News Briefs

Trump a Disaster for Innovation Said Tech Leaders in an Open Letter

The list includes Internet Pioneer, Vint Cerf; eBay Founder, Pierre Omidyar; Facebook's Dustin Moskovitz; Reddit's Alexis Ohanian; Medium's Ev Williams; Apple's Steve Wozniak; and venture capitalists Vinod Khosla and Chris Sacca. more

Canadian Government Proposes Mandated Surveillance Capabilities at ISPs

Government of Canada has introduced a new bill that could allow the police to access ISP's user data without warrant. According to Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, "the Government has taken another shot at lawful access legislation today, introducing a legislative package called the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century (IP21C) Act that would require mandated surveillance capabilities at Canadian ISPs, force ISPs to disclose subscriber information such as name and address, and grant the police broad new powers to obtain transmission data and force ISPs to preserve data." more

Companies and Organizations Around the World Ask Leaders to Support Strong Encryption

Experts, companies and civil society groups around the world ask governments to support strong encryption -- and reject proposals that would undermine the digital security it provides. more

Google Serving 25 Percent of Consumer Internet Traffic Through North American ISPs

Google is now serving close to 25 percent of all consumer internet traffic running through North American ISPs, according to a report from Wired. "That's a far larger slice of than previously thought, and it means that with so many consumer devices connecting to Google each day, it's bigger than Facebook, Netflix, and Instagram combined. It also explains why Google is building data centers as fast as it possibly can. Three years ago, the company's services accounted for about 6 percent of the internet's traffic." more

Chehadé to End His Tenure as ICANN President & CEO in March 2016

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that President and CEO Fadi Chehadé has informed the Board he will be concluding his tenure in March 2016 to move into a new career in the private sector (outside the Domain Name Industry). more

Kathryn C. Brown Named Internet Society’s New CEO

The Internet Society announced today the appointment of Kathryn C. Brown as its new Chief Executive Officer effective 1 January 2014. Ms. Brown succeeds Lynn St. Amour, who will be stepping down after 15 years with Internet Society. Ms. Brown most recently served as a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group, an international consulting firm, and as Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility at Verizon. more

Brexit v. EU: Cybersecurity Stakes too Hight for UK to Take an Isolationist Approach

Michela Menting, Research Director at ABI Research sharing a cybersecurity perspective amidst Brexit aftermath: "It is likely that the UK will continue in a similar direction as the rest of the EU with regards to cybersecurity and cybercrime. However, there may be a dampening impact on the country with regards to the skills pool." more

Master Class in Internet Governance and Policy by InterConnect

InterConnect announces the first in a developing series of new Master Classes on "Internet Infrastructure and Governance" starting June 30 through July 3, 2014. more

China Has Delayed Controversial Internet Filtering Software Requirement

China is to delay a controversial plan requiring all new computers sold in the country to be equipped with an internet filtering software, state media says. The filter, called Green Dam Youth Escort, was to have been required from Wednesday, but the industry ministry said computer makers needed more time. more

Yellow Parking Violation Fliers on Windshields Get Drivers to Visit Malicious Website

Security expert and malware analyst, Lenny Zeltser has examined a creative malware distribution method in the real world where fliers placed on windshield of cars scare drivers into visiting a malicious website. Zeltser writes: "Several days ago, yellow fliers were placed on the cards in Grand Forks, ND. They stated: 'PARKING VIOLATION This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations. To view pictures with information about your parking preferences, go to website-redacted' ... If you went to the website, you'd see several photos of cars on parking lots in that specific town..." more

10 Years of ICANN

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, was officially incorporated on 30 September 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation. Headquartered in Marina Del Rey, California, United States, ICANN was assigned to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks originally performed directly on behalf of the U.S. government by other organizations, such as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Back in 1998, there was only one domain name registrar; now there are over 900 ICANN-accredited registrars in the world and over 168 million domain names registered. more

Cuba to Provide Public Wifi for the First Time

According to various sources, Cuba is launching its first public wireless service in the city of Santiago de Cuba. However, at the reported cost of $4.50 an hour, it will be far too expensive for most Cubans with average salary of $20 a month. Last year, 3.4 percent of homes in Cuba had Internet access -- one of the world's lowest rates, according to international technology authorities. more

U.S. Nuclear Power and Other Energy Companies Hacked by Russians According to Government Officials

Russian government hackers are reported to be behind latest cyber-intrusions into the business systems of U.S. nuclear power and other energy companies with efforts to assess networks. more

Berners-Lee: Ted Cruz Wrong About How Free Speech Is Censored on the Internet

"Sen. Ted Cruz wants to engineer a United States takeover of a key Internet organization, ICANN, in the name of protecting freedom of expression," said Tim Berners-Lee and Daniel Weitzner in a co-op piece today in the Washington post. more

Average DDoS Attacks Now Large Enough to Take Most Organizations Completely Offline

Arbor Networks today released its Global DDoS Attack Data for the first half of 2016 affirming continued escalation in both the size and frequency of denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. more