Why More Effort Won’t Solve the Exceptional Access Problem

In the debate over government "exceptional access" to encrypted communications, opponents with a technical bent (and that includes me) have said that it won't work: that such a scheme would inevitably lead to security problems. The response -- from the policy side, not from technical folk - has been to assert that perhaps more effort would suffice. FBI Director James Comey has said, "But my reaction to that is: I'm not sure they've really tried." Hillary Clinton wants a "Manhattan-like project, something that would bring the government and the tech communities together". More effort won't solve the problem - but the misunderstanding lies at the heart of why exceptional access is so hard. more

BT Announces 500Mbps to 1000Mbps Broadband Rollout to UK Homes

British Telecom has announced its plan to transform the UK broadband landscape from superfast to ultrafast. The company says it plans to deliver much faster broadband for homes and small businesses via a widespread deployment of “G.fast” -- a technology the company will test in two pilot locations starting this Summer. G.fast is aimed to help BT deliver ultrafast speeds of up to 500Mbps to most of the UK within a decade. Deployment will start in 2016–2017, subject to the pilots being successful, BT says. more

The Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) Deception

Most of the good thrillers I tend to watch have spies and assassins in them for some diabolical reason. In those movies you'll often find their target, the Archduke of Villainess, holed up in some remote local and the spy has to fake an identity in order to penetrate the layers of defense. Almost without exception the spy enters the country using a fake passport; relying upon a passport from any country other than their own... So, with that bit of non-fiction in mind, why do so many people automatically assume that cyber-attacks sourced from IP addresses within China are targeted, state-sponsored, attacks? more

Internet Is Transforming Governments and Politics

All round the world we are seeing massive social changes in the way people interact with their leaders and with their political elite. In many cases governments and politicians seem to be behaving as though they are immune to the changes that are following on from these new grassroots-based democratic processes. They often do mention reforms and recommend reforms, but there is an equal need for them to transform their own sector and their own way of conducting politics and government. This applies to both the political leaders in developed and the developing economies. more

Sovereign Nations on an Unseen Path at WCIT 2012 to Create a Super-Sovereign ITU

It puzzles me to watch Governments introducing or subscribing to proposals that would in effect smoothly concede part their sovereignty to the ITU -- in an area that is central -- Communications. The WCIT 2012, in the middle of its second week, would now discuss Document DT/51-E 11, which is said to be a "package" of not-yet-compromised draft proposal for revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations, which inevitably makes ITU the control center of all communications in the known Universe. more

3 DNSSEC Sessions Happening At ICANN 50 Next Week in London

As I mentioned in a post to the Deploy360 blog today, there are three excellent sessions relating to DNSSEC happening at ICANN 50 in London next week: DNSSEC For Everybody: A Beginner's Guide; DNSSEC Implementers Gathering; DNSSEC Workshop. Find out more. more

Asserting but Not Proving Cybersquatting Under the UDRP

Having trademarks (registered or unregistered) is the prerequisite for maintaining a UDRP, but having one is not conclusive of either Respondent’s lack of rights or legitimate interests or that it registered and is using the domain name in bad faith. The cautionary tale in many of these cases, especially for the Complainant who has the burden of proof, is that it has to satisfy each of the elements in the three subsections... more

Why Small Businesses Should Start Trusting the Cloud (Reasons to Convince Your Boss)

For small businesses, effectively managing technology comes with a question: Is it better to outsource or stay in-house? Most small and midsize companies can't afford to employ teams of full-time IT staffers. This creates a desire for outsourced solutions. However, opting for a third party means giving up a measure of control. What is best for your business? In this post, we offer a quick rundown of the top five tasks any small business should consider outsourcing. more

What Makes a Good ESP?

There are a number of things that make a responsible Email Service Provider (ESP), including setting and enforcing standards higher than those set by the ISPs. One of the responsible ESPs is Mailchimp. (Full disclaimer, I do consult for Mailchimp.) This ESP focuses on businesses with small to medium sized lists. They screen new customers for source of permission as well as mail content. more

Unlimited Bandwidth is Disrupting Infrastructure Models

Over the last ten years we have heard a lot about edge-based services. These were needed to enable the operation of applications at the edge of the network, as the lack of available bandwidth capacity made it difficult to do so over the core network. However, with the prospect of limitless bandwidth the design of the network is changing again. 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

Could Trump Administration Reverse ICANN Independency? ITIP Chief Weighs In

Could the Trump administration reverse the decision to give the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) autonomy from the U.S. Department of Commerce? more

TWC Does the Right Thing - Again!

In response to customer feedback, Time Warner Cable has discontinued its trials of tiered Internet service. [Corporate Announcement here.] It was quite a stuff-storm, but to TWC's credit, they put their finger up, felt the howling gale, and changed course right away. This is in marked contrast to their larger competitor, Comcast... more

Government-Industry Collaboration Is Better than Developing a Surveillance State

President Obama, in March 2016, again stressed the need for better collaboration between the tech industry and the government. He referred to his own White House initiative - this has resulted in the newly-formed US Digital Service, which is trying to recruit the tech industry to work with and for government. One of the key reasons it is so difficult to establish trustworthy, good working relationships is the extreme lack of tech understanding among most politicians and government bureaucrats. more

Global Domain Name Registrations Reach 276 Million, Increase of Over 19M From Last Year

Five million domain names were added to the Internet in the first quarter of 2014, bringing the total number of registered domain names to 276 million worldwide across all top-level domains (TLDs) as of March 31, 2014, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief from Verisign. more