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Will Electronically Steered Antennas Replace Parabolic Antennas in Satellite Ground Stations?

Larry Press Three recent developments make me wonder whether we are on the cusp of a shift in satellite ground station technology from parabolic to electronically steered antennas (ESAs). The U.S. Space Force operates the Satellite Control Network, with 19 parabolic antennas at seven locations around the world. more

50 Years of Ethernet

Doug Dawson The idea for Ethernet was born fifty years ago in May 1973 when Robert Metcalf coined the word Ethernet. He had been studying ALOHAnet, developed at the University of Hawaii in 1971 and was the first public demonstration of a wireless packet data network. Metcalf used the work Ethernet as a reference to luminiferous aether, a concept postulated in the 17th century to explain how light could be transmitted through a vacuum. more

Fragment or Not Fragment – Is This the Question? Will the “One World-One Internet” Survive Today’s Geopolitical Stress Tests?

Wolfgang Kleinwächter In today's world, it has become axiomatic that drastic change can occur overnight. One of those cherished concepts at risk is the idea of "One World – One Internet." In the wake of the war in Ukraine, the geopolitical tensions on the existing Internet have increased. If the "One Internet" will survive the 2020s is increasingly an open question, as good, bad, and not-very-helpful intentions strive to pull it apart. more

Are You Ready for WiFi 7?

Doug Dawson It wasn't that long ago that we saw a major update to WiFi standards with the release of WiFi 6 in 2019 and WiFi 6E in 2020. But we're on the verge of the next generation of WiFi with the official launch of the new WiFi 7 standard in November 2022. There has already been a soft release of WiFi 7 routers in China, and we'll start seeing the new routers in the market here sometime this year. more

Building a More Secure Routing System: Verisign’s Path to RPKI

Michael Hollyman At Verisign, we believe that continuous improvements to the safety and security of the global routing system are critical for the reliability of the internet. As such, we've recently embarked on a path to implement Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) within our technology ecosystem as a step toward building a more secure routing system. In this blog, we share our ongoing journey toward RPKI adoption and the lessons we've learned as an operator of critical internet infrastructure. more

Exploring Common Ground: Human Rights at ICANN

Klaus Stoll Our relationship to human rights is ambivalent. We take them for granted, we don't want to be without them, but on the other hand, we see them as somewhat abstract and aspirational, a lofty ideal easily forgotten and set aside in our daily struggles. When it comes to the digital domain, human rights are seen by many as an unwanted source of regulations in an industry that demands "unregulated innovation." more

RIPE 86 Bites: Encryption and Active Network Management

Geoff Huston Change is hard, and the larger the system, the slower the pace of change. There are just so many systems that need to change their behaviors, and the motivations of users, vendors, service providers, content generators and many others all vary. Getting all of us to change some aspect of our technology, platform or application set is hard, if not impossible, to orchestrate such that it happens at the same time. more

12th Registration Operations Workshop: Join Us Online on June 20th, 2023

The Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) was conceived as an informal industry conference that would provide a forum for discussion of the technical aspects of registration operations in the domain name system and IP addressing. The ROW series is being co-sponsored by Verisign and ICANN and organized by Cofomo, and we are looking forward to an engaging set of talks, panel discussions, and conversations with individuals involved with the operation of domain name registrations systems. more

RIPE 86 Bites: What’s the Time?

Geoff Huston A little appreciated aspect of our digital infrastructure is just how dependent we are on access to time. Disrupting the time base can not only lead to disruption in communications but can result in various forms of compromise of the integrity of communications. Accurate time was all but unobtainable for centuries, and then, as we spent significant sums devising even more accurate timekeeping instruments, accurate time became a specialized service. more

AI, Human Rights and the Rise of the Global South

Richard Taylor As the current global geopolitical space becomes less friendly to Human Rights1, are there potential offsetting trends supporting them? Yes, but... it will require initiatives from the Global South for AI data-driven policies supportive of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), demonstrating the value of SDGs and Human Rights combined. more

RIPE 86 Bites: Gigabits for EU

Geoff Huston Rudolph van der Berg presented on the latest updates from the ongoing tensions in the Internet industry between carriage infrastructure providers and content providers, with a European perspective. The carriage providers in the EU region are asserting that they're making major capital investments in augmenting the access network infrastructure to carry gigabit traffic volumes, which is largely streaming content, while at the same time the content providers were getting a free ride, or so goes the argument. more

FCC Touts 6G

Doug Dawson The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has seemingly joined forces with the marketing arm of the cellular industry in declaring that the spectrum between 7-16 GHz is now considered to be 6G. Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel recently announced that the agency would soon begin looking at the uses for this spectrum for mobile broadband.  more

NIST as a Cyber Threat Actor

Anthony Rutkowski On 24 May, NIST published recommendations that are a key component of the U.S. cybersecurity ecosystem -- known as vulnerability disclosure guidelines. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is an agency of the Department of Commerce whose mission includes "developing cybersecurity standards, guidelines, best practices, and other resources to meet the needs of U.S. industry, federal agencies and the broader public." more

The ‘Millennium Problems’ in Brand Protection

David Barnett As the brand protection industry approaches a quarter of a century in age, following the founding of pioneers Envisional and MarkMonitor in 1999, I present an overview of some of the main outstanding issues which are frequently unaddressed or are generally only partially solved by brand protection service providers. I term these the 'Millennium Problems' in reference to the set of unsolved mathematical problems published in 2000 by the Clay Mathematics Institute, and for which significant prizes were offered for solutions. more

Starlink’s New Business Broadband

Doug Dawson Starlink has quietly updated its business broadband offerings. The original plan for businesses was $500 per month with a two-terabyte data cap. If a customer exceeded the data cap, the speed reduced to 1 Mbps for the remainder of the month unless a customer bought additional broadband at $1 per gigabyte. Starlink business comes with a premium antenna from HP at a one-time cost of $2,500. more

News Briefs

Ransomware Attacks Skyrocket: Median Cost Doubles to $26,000, Representing a Quarter of All Breaches, Reports Verizon

A report from Verizon Business's 16th annual Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) reveals a startling surge in the frequency and cost of cyberattacks. It analyzed 16,312 security incidents and 5,199 breaches, showing a sharp uptick in the cost of ransomware.  more

Gigabyte Motherboard Firmware Exposes Millions of PCs to Potential Cybersecurity Threats

In a potentially damaging cybersecurity revelation, researchers from the cybersecurity company Eclypsium have identified a hidden mechanism in the firmware of motherboards manufactured by Taiwanese company Gigabyte. more

EFF Raises Concerns Over EU’s Proposed Cyber Resilience Act

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has voiced concerns about the European Union's proposed Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), saying it could pose significant threats to open-source developers and cybersecurity. more

Meta Lawsuit Leads to Significant Decline in Phishing Domains Tied to Freenom

A lawsuit filed by Meta has led to a significant decrease in phishing websites tied to the domain name registrar Freenom. Cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs in a report on Friday said that Freenom, which provides free domain name registration services, was a favored resource for cybercriminals due to its policy of protecting customer identities. more

CIRA Calls for Experienced Professionals to Join Its Board

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is inviting experienced professionals to join its board and help guide the organization. more

Stealth Cyberattacks by China’s Volt Typhoon Threaten U.S. Infrastructure: Microsoft Unmasks Espionage Campaign

Microsoft today disclosed the detection of covert and targeted malicious activity aimed at critical infrastructure organizations in the United States. The attack is orchestrated by a state-sponsored group from China, known as Volt Typhoon, with the suspected objective of disrupting the communication infrastructure between the U.S. and Asia during potential future crises. more

New Research Reveals Over 340 Million Accounts Compromised in the First Four Months of 2023

Recent research conducted by the Independent Advisor reveals that a significant number of accounts, exceeding 340 million, have been compromised due to business data breaches within the first four months of 2023. Notably, Twitter experienced the largest breach this year, impacting approximately 235 million user accounts. more

The Rise of ChatGPT and Its Impact on Cybersecurity

The emergence of ChatGPT, a powerful AI language model developed by OpenAI, has revolutionized the way developers approach coding tasks. With its ability to generate code snippets and even entire software programs, ChatGPT offers convenience and time-saving potential. more

Google Fiber Ramps Up Testing of Its 20 Gigabit Internet Service

Google Fiber is pushing the boundaries of internet speed with the testing of its 20 Gigabit product. After successful trials in domestic settings, the tech giant is now taking its ultra-fast service to educational and professional organizations to further test its capabilities. more

U.S. Targets Russian Mastermind Behind Dominant Ransomware Landscape, Offers $10 Million Reward

The U.S. government has declared criminal charges, economic sanctions, and a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a Russian citizen, Mikhail Matveev. Accused of a series of ransomware attacks, Matveev's alleged operations, known as Babuk, have targeted entities such as the D.C. police, an airline, and other American industries. more

New Google Domains Spark Cybersecurity Concerns: Risks and Reactions to .zip and .mov Top-Level Domains

In a developing cybersecurity concern, IT experts and researchers warn of potential misuse of Google's new .zip and .mov top-level domains (TLDs), which they argue could be exploited for phishing attacks and malware distribution. more

EU Lawmakers Call for Further Talks to Strengthen Proposed US Data Transfer Pact

EU lawmakers are pushing for additional negotiations to strengthen a proposed data transfer agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States. They argue that the current agreement still has shortcomings that must be addressed. The potential delay in reaching an accord is concerning for the thousands of companies that rely on the agreement. more

US Justice Department and FBI Dismantle Long-Running Russian State-Sponsored Cyber-Espionage Operation Targeting NATO

The United States Department of Justice has announced that it has neutralized a global network of computers compromised by malware called "Snake," which the U.S. government attributes to a unit within Center 16 of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). more

Verisign Issues Statement on ICANN’s Decision on .Web Auction

Verisign, a global provider of domain name registry services and internet infrastructure, released a statement today regarding the ICANN Board of Directors' decision on the .web auction. more

Celebrating 30 Years Since the World Wide Web Was Released to the Public

Thirty years ago, on April 30, 1993, a groundbreaking announcement was made by CERN that would irrevocably transform our world. Walter Hoogland and Helmut Weber, who held the positions of Director of Research and Director of Administration at CERN, respectively, released to the public a revolutionary tool initially proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. more

European Domain Market Faces Headwinds Amid Inflation and Regulatory Challenges

The European domain market is grappling with the combined pressures of inflation, energy prices, and EU regulations, which are impacting registry financials and operations. more

FBI Director Warns of Vastly Outnumbered US Cyber Intelligence Staff in Face of Chinese Hackers

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is facing a massive cybersecurity challenge as the U.S. is vastly outnumbered by Chinese hackers, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray. In testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Thursday, Wray urged Congress to provide the FBI with more funds to bolster its cyber intelligence staff. more

UK Announces £100 Million in Funding to Help the Nation Build and Adopt the Next Generation of ‘Sovereign’ AI

The UK's Foundation Model Taskforce has been established in response to the UK government's ambition to become a leader in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI). The task force will be supported by £100 million of investment and will focus on building the UK's 'sovereign' national capabilities, so public services can benefit from the transformational impact of this type of AI. more

China Developing Cyber Weapons to Gain Control of Enemy Satellites

According to a leaked US intelligence report, China is developing capabilities to "deny, exploit or hijack" enemy satellites as a core part of its goal to control information.  more

47 of the World’s 70 Largest Economies Now Have Active 5G Networks, US Takes the Lead Over China

The United States has taken the lead in the number of 5G cities, surpassing China for the first time. There has been a large increase of 5G cities in the U.S., with 503 cities now having 5G networks, compared to 297 in May 2022. more

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Industry Updates

Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief: 354.0 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q1 2023

Verisign Today, Verisign released the latest issue of The Domain Name Industry Brief, which shows that the first quarter of 2023 closed with 354.0 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of 3.5 million domain name registrations, or 1.0%, compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. more

When Marketing Vendors Get Attacked, Clients Suffer: Third-Party Risk Discovery in the DNS

WhoisXML API Organizations get bombarded with countless attacks from every direction, including via their supply chain. FortifyData's recent record of the top third-party data breaches in 2023 brings to light how multidirectional threat sources can be. In one of the data breaches on the list, AT&T disclosed in March 2023 that threat actors accessed the information of approximately 9 million wireless accounts through the telecommunication company's marketing vendor. more

DNS Snooping on Apple iOS 14 Zero-Click Spyware KingsPawn

WhoisXML API Last year, several governments reportedly used the NSO Group's spyware Pegasus to exploit a zero-day vulnerability in WhatsApp to spy on journalists, opposition politicians, and dissidents via their mobile devices. Apple quickly addressed the issue by launching more powerful data protection features. more

No New Charges for RIPE NCC Transfers or ASNs

IPv4.Global The RIPE NCC's members did not approve new charges for transfers or ASNs at its May 2023 General Meeting. The RIPE NCC had proposed a €500 charge for each transfer and a €50 charge for each ASN. more

RIPE NCC IPv4 Waiting List - Two Years

IPv4.Global The RIPE NCC expects to make about 300 /24 allocations in the next six months. About 1,000 members are waiting for allocations and the member at the top of the queue has been waiting over a year. more

Scouring the DNS for Traces of Bumblebee SEO Poisoning

WhoisXML API Google ad or search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning has long been a favored threat actor tactic to spread malware. A recent Secureworks study of Bumblebee, which comes in the guise of a software installer, proved that once again. more

IPv4.Global Launches First IP Address Audit Tool

IPv4.Global IPv4.Global, a division of Hilco Streambank, the largest, most trusted and transparent IPv4 marketplace in the world, today announced the release of ReView, a new, first-of-its-kind digital IP address audit tool at RIPE 86. ReView was developed in collaboration with 6connect, the authors of revolutionary provisioning and IP address management software. more

A DNS Deep Dive: That VPN Service May Be OpcJacker in Disguise

WhoisXML API The more dangerous browsing the Internet becomes, the more tools to address cyber threats emerge in the market. Virtual private network (VPN) service usage, for instance, gained ubiquity due to the ever-increasing number of data privacy intrusions. more

Searching for Nevada Ransomware Digital Crumbs in the DNS

WhoisXML API  more

How the SVB and Credit Suisse Crash Was Reflected in the DNS

WhoisXML API We've proven time and again that the effects of current events always extend to the DNS. Just last month, two big banks - the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse - collapsed. Financial experts said more banks may be bound to follow. more

Dissecting 1M+ Malicious Domains Under the DNS Lens

WhoisXML API Threat actors continue to abuse the DNS by weaponizing domain names. On 13 April 2023, through our recently launched Threat Intelligence Data Feeds (TIDF), we identified more than 1 million suspicious and malicious domains that figured in phishing, malware distribution, spam, and other cyber attacks, such as brute-force and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. more

Discovering Potential BEC Scam Vehicles Through the DNS

WhoisXML API Threats tend to become more advanced over time. So is the case of business email compromise (BEC) scams, which according to a SlashNext post, cost companies billions of U.S. dollars in losses per year. more

Subdomain Hijacking Vulnerabilities Report: One in Five DNS Records Are Left in a State in Which They Are Vulnerable to Subdomain Hijacking

CSC Global businesses rely on the internet for everything -- websites, email, authentication, voice over IP (VoIP), and more. It's part of an organization's external attack surface and needs to be continuously monitored for cybercrime attacks and fraud. more

Looking for Traces of Social Media-Based Celebrity Scams in the DNS

WhoisXML API Infoblox, in its Q4 2022 Cyber Threat Report, featured a "Meta" coin scam using fake celebrity endorsements targeting users in the European Union (EU). The analysis revealed several indicators of compromise (IoCs), specifically four domains and one IP address, that could help the public avoid the perils the scams posed. more