Google has launched a pilot program to bolster its cybersecurity defenses by limiting internet access for some employees. Initially, Google selected 2,500 participants, but after receiving feedback, it modified the program to allow employees to opt out and invite volunteers to join. more
In the fall of 2022, around 9,000 numeric domain names such as 0146.se, 0148.se, 0149.se, and so on were registered in the .SE zone. These domains were registered with two registrars, Register.eu and 1API. They had the same kind of SSL certificate, and there were other similarities among them that strongly suggested they were connected. All these domains were registered after September 1, 2022, but not on the same date... more
In early April, I had a routine consultation with my electrophysiologist at Nuvance Health via telehealth. Nuvance uses telehealth technology from American Well. In preparation for the consult, I took my blood pressure with a Qardio cuff and my iPhone, weighed myself on the Fitbit scale, and took a 30-second ECG with the Apple Watch. A nurse called 15 minutes before my appointment and took the information for input to the Electronic Health Record. more
As was the case in the US during World War II, civilian volunteers are making important contributions to the Ukrainian war effort. On February 8, 2022, the first truckload of Starlink terminals arrived in Kyiv. A week later they were being used. By April 2022, there were 5,000 terminals in Ukraine, and 42,000 as of April 2023. (At this point, SpaceX and Ukraine have gone silent. Neither ChatGPT4, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, nor I could not find a current terminal count). more
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cyberspace Administration of China has jointly released a document titled "International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace." more
Last week we investigated how rich data derived from TR-069 can be used to optimize the service quality of a single access point (AP) within the subscriber premises. Often a service provider will control multiple APs within a multi-dwelling unit, university campus, or other public space. This opens up new doors for optimizing service quality - instead of simply optimizing a single AP, you are now able to control other APs in the vicinity as well. more
The personal data of Europeans held in the United States by Internet companies is not safe from US government snooping, the European court of justice ruled today, in a landmark verdict that hits Facebook, Google, Amazon and many others. more
The Internet Society today published the results of a study that demonstrates the far-reaching economic and societal benefits of establishing Internet Exchange Points (or IXPs) in emerging markets.The study, commissioned by the Internet Society and conducted by independent strategy and research consultancy, Analysys Mason, examined the critical cost and performance benefits of IXPs in Kenya and Nigeria - two sub-Saharan countries that have been on the leading edge of Internet growth in Africa. more
Large Communication Service Providers (CSPs) that provide transit to their customers need to pay special attention to those network segments to ensure that the IPs associated to them are actually being used. What happens should that customer move on or require more (or less) IP real estate? What do communication and management processes look like to ensure that all the various departments are aligned for rapid and seamless network configuration changes with no downtime? more
Before the Holidays, Yahoo got a flurry of good press for the announcement that it would (as the LA Times puts it) "purge user data after 90 days." My eagle-eyed friend Julian Sanchez noticed that the "purge" was less complete than privacy advocates might have hoped. more
The US government is gearing up to begin the 2020 census which will be administered starting next April 20. For the first time, the census is going to rely heavily on people answering the census questions online. Live census takers will then follow-up with those that don't submit the online response. This seems like an odd decision since there are still many people who don't have home broadband. more
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that antitrust enforcement in telecommunication is being ramped up by the Obama Administration, after relatively lax times. In a piece entitled Telecoms Face Antitrust Threat it indicates that investigators are weighing up the roles of the large carriers and whether they are abusing the market power amassed under the Bush Administration. more
The Internet Society today expressed concern over the recent order from the United States District Court for the Central District of California requiring Apple to bypass or disable the auto-erase function on a seized iPhone and to enable the FBI to more effectively conduct a brute force attack on the device. more
I attended the 46th ICANN meeting in Beijing, China, and made a statementat on the panel "Internet Governance -- The Global Agenda", questioning the limits of the multistakeholder model, or more precisely the "bottom" of the bottom-up concept. My expectation was enormous, just at the time when two important meetings on governance and information society are in evidence: the WCIT and WSIS +10. more
United States Justice Department has announced that US and China have reached an agreement governing how the two countries will request assistance to combat cybercrime. more