Bangladesh Govt Orders Internet Shutdown on ‘Security Grounds’

Access to the internet was denied for about two hours in Bangladesh immediately after the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid. more

The Emotional Cost of Cybercrime

We know more and more about the financial cost of cybercrime, but there has been very little work on its emotional cost. David Modic and I decided to investigate. We wanted to empirically test whether there are emotional repercussions to becoming a victim of fraud (Yes, there are). We wanted to compare emotional and financial impact across different categories of fraud and establish a ranking list (And we did). more

The Legal Enforceability of PIR’s Public Interest Commitment

Since Ethos announced its investment in PIR last fall, Ethos has welcomed the opportunity to engage with .ORG registrants and users to hear their ideas and answer their questions. We listened to concerns expressed in the community, and we worked to address them. We announced a number of voluntary commitments that Ethos is prepared to make, and then we listened to feedback from the community on the scope of those commitments, as well as on the enforceability of those commitments. more

If You’re Thinking About Applying to Be the Next ICANN CEO…

ICANN is preparing to search for its next CEO. In the past and again now, each of us has been asked for advice about applying for the job. We have willingly offered our perceptions of what the job requires. The general thrust of our advice is to alert the potential applicant about the complexities and demands of the job so they can assess for themselves whether they might be a viable candidate. Our comments in these situations are, of course, purely our own opinions, and are not connected to the official posture of ICANN. more

Pokemon Go Server Outage, Hacking Group Claims Credit

OurMine claims credit for DDoS attack on Pokemon Go servers: Several news outlets have reported the hacking group OurMine - also notorious for compromising social media accounts of various celebrities - on Monday took responsibility of hacking the game servers. more

ICG Seeking Public Feedback on Key Internet Governance Proposal

The IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) on Friday released for public comment the proposal for the transition of the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions from the U. S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the global multistakeholder community. The ICG is encouraging the public to review the proposal and share their reactions and comments during the public comment period here. more

Governments Accused of Trying to Bypass ICANN Policy Making Process

"ICANN faces first post-transition test of UN power (for real this time)," reports Kevin Murphy today in Domain Incite. more

Internet Society Reinforces Need to Connect the Unconnected, Build Trust

The Internet Society's President and CEO, Kathy Brown, has highlighted how connecting the unconnected and building trust are the two most pressing imperatives facing the Internet today. more

Saudi Arabia to Host First-Ever Internet Governance Forum: Paving the Way for Global Digital Dialogue

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will host the Internet Governance Forum in December. There are four main themes -- innovation and risk; the impact of technology on peace and development; using technology to advance human rights; and improving digital governance. Every IGF is a unique and annual opportunity for thousands of people engaged in key issues to come together and engage. KSA is hosting for the first time, and it is an exciting prospect. more

Is Fiber Growth Slowing?

In a recent article in LightReading, Mike Dano cites data from industry analyst Cowan that shows that some of the largest fiber builders in the United States have already trimmed back their construction plans for 2023. AT&T has the largest retrenchment and is trimming 2023 plans from 3.5 to 4 million passings back to 2 to 2.5 million. The company says that it is not changing its long-term goal to reach 30 million passings with fiber, but a cutback of this size means it won't likely reach that target in 2025. more

Group Creates International Association for Geographic TLDs

The operators of geographic top-level domains such as .nyc, .london, .berlin and .tokyo have founded an international non-for-profit association in Brussels. more

Senior U.S. and Chinese Officials Conclude Four-Day Meeting on Cyber Security

Senior U.S. and Chinese officials concluded a four day meeting on Saturday discussing cyber security issues ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington later this month. more

An Update on Satellite Broadband

Ookla recently published a blog that looks at the speed performance of satellite broadband, focusing mostly on Starlink. I haven't looked at this broadband sector for a while and thought it was time for an update. Starlink has had a busy year. At the end of November, the company had 5,500 satellites in orbit, up from over 3,200 at the end of 2022. The first constellation is still slated to reach almost 12,000 satellites, and the company has tentative permission from the FCC to extend to 42,000. more

How to Secure Your Data During Coronavirus

Nobody loves a good crisis more than a hacker and, by anyone's definition, coronavirus is a big, fat stinking crisis that almost everyone on earth is sitting in the middle of. For most of us, a crisis brings out the best. First responders and the healthcare systems are replete with stories of superhuman sacrifice and commitment to others. Unfortunately, it is this commitment to the work at hand that puts cybersecurity on the back burner and increases the chance of a breach, break-in, or general mischief. more

Moving the Multistakeholder Model Forward: Thoughts from The WSIS+10 Review Event

Ten years ago, global representatives assembled in Geneva in 2003, and again in Tunis, 2005, as part of the two founding phases of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). At the heart of proceedings, attended by representatives from across the spectrum of business, government, civil society, and the Internet technical community, was an acknowledgement that an inclusive approach was needed in all discussions pertaining to Internet governance and policy-making, to overcome the primary challenges in building this 'Information Society.' more