News Briefs

ICANN to Release Hundreds of Domain Names Matching Country Names

Hundreds of country and territory domain names are likely to be finally released this year based on the new resolution that calls for ICANN to take "all steps necessary" to do so. more

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Votes 2-1 for Net Neutrality Rollback

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 on Thursday to advance a Republican plan to reverse the Obama administration's 2015 'net neutrality' order. more

Google Launches IoT Service for Managing Devices at Scale

Google today announced a fully-managed Google Cloud Platform (GCP) service called Google Cloud IoT Core, aimed at allowing companies to securely connect and manage IoT devices at scale. more

Bell Canada Discloses Loss of 1.9 Million Email Addresses to Hacker, Says No Relation to WannaCry

Bell Canada, nation’s largest telecommunications company, disclosed late on Monday the illegal access of Bell customer information by an anonymous hacker. more

Net Neutrality Is a Smashing Success by FCC’s Preferred Metric, Reports Free Press Researcher

"If investment is the FCC's preferred metric, then there's only one possible conclusion: Net Neutrality and Title II are smashing successes," says Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner, author of a new report released by the consumer advocacy group. more

WikiLeaks Releases CIA Malware Implants Called Assassin and AfterMidnight

The recent heavy news coverage of WannaCry has overshadowed the latest WikiLeaks release of critical CIA malware documentation: user manuals for two hacking tools named AfterMidnight and Assassin. more

WannaCry Ransomware Cyberattack Spreading to Countries Across the World, 45K Attacks Reported So Far

Security researchers are reporting a massive attack today, dubbed "WannaCry", which has reached 45,000 attacks in 74 countries around the world so far, mostly in Russia. more

Trump Signs Cybersecurity Executive Order, Experts Weigh in on the New Draft

The long-waited cybersecurity executive order expected to launch sweeping reviews of the federal government's digital vulnerabilities, was signed today by President Trump. more

FCC Reports Site Attacked Over Net Neutrality Comments, Senators Seek Evidence

In follow up to FCC's report that the agency's online comment system was subjected to multiple DDoS attacks over the weekend, U.S. federal lawmakers are demanding answers as to what exactly happened. more

Several New TLDs in Limbo as ICANN Conducts Investigation

A number of new gTLD applicants, including .gay and .music are criticizing ICANN for conducting an investigation into its own controversial practices. more

French Presidential Candidate Confirms Massive Hack, Emails Dumped Online Two Days Before Election

Leading French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's campaign confirmed on Friday a "massive" computer hack that dumped its campaign emails online less than two days before the election. more

Seattle Restores ISP Privacy Rules. Could be First of Many Cities to Defeat FCC’s Privacy Roll Back

The city of Seattle this week will move forward with its own plan to restore broadband user privacy rules despite the recent law passed by U.S. Congress, signed by President Trump in April, which gave ISPs the green light to collect customer data. more

The Economist: Data, the Oil of the Digital Era

In its latest print edition, The Economist calls the world's most valuable resource to be no longer oil, but data. more

China Steps Up Media Pressure, Extends Restrictions to Blogs, Apps and Other Digital Media

China's latest restrictions on online news and commentary will extend to blogs, online forums, mobile apps, instant messaging tools and other forms of digital media under rules published May 2 by the Cyberspace Administration of China. more

Germany Investigating Legal Grounds to Destroy Servers Used to Carry Out Cyberattacks

Hans-Georg Maassen, Germany's head of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution says large amounts of data were seized during the May 20015 cyberattack on lower house of parliament (Bundestag). more