The latest Cyber Threat Report from Israel's Allot reveals that the omnatuor.com browser hijacker was a major source of trouble for Internet users in the second half of 2021. During the period, Allot's NetworkSecure software blocked a total of 2.97 billion cyberthreats – an alarming increase of more than 500% over the first half of 2021. Nearly three-quarters of all blocks related to adware, making it the primary threat to online consumers.

Telefónica boss José María Álvarez-Pallete has been using his company blog to get a few things off his chest again, and this week's theme is data privacy, or the lack of it. Writes Álvarez-Pallete: "If data represents a new factor of production, privacy should be the element that determines its value. Furthermore, each of us, as sovereign individuals, must determine the level of privacy we wish to have and, consequently, the value of our data. Failing that, we would simply be mining data daily whilst others benefited from a value that belongs to us, thus determining the level of privacy awarded to us. THAT IS DIGITAL SLAVERY." (The caps are José's.) It's thoughtful stuff, and certainly makes a change from your average "thought leadership" flim-flam.

A new study from Digital TV Research predicts that Africa will add 18 million pay-TV subscribers between 2021 and 2027, taking the total to 57 million. This represents an increaseof 46% – though the study says revenues will rise by only 35% as the average revenue per user figure falls.

Openreach, the semi-autonomous network access arm of BT, is having more luck recruiting female workers – in Scotland at least. In the current financial year, it has recruited 275 people there, 17% of whom are women. In previous years, this statistic would have been a single-digit figure, says Openreach.

UK fixed-line provider TalkTalk has appointed Adam Dunlop as managing director of supply and partnerships. Dunlop was previously with iD Mobile, the mobile arm of Dixons Carphone. Jan Collins, currently head of TalkTalk's business to consumer division, will take over the leadership of the group fibre development team, reporting to Dunlop.

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading