News Briefs

UK Announces $28M Fund for Army Cyber Operations Centers

The UK Ministry of Defence has announced a £22m ($28 million) fund for the development of British Army cyber operations centers across the country. more

Baltimore Gets Hacked: Main Computer Systems Crippled, Experts Estimate Months to Recover

On May 7, hackers breached parts of the computer systems that run Baltimore's government, taking down essential systems such as voice mail, email, a parking fines database, payment systems used for water bills, property taxes, real estate transactions and vehicle citations. more

US Huawei Ban Threatens Internet Access in Rural Areas, Some Providers May Fold

Much of rural America with very low population density, depends on small wireless carriers for their internet access as AT&T, T-Mobile and other large providers have no interest in providing services. more

DDoS Storm Is Coming, Warn Researchers Noting an 84% Surge in the First Quarter of 2019

The number of DDoS attacks during the first three months of 2019 increased by 84%, compared with the previous quarter. more

Qualcomm’s Licensing Practices Are Illegal, U.S. Judge Rules

A U.S. district court judge rules that Qualcomm violated anti-trust laws and has ordered the chip maker to change some of its licensing and negotiation practices. more

Microsoft Sees Serious Appetite for Revised Privacy Laws in US, Says It’s Time to Match EU’s GDPR

With the first anniversary of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approaching in just a few days, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Julie Brill says GDPR has been an important catalyst for progress in privacy protection around the world. more

NGOs, Academics Warn Against EU’s Deep Packet Inspection Problem, at Least 186 ISPs Breaking Rules

European Digital Rights organization (EDRi) along with 45 NGOs, academics and companies from 15 countries sent an open letter to European policymakers and regulators on Wednesday warned against the widespread use of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology by Internet service providers in the EU. more

ICANN Says Amazon Inc’s Application for .AMAZON TLD Can Proceed Following 30 Days of Public Comment

The giant online retailer Amazon Inc is one step away from winning the .AMAZON top-level domain name after a 7-year battle with the eight Latin American countries. more

Two Years Later WannaCry Continues to Spread to Vulnerable Devices, Nearly 5M Devices Affected

Two years after the initial wave of WannaCry attack in May of 2017, security researchers say the ransomware continues to spread to vulnerable devices. WannaCry infection has affected close to 5 million devices to date. more

WordPress Parent Company Automattic, and .Blog Operator Switches Registry From Nominet to CentralNic

The operator of .blog top-level domain, Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC, which is a subsidiary of Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com and Jetpack, announced on Wednesday that it is "moving into the next phase of .blog." more

Close to 735K Fraudulently Obtained IP Addresses Have Been Uncovered and Revoked, ARIN Reveals

The American Registry for Internet Numbers, Ltd. (ARIN) has won a legal case against an elaborate multi-year scheme to defraud the Internet community of approximately 735,000 IPv4 addresses, the organization has revealed. While the specifics of the findings are not released, John Curran, ARIN President and CEO said the fraud was detected as a result of an internal due diligence process. more

Huawei Says They Are Willing to Sign No-Spy Agreements With Governments

During a London conference, Huawei's chairman Liang Hua told reporters the company would sign no-spy agreements with governments as a response to United States' pressure on Europe to bar the Chinese telecommunications company over spying concerns. more

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Chief David Redl Resigns

David Redl, head of U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) resigned abruptly from his position on Thursday. more

US Federal Trade Commission Says It Lacks Resources to Go After Privacy Violations Effectively

At hearing on Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urged Congress to pass data privacy legislation and enhance its authority to police large tech companies. more

Israel’s Airstrike on Hamas Hackers: First Real-Time Physical Retaliation Against Cyberattack

Amid escalating violence between Israel and Gaza this weekend, the Israeli Defense Force claimed it bombed and partially destroyed the base of an active Hamas hacking group in Gaza. more