Good morning, CIOs. For years, computing has been centralized in one place or another. First, the data center, and later massive clouds. Now, networks are taking a more decentralized structure, with power located at the so-called edge, be it a retail environment, an oil rig or an automobile. On Tuesday, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. said it will invest $4 billion during the next four years to accelerate innovation in what HPE calls “the intelligent edge.”

Edge of opportunity. “We see significant areas for growth … (as) more assets and ‘things’ come online and the amount of data generated continues to grow exponentially,” HPE CEO Antonio Neri told CIO Journal’s Sara Castellanos in an email. The number of devices connected to the internet will reach 20.4 billion by 2020, up from 8.4 billion in 2017, according to Gartner Research Inc. By 2021, 40% of enterprises will have an edge computing strategy in place, up from about 1% in 2017, Gartner says.

The payoff. Stewart Ebrat, CIO at bridal gown and fashion company Vera Wang Co., an HPE customer, maintains that with data analytics and Bluetooth-enabled beacon devices at the edge, a salesperson could know more about a prospective customer’s preferences as soon as they walk into a brick-and-mortar store. Says Mr. Ebrat: “The customer has always been number one (at Vera Wang), but technology is going to enhance that experience even further.”

Tech chief role crows more strategic, Korn Ferry survey finds. In a recent survey, 83% of 199 technology chiefs said their role was more strategic than it was three years ago. Craig Stephenson, Korn Ferry managing director, North America Technology Officers Practice, tells CIO Journal's Angus Loten that their impact is evolving rapidly and expected to expand even more in the years ahead. “Based on the need to drive results, many companies are leveraging and deploying results-oriented technology leaders to drive the intersection of technology, product and digital efforts,” he said.

CYBERSECURITY

A customer leaves the Bithumb exchange office in Seoul earlier this year. Photo: SEONGJOON CHO/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb loses more than $30 million in hack. It was the second cyberattack in two weeks to hit a major South Korean cryptocurrency, the Journal's Eun-Young Jeong and Steven Russolillo report. Earlier this month a South Korean cryptocurrency called Coinrail said it lost 70% of its digital assets from a “cyber intrusion.”

China-based hackers breach U.S. defense-related companies.Cybersecurity firm Symantec said it has discovered a China-based campaign targeting defense communications, satellite operators and telecommunications companies in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Hackers succeeded in infecting computers that control satellites. “Disruption to satellites could leave civilian as well as military installations subject to huge (real world) disruptions,” a Symantec director tells Reuters.

CrowdStrike raises $200 million. The recent funding puts the cyber firm's valuation at more than $3 billion, the FT reports.

TECH EARNINGS

Photo: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Oracle changes how it reports cloud revenue. With the new system, in which cloud revenue is part of a broader group called cloud services and licensing support, Oracle Corp. reported an 8% revenue increase from the year earlier, the WSJ's Maria Armental reports. Under the old revenue-reporting model, co-CEO Safra Catz said total cloud revenue would have been $1.7 billion, implying a stronger-than-expected 25% increase from the year-ago period.Tuesday, Oracle reported profit for the quarter ended May 31 rose 5% to $3.41 billion. Revenue rose 3% to $11.25 billion.

MORE TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Microsoft’s New York office. Photo: ROY ROCHLIN/GETTY IMAGES

Tech companies speak out against Trump policy of separating families at border. Microsoft Corp. employees in an open letter Tuesday petitioned the company to stop working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calling out its $19.5 million contract with the agency, the New York Times reports. CEO Satya Nadella responded, saying Microsoft is not working with the government on any policy separating parents from childen.

Tech leaders voice concern. Over the last couple of days a number of tech luminaries have spoken out against the policy, among them Mr. Nadella (“cruel and abusive”), Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook ("hearbreaking"), Cisco System Inc.'s Chuck Robbins ("cruel policy") and Google's Sundar Pichai ("gut wrenching").

Shareholders scrutinize tech for fed work. Shareholders at Amazon.com Inc., including 19 socially responsible investors, joined civil rights organizations in condeming the sale of the company's facial recogntion technology to police, the New York Times reports.

Cash harder to come by for women tech founders. Bloomberg reports that of the 250 largest venture capital deals in the first quarter, just 12 went to female founders.

Verizon to cut off data providers that gave up customer locations. The top U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers said it would soon stop sharing customers’ locations with LocationSmart and Zumigo Inc.,the WSJ's Drew FitzGerald reports. The move comes in response to questions from Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), who wrote all four national wireless operators last month asking them about their privacy practices.

Russian trolls weigh in on Roseanne Barr, Donald Trump Jr. A new tranche of about 1,100 account names, released Monday by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, brings the total number of publicly known Russian troll farm-operated accounts to more than 3,800, the Journal reports.

AT&T in talks to acquire AppNexus for about $1.6 billion. The deal would give the telecom giant a foothold in digital ad sales as it seeks to become a challenger to Google and Facebook Inc., the WSJ reports.

Portland launches smart city program. The city is working with GE, Intel Corp. and AT&T Inc. to install 200 sensors on three of its "deadliest" streets, ZDNet reports. The goal is to collect traffic flow data that could help guide decisions on bike lanes and other street design tools.

EVERYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW

President Trump urged House Republicans to pass a broad bill legislation but stopped short of telling them he would immediately reverse a policy that has separated migrant children from their parents. (WSJ)

General Electric will drop out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average next week, a milestone in the decline of a firm that once ranked among the mightiest of U.S. blue-chips. (WSJ)

Two of 21st Century Fox ’s top television producers spoke out against Fox News’s commentary on the Trump administration policy separating children from their parents at the border, saying they are embarrassed to work at the company that owns the cable news channel. (WSJ)

In California, politicians are battling over what should be named the state's official sport: surfing or skateboarding. (WSJ)

The Morning Download cues up the most important news in business technology every weekday morning.