Rewiring Internet Governance: Choice and Control (Part 2)

It is tempting to write off ICANN as a U.S. foreign policy lackey and that's all there is to say about ICANN. However, if the mantra for rewiring governance means "lets get ICANN" we risk missing forest for trees. ICANN is merely the symptom of a dysfunctional governance predicament that somehow (despite best efforts) skews oversight. Shapiro, for example, regards oversight as a "game" (1994). His "delegation dilemma" or "agency problem" stems from two options, neither of which are attractive vis-á-vis governance. more

NordVPN Introduces Quantum-Resilient Encryption

NordVPN, a leading VPN service provider, has unveiled its first application featuring quantum-resilient encryption – a significant advancement in cybersecurity. Post-quantum cryptography support is currently available on NordVPN’s Linux client, with plans to extend this enhanced security to all applications by early 2025. more

Why Passive DNS Matters in Cybersecurity

Imagine a scenario. Your website analysis shows that your page has stopped receiving visitors, yet there are no complaints that your domain is unreachable. Strange, isn't it? You are certainly wondering: What's going on? Where are my customers? You see, what happened is that you are facing the consequences of the lack of domain name system (DNS) security. more

A Sophisticated Online Counterfeit Ring

Online fakes can be a lucrative business and difficult to crack down on, due to the ease and low-cost of setting up multiple virtual storefronts and the ability to obfuscate an operation's identity. A federal lawsuit filed on March 1, 2010 by Polo Ralph Lauren and VF Corp. illustrates these points and highlights many of the intricacies of an online counterfeit ring. more

Interplanetary Internet

We had a very interesting presentation and discussion regarding the topic of interplanetary internet with my international colleagues, of which Vint Cerf – one of the “fathers of the internet” – is also a member. As a partner of the Interplanetary Networking Special Interest Group (IPNSIG), he took us on a journey that he has been involved with over the last 20 years regarding communication networks in space. A true mind-broadening experience. more

Yahoo’s 1 Billion Accounts Hacked is a Chilling Warning: Start Doing Things Differently or Die

Today, this is how easily "TRUST" by your users/customers can be shattered, your revenues devastated, your share value plunged into the abyss, and your business destroyed. Furthermore, conventional thinking belongs only in university libraries, not in board rooms. It is time to seriously consider other innovative Out-Of-The-Box Solutions and doing things differently, or start writing your business obituary. more

Does Renewing a Domain Name Count as “Registering” a Domain Name Under the ACPA?

The U.S. Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ("ACPA") is a federal law -- part of the Lanham Act that deals with trademarks and unfair competition. It says that a person can be liable if he or she registers a domain name that contains another's distinctive trademark with a bad faith intent to profit from that mark. One issue that has arisen over the years is whether registration that can give rise to liability means only the first time the domain name is registered, or whether it applies to the re-registration... more

Remembering the Good Times

The most effective early email-borne viruses didn't need botnets. They didn't change your computer settings, or steal your login credentials. And they somehow convinced regular users to help them spread. The first warnings about the Good Times virus began to appear in November of 1994, and by December the warnings were seen all over as people did what the warning said, and forwarded it to all their friends. There was another outbreak the following March... more

Businesses Beware: Cybersecurity Awareness Varies Based on Job Function

Businesses should consider bumping phishing as an urgent concern in their cybersecurity agendas. To those still unacquainted, "phishing" refers to the use of fake emails, messages, and websites that fool users into giving up access to accounts and information or into installing malware through attachments. It has become quite rampant over recent years. Attackers are using the method as a primary means to breach defenses, and with good reason: they work. more

The Madness of Broadband Speed Tests

The broadband industry has falsely sold its customers on "speed", so unsurprisingly "speed tests" have become an insane and destructive benchmark... marketing departments at ISPs refuse to define what experience that actually intends to deliver (and what is unreasonable to expect), the network engineers are left with a single and simple marketing requirement: "make it better than it was". more

Net Neutrality Undermining Spreads to Developing Countries

After the USA set the bad example of allowing telcos to start charging different rates for content delivery services, other incumbent telcos elsewhere are only too happy to jump on the bandwagon and use the American example as a reason and an excuse to end net neutrality (NN) in their countries also. As did their American counterparts they too see this as another way to grab some extra monopolistic income. more

Opportunity Missed: Hilton Checks-Out of New Domains Boom

American author Mark Twain once wrote: "I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one." Last month we learned that Hilton Hotels & Resorts joined six other new Top-Level Domain applicants in withdrawing their application and exiting the program. I was disappointed when I first heard the news. My initial thoughts were centred on the enormous potential .hilton offered the company and the innovative business opportunities they were now abandoning. more

Youth Aren’t Just the Internet’s Future, Youth Shape the Internet’s Future

For the past 27 years, or at least as long as I can remember, I have heard one phrase on an endless loop: "youth are the future." It is a statement that always caused me to feel mild confusion. I thought, "How can I, for instance, be the future if I'm here now?" As I "grew up" and the term "youth" seem to expand in both meaning and breadth of inclusion, I quickly realized that when this statement is used by many it is platitudinous at best and disingenuous rhetoric at worst. What should actually be clarified is that, as no one is immune from the natural progression of the life course (at least not yet anyway), youth will one day constitute the key decision-makers in political, economic and social institutions. more

Commerce Department: Headed Toward ICANN 3.0?

The NTIA has published a Notice of Inquiry, Assessment of the Transition of the Technical Coordination and Management of the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System, in advance of the expiration of the Joint Project Agreement in September 2009. The document outlines the history and evolution of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Commerce (DoC) and ICANN, and the questions posed cover fairly standard territory. However, the following might be worth paying attention to... more

21 Experts Give Their 2014 Predictions on Internet Performance

Last week, we started an email thread (old school!) amongst a large group of our tech leadership and thought leaders from all aspects of web traffic management and message management. There was a simple question we wanted to know in a few sentences or less: "In 2014, what do you think the big trends will be with Internet performance?" What follows are 21 very unique, and some very similar, answers. Without a doubt, there are challenges ahead for the Internet as we know it, but the rewards for accomplishing goals are massive. more