News Briefs

SpaceX Restricts Ukraine’s Use of Its Satellite Internet for Drones

SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service has been seen as a great hope for connecting people in hard-to-reach areas, but it has also raised fears about the potential for weaponization and other abuse. According to COO Gwynne Shotwell, the company is pleased to help Ukraine in its "fight for freedom," but Starlink was "never intended to be weaponized." more

GoDaddy Laying Off 8% of Its Workforce Amid Uncertain Macroeconomic Environment

GoDaddy has announced a plan to reduce its global team size by 8%. The move will affect multiple levels in the company, as well as its three brands -- Media Temple, Main Street Hub, and 123 Reg. more

Healthcare Industry Was the Most Common Victim of Third-Party Breaches in 2022

Health care industry was the most common victim of cyberattacks in 2022, according to a report by cyber intelligence firm, Black Kite. The study found a total of 34.9% of cyberattacks occurred in health care, up 1% from the year before, making it the most attacked sector for the second year in a row. more

Feds Confirm Cyberattack Caused Nation’s Critical Suicide Helpline Outage

Federal officials have confirmed that a cyberattack caused a nearly day-long outage of the United States's 988 mental health helpline on December 1st, 2020. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) revealed that the attack occurred on the network of Intrado, the company that provides telecommunications services for the helpline.  more

Biden’s Cyberspace Ambassador Urges Americans to Tone Down the Anti-China and Anti-Russia Tough Talk on Tech

Nathaniel C. Fick, the federal government's inaugural ambassador at large for cyberspace and digital policy, has urged Americans to tone down the anti-China and anti-Russia tough talk on tech in order to establish better relations with nations that have yet to pick a side. more

EU-based DNS Internet Infrastructure Beginning to Take Shape, Planned to Onboard 100 Million Users

The EU has been pushing for the development of DNS4EU, a public European DNS resolver with built-in filtering capabilities, as a way to strengthen the "digital sovereignty" of the EU and protect citizens, companies, and public institutions from phishing attacks and malware. In December 2021, a consortium of 13 public and private companies from ten European countries were granted the project to build a public DNS resolution service tailored for the EU. more

The European Commission Proposes Charging Data-Heavy Streamers for Telecom Upgrades

The European Union has launched a consultation on a proposal that would require technology companies, such as Netflix and Alphabet Inc., who use the most bandwidth to help pay for the next generation of internet infrastructure. more

Coalition for Digital Africa Announces IXP Initiative

This latest initiative announced by the Coalition for Digital Africa will focus on strengthening the Internet infrastructure across the continent by enhancing five existing Internet exchange points (IXPs). The initiative is supported by a grant from ICANN and will be implemented by the Internet Society (ISOC) and will involve identifying five IXPs based on their potential to make a high impact on the respective local and sub-regional markets. more

W3C Re-Launches as a Public-Interest Non-Profit Organization

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) formed a new public-interest non-profit organization in 2023, allowing additional partners from around the world beyond Europe and Asia. The organization preserves the existing core process and mission of the Consortium, which is to develop open web standards with contributions from W3C Members, staff, and the international community. more

Vint Cerf Receives IEEE Medal of Honor

Vinton Cerf, widely known as the "Father of the Internet," has been awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2023 for his contributions to the development of the Internet architecture and for his leadership in its growth as a critical infrastructure for society. more

U.N. Cybercrime Convention Enters Critical Stage

Negotiations for a U.N. cybercrime convention have reached a critical stage at the fourth round of discussions in Vienna. Delegates from over 150 states have met for over 100 hours to discuss the proposed convention, which has been met with skepticism from some states, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders more

ChatGPT Used to Create Polymorphic Malware

ChatGPT, the newly released language model, has quickly gained popularity and is used for various tasks, from automation to music composition. While having useful features like fast and easy-to-use code examples, it also has the ability to create sophisticated malware without malicious code. more

Public Interest Registry Launches a New Top-Level Domain .GIVING

Public Interest Registry, the non-profit that runs the .ORG domain has launched a new top-level domain (TLD), .GIVING, to streamline online fundraising and donating for mission-driven organizations and philanthropic-minded individuals. more

Iran Disrupts Internet Access During University Entrance Exams

Iran has disrupted mobile internet access for some three hours on 19 January 2023. Real-time NetBlocks metrics show that mobile networks were disrupted for three hours on Thursday morning, while fixed-line services were largely unaffected. more

Removal of Price Caps for .ORG and .INFO Found Improper by IRP

After a prolonged legal process involving multiple hearings and months of consideration, an independent review panel (IRP) determined that ICANN had violated its own bylaws and articles of incorporation through its decision to remove price caps on certain top-level domains (TLDs) and that this decision was therefore invalid. more