Listen: Covid-19 and cybersecurity risks; Infosys and failed startup bets; Sequoia plans a $7 bn warchest

Today’s episode of TechThisWeek covers some critical developments related to the Covid-19 crisis. We also look at why the Infosys Innovation Fund, with $500 million in its kitty, was unable to make any progress with three of the eight startups it invested in.

• As the world economy comes to a halt and individuals are forced to spend more screen time on a daily basis due to the Covid-19 outbreak, hackers are making the most out of people’s misery. They have created a record number of malicious domains to trap unsuspecting victims, according to a report by California-based IT security solutions provider Check Point.
• The past three weeks saw a 10-fold jump in the number of new websites created, with the number of Covid-19 related ones rising to 16,000 since January.
• Information technology (IT) giant Infosys, with its Innovation Fund, seems to be facing a different sort of crisis. It recently wrote down California-based startup Waterline Data, a data analytics firm. This is the third write-down in a row for the fund.
• Coming to funding news, it has been a lean week for venture capitalists. But Sequoia Capital is readying a $7 billion war chest for markets it is currently active in, according to multiple media reports. It is expected to close fundraising by July to make investments in the US, China and India. 
• Budget hotel chain OYO gets a breather as holding company Oravel Stays raises $807 million in a growth round from Tokyo headquartered SoftBank and RA Hospitality. The infusion comes at a time when the company’s China operations have stagnated amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding round is part of the $1.5 billion infusion announced in November.