USA Today: Spam Is Bad

A reasonably well informed article in Thursday's USA Today reminds us that in 2004 Bill Gates said the spam problem would be solved in early 2006, but here at the end of 2007 there's more spam than ever. They go through a laundry list of problems of spambots, new kinds of PDF and MP3 spam, and phishing, and a list of of partial or non-solutions including filters, walled gardens, and an odd system called Boxbe, a hybrid of whitelists, challenge/response, and pay for delivery. Oh, and Bill says he never said spam would be solved... more

Why “.brands” Domains Make Sense

I receive spam on a daily basis from various Banks... as well as mine. None are legitimate but actually, that is not what is catching my attention receiving spam. There is something else and it deals with stealing information from me. Creating a personalized ".brand" domain name extension allows avoiding all that. Many are familiar with receiving spam through phishing attempts to have you answering an email and providing personal information such as login and passwords... more

2010 Data Breach Report from Verizon, US Secret Service

A study conducted by the Verizon Business RISK team in cooperation with the United States Secret Service has found that breaches of electronic records in 2009 involved more insider threats, greater use of social engineering and the continued strong involvement of organized criminal groups. more

Relinquishing IANA Would Be a Mistake for NTIA

In comments to the U.S. Government, ICANN sought to convince the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to relinquish its oversight of the Internet Address and Number Authority ("IANA") functions. At its heart, ICANN's presentation is a plea for NTIA to declare the privatization of DNS management finished. For several reasons, ICANN's plea should be refused. more

What is ‘On-Tap’ at ICANN 38 - Brussels (There’s More to Belgium than Beer!)

As the shorter of the ICANN interregnums comes to a close and the ICANN faithful finalize their dinner reservation agendas for Brussels, it is time again for a preview of what will be 'on-tap' at next week's ICANN meeting. While, as always, there is a lot going on in ICANN Land, a scan of the blogosphere and ICANN list serves suggests that the four most discussed topics will be... more

Project Honey Pot: 1 Billion Spammers Served

Coen Dijkgraaf writes: "Project Honey Pot is a community of tens of thousands of web and email administrators from more than 170 countries around the world who are working together to track online fraud and abuse. The Project has been online since 2004 and each day receives millions of email and comment spam messages which are catalogued and shared with law enforcement and security partners. On Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 06:20 (GMT) Project Honey Pot received its billionth email spam message. For the full article and some intersting statistics about spamming, see 1 Billion Spammers Served." more

China Spurs eSIM Boom as Global Connections Set to Quadruple by 2030

Global eSIM connections are projected to reach 4.9 billion by 2030, driven by China's rapid adoption, new provisioning standards, and growing demand across smartphones, industrial devices, and the expanding Internet of Things ecosystem. more

‘Avalanche’ Network Dismantled in an International Cyber Operation Including Europol and the FBI

After over four years of investigation, the international criminal infrastructure platform known as 'Avalanche' is reported to have been dismantled via a collaborative effort involving Public Prosecutor's Office Verden and the Lüneburg Police (Germany) in close cooperation with the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Department of Justice and the FBI, Europol, Eurojust and global partners. more

Go Only for Big Bang gTLD Rebranding

If you're considering rebranding under a new gTLD, go with a comprehensive big bang. A recent study by professors Dale Miller, Bill Merrilees, and Raisa Yakimova ("Corporate Rebranding: An Integrative Review of Major Enablers and Barriers to the Rebranding Process") finds that success comes when senior management makes an unweaving commitment based on proactive analyses of the entire value-chain, with buy-in and input from employees and suppliers. more

FCC Releases New U.S. Anti-Bot Code

The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) joined a unanimous vote at the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) meeting today, approving the voluntary U.S. Anti-Bot Code of Conduct for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), also known as the ABCs for ISPs. As a member of the CSRIC appointed by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the OTA has been working with the FCC and leading ISPs to develop this voluntary Code. more

SpaceX and T-Mobile to Test Satellite-To-Cell Service This Year

SpaceX and T-Mobile are set to begin testing their satellite-to-cell service this year, an executive of Elon Musk's company confirmed Monday. Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX vice president of Starlink Enterprise Sales, made the announcement during a panel at the Satellite 2023 conference in Washington, D.C. more

Satellite and Space Debris Tracking as a Service

On February 2, 1989, the Soviet Union launched its Cosmos 2004 satellite and the Chinese launched a rocket on December 15, 2009. Cosmos 2004 is now defunct, as is the third stage of that Chinese rocket, but both remain in orbit. They were long forgotten until recently when LeoLabs, a satellite tracking service, predicted that they had a good chance of colliding at 971 km over the sea near Antarctica. more

FCC Open Internet Rules

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Tom Wheele, the FCC Chairman, gave a range of spirited responses to a grilling from the Director of the GSMA, Anne Bouverot. She was following the line of the telcos and questioned if the FCC intervention would stifle growth and investments in the market; however she had problems reconciling her position with the fact that, despite these regulatory changes, the American industry was still prepared to invest a whopping $45 billion in new spectrum. more

Study Assesses Potential Impact of DNSSEC on Broadband Consumers, Results Not Good

Recent collaborative test by Core Competence and Nominet have concluded that 75% of common residential and small SOHO routers and firewall devices used with broadband services do not operate with full DNSSEC compatibility "out of the box". The report presents and analyzes technical findings, their potential impact on DNSSEC use by broadband consumers, and implications for router/firewall manufacturers. Included in its recommendations, the report suggests that as vendors apply DNSSEC and other DNS security fixes to devices, consumers should be encouraged to upgrade to the latest firmware. more

Nominations Now Open for Public Interest Registry (Operator of .ORG) Board of Directors

Would you be interested in helping guide the future of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit operator of the .ORG, .NGO and .ONG domains? If so, the Internet Society is seeking nominations for three positions on the PIR Board of Directors. The nominations deadline is Monday, February 4, 2019, at 15:00 UTC. There are three positions opening on the PIR Board. Directors will serve a 3-year term that begins mid-year 2019 and expires mid-year 2022. more