the many structures in our lives, from prehistoric hand axes to airport layouts. After listening you'll have an appreciation for the minds and tastes that these objects sprang from.

Not only that, but the podcasts are snack-sized, clocking in at about 15 minutes.

Start listening here.

'Hardcore History' teaches you the most fascinating stories in history that you never learned in school.

Dan Carlin always mentions that he's not a historian. Think of him more as an aggregator of history, weaving together various accounts into one engaging story.

If you listen, you'll probably find yourself amazed that you spent over four hours listening to a guy talk about the Mongol khans or World War I, but Carlin has a gift for illuminating some of the most interesting yet least talked about moments in history.

Start listening here.

'Behind the Bastards' investigates the absolute worst people in history.

Much like "Hardcore History," "Behind the Bastards" peers deeper into oft-overlooked history.

Most of us know the basics of why Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin were some of the worst human beings ever, but what about Leopold II, the Belgian king who led a genocide in the Congo for rubber?

Start listening here.

'ArtHoles' is art history in all its paint-splattered glory, with the listener learning along with the host.

If you ever thought art history was boring, you're not the only one.

The host of "ArtHoles," former comedian Michael Anthony, thought so, until he began researching the lives of geniuses like Picasso, Pollock, and Caravaggio. As it turns out, their lives were more interesting than he ever thought possible.

Start listening here.

Similarly, 'Unspooled' follows a comedian's journey into the greatest movies ever made.

Comedian Paul Scheer and film critic Amy Nicholson team up for this greatest-hits-of-film analysis.

Scheer, who was poorly versed in film history when the podcast began, stands (or sits) in for the listener, learning as he goes, from Nicholson's film knowledge and from interviews with the experts. Together, they work their way through the American Film Institute's top 100, including Citizen Kane, Taxi Driver, and Vertigo.

Start listening here.

And finally, 'Philosophize This!' thinks a lot about thinkers.

Join Stephen West as he investigates the greatest personalities and ideas in philosophy, school by school.

This podcast sheds light on classic philosophical ideas and principles, featuring interviews with today's brightest philosophers. Ever wondered what Socrates was all about? "Philosophize this!" makes complex ideas digestible and entertaining.

Start listening here.

Apply that logic for CIOs and IT leaders, except the stumbling block revolves around revenue, or a lack thereof. 

The communication platform also reached 44 million daily active users, 12 million more since March 11. 

• Microsoft has a sophisticated enterprise sales force. Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud are still building out their own.
• That makes Microsoft's enterprise sales force its secret weapon in the cloud wars, and its best hope of catching up to the leading AWS.
• The coronavirus crisis, however, means more salespeople are staying home.
• While that's true for many companies, it may particularly hurt Microsoft because it has more riding on its enterprise sales force to catch up to Amazon Web Services and fend off Google Cloud, D. A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte said.
• A Microsoft employee tells Business Insider that the company has so far been able to keep its sales efforts running, even with a remote workforce. Microsoft declined to comment.
• Click here to read more BI Prime stories.

Microsoft's enterprise sales force is its secret weapon in the cloud market as it tries to catch up to Amazon Web Services, but the coronavirus crisis will likely hurt the company's ability to sell, D. A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte said.

"One reason Microsoft has been able to gain share is because they have a strong enterprise salesforce," Forte told Business Insider. "Conversely, with sales people not traveling, this may hurt Microsoft."

Microsoft declined to comment.

Microsoft has extended work-from-home orders for most Seattle- and San Francisco Bay-area employees through at least April 7, but an email reviewed by Business Insider reveals it was asking some field salespeople as recently as March 5 not to cancel customer appointments. 

Microsoft's ability to gain cloud market share largely hinges on its enterprise sales force — especially given that AWS and Google Cloud are still working to build their own, Forte said. While salespeople at most companies will have their work disrupted by the increasing difficulty of travel, Forte said Microsoft is particularly vulnerable because those same salespeople are its best hope for overtaking AWS and fending off the growing competitive threat of Google Cloud.

A Microsoft employee recently told Business Insider the company has so far been able to continue conducting sales remotely. The employee asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak on the matter, but the employee's identity is known to Business Insider.

Uncertainty related to the coronavirus crisis is likely to cause many companies to cut spending and delay deals across the tech industry. Microsoft is generally expected to see a boost of customers, especially in its collaboration software and cloud businesses.

Why Microsoft enterprise sales force is a big deal for the cloud

While market-leading AWS had a big head start in the cloud market, Microsoft had been building its enterprise sales force since long before it entered the space.

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood recently called the company's enterprise sales force a "real advantage" in the cloud-computing business, which she said is "an incredibly competitive market with very large well-funded competitors."

"I'm incredibly proud of their execution, our global presence, our focus on the locations of our data centers, how far we are on that journey in terms of having a global presence that matters to global companies and to local companies," Hood said, speaking of the company's enterprise sales force. "I would add, I think we've done a nice job of making it easier for companies to make a choice and commitment to us."

AWS started out by primarily selling to startups. Microsoft has a long history of selling to large enterprise companies and in 2017 reorganized its sales force to prioritize its cloud business.

AWS and Google Cloud are trying to catch up

AWS and Google Cloud, meanwhile, are still building out their enterprise salesforces.

Google Cloud is also spending big to expand its sales force as CEO Thomas Kurian renews the company's push to catch up with Amazon and Microsoft. Amazon's chief financial officer, Brian Olsavsky, said last year that hiring in AWS sales and marketing is a major priority for the company in 2020.

"We are investing a lot more this year in sales-force and marketing personnel mainly to handle a wider group of customers, an increasingly wide group of products — we continue to add thousands of products and features a year, and we continue to expand geographically," Olsavsky said of AWS.

The Information recently reported AWS plans to double the size of its sales team to close large corporate deals. 

Hood also said she believed Microsoft has an advantage with customers seeking a "hybrid cloud" — a mix of public-cloud and on-site computing resources. She called the hybrid cloud a "funnel of opportunity" for Microsoft's Azure cloud business.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com, message her on Twitter @ashannstew, or send her a secure message through Signal at 425-344-8242.

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NOW WATCH: A podiatrist explains heel spurs, the medical condition Trump said earned him a medical deferment from Vietnam

Popcorn Time disappeared a few years ago, forcing people who used the extremely easy “Netflix, but for piracy” app to search elsewhere for movies and TV shows. Today, as more people are forced to self-quarantine in an effort to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Popcorn Time has returned, Motherboard reports.

“Love in the Time of Corona Version 0.4 is out,” a tweet from the Popcorn Time Twitter account reads.

Popcorn Time was scrutinized when it was released in 2014. The streaming app became extremely popular for people who wanted to access films that were still in theaters — or those not on streaming services — but with a far more polished interface than often-sketchy piracy websites that required users to hunt down, verify, and...

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The FBI continues to avoid playing its hand honestly in the "going dark" debate. It continues to do things like call strong encryption "warrant-proof" encryption, damning it by associating its very existence with unlawfulness. FBI Director Chris Wray continues to claim he's not asking for encryption backdoors while calling for encryption backdoors. And for nearly two years, the FBI has refused to update its erroneous count of uncracked devices in its possession.

The last time the FBI delivered a number, it claimed it had about 7,800 devices in its possession that it couldn't get into. After being questioned by Congress about its claims, the FBI went back to count devices and found its tracking method had resulted in a severe miscount. No real number has been delivered yet, but the early estimate was that the actual number was slightly over 1,000 devices. Not quite the apocalypse the FBI needed us (and our Congressional reps) to believe it was.

As usual, when the government fails, private citizens step in to do the work that government agencies are spending our tax dollars not doing. The DOJ and FBI have spent years hardly bothering to compile an accurate accounting of police use of deadly force, resulting in a small cottage industry of journalists, activists, and hobbyists doing the work for them.

The same thing can be said about the "going dark" narrative. The FBI loves the narrative but can't be bothered to provide any hard data backing its assertions that encryption is destroying the criminal justice system. So, it's left up to people like Joseph Cox and his team members at Motherboard to try to get a grip on how often device encryption is disrupting criminal investigations.

Using information gathered from more than 500 iPhone search warrants and other court records, Motherboard has compiled a database that gives readers a better idea of encryption's impact on law enforcement investigations -- a narrative stripped of all the competing narratives, if you will.

In conclusion, Going Dark is a land of contrasts:

[T]he records compiled by Motherboard show that the capability to unlock iPhones is a fluid issue, with an ebb and flow of law enforcement sometimes being able to access devices and others not. The data solidifies that some law enforcement officials do have trouble accessing data stored on iPhones.

What this doesn't answer is the question the FBI and DOJ want answered in their favor: should access to encrypted content and communications be guaranteed? Is it better for citizens to be less secure but possibly more "safe" by making encryption inherently flawed? Of course, the answer is "no," but those at the top of the law enforcement food chain are never going to stop arguing that their lofty ideals should trump the rights and protections of all the little people below them. Only a criminal would want encryption because innocent people have nothing to hide and all of that garbage.

But Motherboard is providing a valuable service -- one the government refuses to do itself: it's providing data about the law enforcement v. encryption battle which should better inform everyone on both sides of the issue. For all of its insistence that encryption is an evil that's not even necessary, the FBI has done next to nothing than provide a handful of anecdotes about its experience with encrypted devices. And for more than a half-decade, these anecdotes have been backed by extremely faulty numbers. Let's hope throwing a little more reality around will bring the agency back to earth -- and more in agreement with the millions of people who ensure it stays funded.

Apple is adding support for trackpads to iPads with its new iPadOS 13.4 software update, starting with its newly announced iPad Pro model and its accompanying “Magic Keyboard” accessory.

The update isn’t just limited to Apple’s newest hardware, though. Apple says that trackpads and mice will be available for any iPad running iPadsOS 13.4. Apple’s Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2, and even third-party mice or trackpads connected over Bluetooth or USB will support the feature, too.

While Apple added rudimentary mouse and trackpad support with the initial launch of iPadOS 13 last year, the implementation in iPadOS 13.4 is far deeper. Apple promises that the feature will offer customers “an all-new way to interact with their...

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When Slack first launched in 2013, the product was quickly embraced by developers, and the early product reflected that. To get at advanced tools, you used a slash (/) command, but the company recognizes that as it moves deeper into the enterprise, it needed to simplify the interface.

Today, the company introduced a newly designed interface aimed at easing the user experience, making Slack more of an accessible enterprise communications hub.

Jaime DeLanghe, director of product management at Slack, says that the messaging application has become a central place for people to communicate about work, which has grown even more important as many of us have begun working from home as a result of COVID-19.

But DeLanghe says usage was up even before the recent work from home trend began taking off. “People are connected to Slack, on average, about nine hours a day and they’re using Slack actively for almost 90 minutes,” she told TechCrunch.

To that end, she says her team has been working hard to update the interface.

“From my team’s perspective, we want to make sure that the experience is as simple to understand and get on-boarded as possible,” she said. That also means surfacing more advanced tooling, which has been hidden behind those slash commands in previous versions of the tool.

She said that the company has been trying to address the needs of the changing audience over the years by adding many new features, but admits that has resulted in some interface clutter. Today’s redesign is meant to address that.

New Slack interface. Screenshot: Slack

Among the new features, besides the overall cleaner look, many people will welcome the new ability to nest channels to organize them better in the Channel sidebar. As your channels proliferate, it becomes harder to navigate them all. Starting today, users can organize their channels into logical groupings with labels.

New nested channel labels in Slack. Screenshot: Slack

DeLanghe is careful to point out that this channel organization is personal, and cannot be done at an administrative level. “The channels don’t actually live inside of another channel. You’re creating a label for them, so that you can organize them in the sidebar for just yourself, not for everybody,” she explained.

Other new features include an improved navigation bar at the top of the window, a centralized search and help tool also located at the top of the window and a universal compose button in the Sidebar.

All of these new features are designed to help make Slack more accessible to users, as more employees start using it across an organization.

Businesses are adapting to shifting consumer expectations, an evolution that puts further pressure on the demand for engineers in leading spaces.

When Slack first launched in 2013, the product was quickly embraced by developers, and the early product reflected that. To get at advanced tools, you used a slash (/) command, but the company recognizes that as it moves deeper into the enterprise, it needed to simplify the interface.

Today, the company introduced a newly designed interface aimed at easing the user experience, making Slack more of an accessible enterprise communications hub.

Jaime DeLanghe, director of product management at Slack, says that the messaging application has become a central place for people to communicate about work, which has grown even more important as many of us have begun working from home as a result of COVID-19.

But DeLanghe says usage was up even before the recent work from home trend began taking off. “People are connected to Slack, on average, about nine hours a day and they’re using Slack actively for almost 90 minutes,” she told TechCrunch.

To that end, she says her team has been working hard to update the interface.

“From my team’s perspective, we want to make sure that the experience is as simple to understand and get on-boarded as possible,” she said. That also means surfacing more advanced tooling, which has been hidden behind those slash commands in previous versions of the tool.

She said that the company has been trying to address the needs of the changing audience over the years by adding many new features, but admits that has resulted in some interface clutter. Today’s redesign is meant to address that.

New Slack interface. Screenshot: Slack

Among the new features, besides the overall cleaner look, many people will welcome the new ability to nest channels to organize them better in the Channel sidebar. As your channels proliferate, it becomes harder to navigate them all. Starting today, users can organize their channels into logical groupings with labels.

New nested channel labels in Slack. Screenshot: Slack

DeLanghe is careful to point out that this channel organization is personal, and cannot be done at an administrative level. “The channels don’t actually live inside of another channel. You’re creating a label for them, so that you can organize them in the sidebar for just yourself, not for everybody,” she explained.

Other new features include an improved navigation bar at the top of the window, a centralized search and help tool also located at the top of the window and a universal compose button in the Sidebar.

All of these new features are designed to help make Slack more accessible to users, as more employees start using it across an organization.

• Facebook is offering the premium version of Workplace Advanced, its cloud software for businesses, for free to emergency services and government organizations for 12 months, to help those fighting the spread of coronavirus.
• Workplace Advanced essentially gives companies an internal version of Facebook for their own use.
• Facebook's free offering of Workplace is one of several steps it has taken aimed at helping combat the coronavirus pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.  

Facebook is offering the premium version of its workplace chat service, Workplace Advanced, for free to emergency services and government organizations for 12 months. This is part of the social media company's ongoing efforts to help fight the spread of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19.

Workplace Advanced is Facebook's product that competes with workplace chat apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams. The app basically gives customers their own internal version of Facebook, complete with video calling, groups, file sharing, instant messaging and even a News Feed. Some public organizations already using the product include the Government of Singapore, London Fire Brigade, and Ambulance Victoria. 

Interested agencies and government organizations have until June 30, 2020 to sign up, and after the one free year, teams have the option to move to a free or paid tier of the product. Like many productivity applications, Workplace has a free tier that anyone can use, and then paid versions with more features. 

Facebook's free offering of Workplace is one of several steps it has taken aimed at helping combat the coronavirus pandemic. The Washington Post reported this week that Facebook, Google and other major tech companies are talking with the US government about using people's location data from apps and smartphones to track the spread of COVID-19.

On Monday, Facebook said it and other major social media companies are working with government health agencies to fight misinformation on their platforms. Facebook has also banned ads for products claiming to cure the coronavirus.

The moves come amid a massive spike in harmful and misleading content surrouding the virus, which the World Health Organization has called an "infodemic," that is testing tech companies' ability to identify and remove misinformation. Already this week, Facebook showed some signs of strain a bug in its spam filters accidentally blocked users from posting some articles from legitimate news sites.

Additionally, other workplace chat apps are also taking measures to help those trying to mitigate the effects of coronavirus. Slack is offering teams helping the coronavirus response its paid product for free, and Microsoft Teams is offering users free six-month trials of the premium version of its Teams chat app. 

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As millions of people adapt to working from home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has decided to pause on adding new features to Chrome and Chrome OS in an effort to keep the essential software running as smoothly as possible. In a tweet today, the Chrome development team acknowledged that “adjusted work schedules” have led the company to hit pause on “upcoming Chrome and Chrome OS releases.”

“Our goal is to ensure they continue to be stable, secure, and reliable for anyone who depends on them.” Google will “prioritize updates related to security” for the time being, adding that some of those will be forthcoming in Chrome 80.

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Apple just announced a new iPad Pro and a new MacBook Air, but the iPad Pro’s optional new keyboard case with a trackpad makes picking between the two a lot harder. If you get the iPad Pro with the new case, called the Magic Keyboard, you’re choosing between two similarly sized portable computing devices with a keyboard and trackpad. (Though Apple insists the new iPad Pro is not a computer.)

The main thing to keep in mind is that one of those computing devices is still a tablet and one is still a laptop, and each is (right now) better-suited for some tasks than others. iPadOS, which came out last year, did bring a lot more computer-y features to Apple’s tablets, like a more powerful Files app, letting a single app have multiple windows,...

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• Even as markets are in turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic, analysts says that Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud are "recession proof" businesses. 
• Still, cloud providers could face increased cybersecurity challenges and a strain on their own infrastructure.
• Also, deal flow could slow since salespeople can't meet with potential customers face to face.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As the coronavirus outbreak strains supply chains, slows sales, and shutters companies around the world, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google's cloud services businesses will likely escape unscathed.  

Unlike consumer technology, the enterprise space is much more "recession proof," says Ray Wang, founder of Constellation Research. Because customers rely on the cloud to run their crucial applications and software, they're not likely to cancel their cloud services, even during an economic slowdown. 

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud could even see a boost in their business, says Andrew Bartels, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. 

"If anything, I think they may benefit if there is a slowdown as companies look at that as saving money by not having to upgrade and replace a server," Bartels told Business Insider. 

Still, there are three risks that these cloud providers need to watch out for, analysts say. During the coronavirus outbreak, cloud providers could face increased cybersecurity challenges, a strain on their own infrastructure, and sales slowdowns.

Cybersecurity attacks could be 'catastrophic'

Cloud companies could face more stress-tests than usual on their security infrastructure.

An increased demand for cloud services paired with more employees working from home could mean a broader attack surface for bad actors, analysts say. In other words, there may more points where an unauthorized user could hack into a system or steal data. 

A successful attack at this time would be "catastrophic," Bartels says. 

Another risk, analysts say, is that companies might not have the bandwidth to keep up with higher workloads. As more people in quarantine turn to streaming and other online services, AWS, Microsoft, and Google Cloud may be facing higher capacity than usual. 

"There's a lot of demand," Alex Zukin, managing director at RBC Capital Markets, told Business Insider. "Keeping up with that demand and making sure up-times are where they need to be," will be top-of-mind for the cloud service providers. 

The coronavirus also leads to an increased risk that employees won't be able to complete their normal duties, so cloud companies will need to have emergency preparedness plans in place to continue providing services to customers, says Sanjeev Mohan, senior analyst at Gartner. For example, a virus-related lockdown might stop employees from being able to go to work in a data center. 

"This is when this multi-zone, multi-region approach becomes even more important," Mohan told Business Insider, 

'We might see bigger cutbacks in the IT budget'

Similarly, as efforts to slow down the spread of the coronavirus require more employees to work remotely, sales teams may not be able to meet with existing customers or potential new customers face-to-face. This could hinder their abilities to complete new deals, says Dave Heger, senior analyst at Edward Jones. 

Purchasing decisions may face delays, too, as companies assess potentially leaner budgets and need to decide what technology to keep and drop, Heger says. Though he doesn't believe that there will be a longer term effect, he says it could impact AWS, Microsoft, and Google Cloud for a quarter or two.

"There's a lot of uncertainty in terms of how much economic impact this has," Heger told Business Insider. "Do we go into a full blown recession? We might see bigger cutbacks in the IT budget which might delay the industry. We still see it growing even through an economic downturn."

Heger says while cloud companies may risk slower sales during the current coronavirus crisis, there will still be demand in the long run. Smaller and younger startups are putting everything on the cloud, while larger companies are now making that shift, he says.

"Ultimately I don't think the cloud trajectory changes that much," Heger said. "It's a wave that's been growing. As you talk to IT professionals, they're looking to move more and more away from their internal data centers and into the cloud."

Microsoft declined comment. AWS and Google Cloud were not immediately available for comment. 

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at rmchan@businessinsider.com, Signal at 646.376.6106, Telegram at @rosaliechan, or Twitter DM at @rosaliechan17. (PR pitches by email only, please.) Other types of secure messaging available upon request. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

SEE ALSO: Here's how Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are making their big pushes to win over customers in niche markets like retail and finance

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• China's social credit system is being used to punish people who conceal coronavirus symptoms.
• Beijing authorities announced on Monday that people caught entering the city and failing to disclose any history of coronavirus will have their social credit scores penalized.
• Shanghai announced similar measures in February.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Increasingly it looks like Chinese citizens who are caught concealing coronavirus symptoms will be penalised using the country's social credit system.

According to Chinese tech news site Abacus, Beijing authorities announced that citizens entering the city from overseas who don't disclose symptoms or relevant medical history pertaining to coronavirus will have their social credit score docked.

The proclamation comes after a woman reportedly returned to Beijing from the US after developing a fever and cough, and subsequently tested positive for the virus. Beijing police said Monday that the woman is under investigation and could be charged for impairing the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

Shanghai brought in a similar policy in February for anyone concealing travel to coronavirus-impacted areas, or who'd had contact with confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients.

The way China's social credit system works at the moment is piecemeal, with local authorities enforcing their own rules. First announced in 2014, the social credit system is used to both reward and punish citizens. People with low credit scores can be placed on public blacklists, banned from booking train and train tickets, and barred from buying property.

SEE ALSO: In China you get a special warning before you call people who owe money, telling you to get them to pay up

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Google Translate’s new transcription feature, first demoed back in January, is out now for Android users as part of an update to the artificial intelligence-powered mobile app. The feature will allow you to record spoken words in one language and transform them into translated text on your phone, all in real time and without any delay for processing.

The feature will begin rolling out starting today and will be available to all users by the end of the week. The starting languages will be English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai. That means you’ll be able to listen to any one of those languages spoken aloud and translate it any one of the other available languages.

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• Facebook released a tool that lets people see how it tracks their "off-Facebook activity."
• The social network tracks the websites, apps, and even real-life stores that users visit in order to target highly-tailored ads to them.
• Mark Zuckerberg first promised that Facebook would release an off-Facebook activity tracker in the wake of the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook is watching you — but thanks to a newly-unveiled feature, it's now possible to keep tabs on how Facebook is tracking your activity.

Facebook rolled out its Off-Facebook Activity tracker earlier this year. The tool gives users an itemized list of the websites, apps, and real-life stores Facebook knows that they visited, and lets them turn off that tracking.

The feature fulfills a longstanding promise from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who vowed in 2018 to build a "clear history" tool for Facebook users. At that time, Facebook was in the midst of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, wherein several apps were accused of improperly accessing the personal information of 50 million people. After Zuckerberg promised the "clear history" tool, Facebook slightly changed course and renamed the tool "Off-Facebook Activity," stating that it wouldn't be possible for users to delete all their data from Facebook.

The tracker shows information that Facebook has gathered about your activity off the app in the past 180 days. Facebook learns that information from its advertising partnerships with third-party apps and websites, which voluntarily tell Facebook the identities of people who visit them. Many physical stores do the same thing.

Here's how to use the new Off-Facebook Activity tracker, and how to turn off some — or all — of that tracking.

SEE ALSO: This is how Facebook learns what you buy at physical stores in order to show you relevant ads — and how to opt out

Go to your Facebook settings, then select "Your Facebook Information."

Under "Your Facebook Information," select "Off-Facebook Activity."

Here is a direct link to the Off-Facebook Activity settings page.

You'll be greeted by some information explaining Facebook's methods for tracking your activity outside the network.

A banner will preview some of the websites and apps that Facebook knows you've used. Click on the app icons to see a full list of those sources.

Here is a direct link to the full activity list.

The full list will include third parties that shared your activity with Facebook in the past 180 days. Clicking "Clear History" will delete this information that Facebook has saved.

In my case, over 600 apps and websites had shared my browsing history with Facebook.

To turn this tracking off, click on "Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity" from the menu on the right side of the screen.

Toggling the switch next to "Future Off-Facebook Activity" will stop Facebook from saving your future activity to your account. However, it doesn't stop third parties from sending Facebook information about you.

Here is a direct link to the future activity settings page.

• Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said the company is now offering "free upgrades to paid plans" for teams working on coronavirus research, response, or mitigation. 
• "We've done hundreds of upgrades and consultations already and have an incredibly helpful, speedy and energized team standing by. We're grateful to be able to help where we can," Butterfield tweeted on Monday. 
• Last week during the company's earnings call with analysts, Slack said it has been seeing a signficant spike in new users for its free product, as more people work from home to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said the workplace chat company is now offering "free upgrades to paid plans" for teams working on coronavirus pandemic research, response, or mitigation.

That means any team working on a collaborative research, response, or mitigation to the coronavirus will get access to a paid plan for free. Slack has a free version of its product that anyone can download and start using, and then offers different levels of paid plans with more features. 

Interested teams can email a special address, covid@slack.com, to get set up. Butterfield said teams can also email to set up a consultation on how best to get started with remote collaboration.

"We've done hundreds of upgrades and consultations already and have an incredibly helpful, speedy and energized team standing by. We're grateful to be able to help where we can," he tweeted on Monday. 

Butterfield's comments come as more companies ask employees to work from home to try and mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and as a result cloud software tools like Slack and videoconferencing tool Zoom are seeing a lot more interest and usage. On Monday, Zoom was the top free app on Apple's App Store.

Last week during the company's earnings call with analysts, Slack said it has been seeing a signficant spike in new users for its free product amid the coronavirus outbreak. However, they said its too early to tell if that will impact business going forward. 

In general, analysts are expecting cloud software companies like Slack, Zoom and Dropbox to do well where many other industries might not, because people will be relying more on tools to stay connected and productive while working from home. 

Other companies are also offering resources to help those on the front lines of fighing the coronavirus. Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet — Google's parent company — is building a website designed to help people seeking testing in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Salesforce is donating $1.5 million to the City of San Francisco to support its response to the coronavirus crisis and through its Health Cloud product, it will provide free access to its technology for emergency response teams, call centers, and care management teams for health systems affected by coronavirus. 

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pzaveri@businessinsider.com or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

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Popular chat service Discord experienced widespread server outages on Monday, taking many communities offline. During the outage, Discord said it was “investigating an issue where a number of Discord servers are completely unavailable.” Many reported that the app was failing to load due to “server outages and increased API errors.” The service’s status page now says that all systems are operational.

Discord’s outage happened just over an hour after the company revealed it has “increased capacity worldwide by more than 20 percent to ensure that you’re able to text, video & voice chat smoothly.”

The outage was the second major chat app outage of the day, after Microsoft Teams suffered intermittent issues throughout the day. Microsoft,...

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• Rising sea levels threaten to submerge entire cities by 2100. 
• The cities most vulnerable to flooding in the US are low-lying coastal areas.
• If the worst projections of sea-level rise wind up being correct, cities like Miami and New Orleans could find themselves underwater. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

No city is immune to the effects of a warming world, but a few are more vulnerable than the rest.

As sea levels continue to rise, low-lying coastal cities can expect more devastating floods that ruin buildings, destroy infrastructure, and claim lives.

By conservative estimates, cities around the world could witness more than 6 feet of flooding by the year 2100. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that sea levels could rise by 10 to 12 feet if global emissions continue unabated. 

But these numbers are averages, which means some areas would see higher levels, while others would be less affected. Under the worst-case climate scenario, some cities might even disappear underwater. 

Though it's possible for cities to install new infrastructure and artificial barriers to protect themselves from climate change, time is running out. Here are the 8 cities in the US most likely to disappear underwater by 2100.

SEE ALSO: The next housing crash could be caused by weather, not Wall Street – here are the places that should be worried

New Orleans, Louisiana is already sinking.

New Orleans still hasn't fully recovered from the catastrophic damage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The city's location on a river delta makes it vulnerable to flooding and sea-level rise. Some areas lie 15 feet below sea level. Though wetlands have shielded New Orleans from storm surges in the past, that buffer has gradually been destroyed by human activity.  

Much of the city's land is already sinking. A 2016 NASA study found that certain parts of New Orleans are sinking at a rate of 2 inches per year, putting them on track to be underwater by 2100. 

In Miami, Florida, sea levels are rising faster than those in other areas of the world.

Environmental author Jeff Goodell has referred to Miami as "the poster child for a major city in big trouble."

The city's sea levels are already rising fast enough to damage homes and roads. A 2018 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists suggested that 12,000 homes in Miami Beach are in danger of chronic flooding within the next 30 years. That puts around $6.4 billion worth of property at risk — the most of any coastal community examined in that report.

A 2016 study published in the journal Nature Climate Change also identified a "super concentration" of at-risk residents in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. According to that research, these counties could account for one out of every four people affected by sea-level rise in the US between the years 2010 and 2100.

Even if seas only rise by the most conservative estimates, the city might have to raise its structures to stay above water.

"Miami as we know it today — there's virtually no scenario under which you can imagine it existing at the end of the century," Goodell previously told Business Insider.

Houston, Texas could be inundated by another storm like Hurricane Harvey.

Like New Orleans, areas of Houston are sinking at a rate of 2 inches per year. The main culprit is excessive groundwater pumping, which creates a change in pressure and volume that prompts the land to sink.

This makes the city more vulnerable to flooding like the kind experienced during Hurricane Harvey, which damaged nearly 135,000 homes and displaced around 30,000 people. 

Since Houston isn't a coastal city, it's unlikely to be wiped out by sea-level rise alone. But an increase in storms and hurricanes — combined with its low elevation and sinking terrain — could cause parts of the city to be underwater frequently in the future.

Most of Atlantic City, New Jersey was underwater during Hurricane Sandy, but the next disaster could be worse.

Atlantic City is no stranger to coastal flooding. The city was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which left around 70% to 80% of the city underwater at the height of the storm. In some places, residents had to wade through water as deep as 8 feet. 

The city is one of the US' most vulnerable areas when it comes to flooding. Research from Climate Central suggests that 37,000 people are at risk of coastal flooding in Atlantic City in the next century.  

Its neighbor, New York City, could also see some areas flooded by 2100.

Scientists have singled out Queens as the New York City borough with the most land at risk of flooding. 

Data from Zillow and the Union of Concerned Scientists predicts that more than 2,700 homes, or nearly 7,200 residents, in Queens could experience chronic flooding by 2045. If that happens, the borough could end up with $1.2 billion in property damage in less than 30 years.  

Most neighborhoods in Charleston, South Carolina, could be underwater by 2100.

Charleston is even more vulnerable to flooding than Atlantic City, with around 64,000 of its residents at risk of coastal flooding in the next 100 years.

More than a decade ago, the Charleston City Paper predicted that the city could become "a half-drowned ghost town" by 2050. Under 12 feet of sea level rise, the paper reported, around 77% of the Charleston could be underwater.

One in six homes in Boston, Massachusetts could be flooded regularly by the turn of the century.

Boston may not be entirely submerged by 2100, but the city as we know it would cease to exist.

A 2016 Zillow report found that 1 out of 6 homes in Boston could be underwater by 2100. That report used NOAA's conservative estimates (6 feet of sea level rise).

NOAA has also said there's a near-certain likelihood that Boston will see at least one flood above 6 feet by 2050. 

Virginia Beach, Virginia is already witnessing one of the fastest rates of sea-level rise on the East Coast.

Virginia Beach sits at the intersection of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. As sea levels rise, both bodies of water threaten to inundate the city during a major storm.

The city is already witnessing one of the fastest rates of sea-level rise on the East Coast if you factor in both rising water levels and sinking land. In its most extreme projections, NOAA estimates that Virginia Beach could see up to 12 feet of sea level rise by 2100.

We already have a glimpse of what the area might look like during a disaster: In 2018, Hurricane Florence briefly transformed Virginia Beach into a water-soaked wasteland.