State Department Should Return to Its Knitting

Having researched and written about the 100 year history of U.S. State Department's institutional machinations in the telecom/cyber sector, taught law school graduate courses, and worked with its bureaus and staff over the past 45 years, the latest twists and turns seem to repeat past mistakes. The fundamental problem is that the U.S. is the only country whose Foreign Ministry is given a significant role and engaged in telecom and cyber matters in global venues. more

Facebook Stays, Everybody’s Happy, but Nothing Has Changed

After some turmoil, Facebook won the war with the Australian Government as the necessary changes were made to the legislation that avoided them needing to change their business model. Those subtleties are lost in the general press. What counts for the popular media is that they were able to spin some great stories around the fact that Australia stood up to the giants. That brought international attention, which boosted the ego of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. more

IoT a Major Global Development Opportunity, ITU Reports

In a new report released today by ITU and networking giant, Cisco, the Internet of Things (IoT) is identified as a major global development opportunity with potential to improve the lives of millions and dramatically accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. more

DNS: The Proven, Eco-Friendly Alternative to Blockchain and NFTs

As the world races towards digital transformation, the technologies we choose will have a lasting impact on our planet. Blockchain, NFTs, and other crypto assets have garnered much attention for their ability to securely and immutably store records. However, the environmental cost of maintaining these technologies is often overlooked. The energy consumption required to sustain blockchains, particularly those using Proof of Work (PoW), is enormous... more

White Space for Internet Use Interfering with Wireless Patient Devices?

There is a germ of truth (perhaps a prion-sized germ or maybe just an amino acid) in the idea that transmitters in "white spaces" in the TV band *might* disrupt patient monitoring equipment if designed by a lunatic who believes in sending massive pulses of energy in a whitespace in the TV band (perhaps amplified by a large parabolic dish antenna the size of a trashcan lid or larger, aimed at the patient monitor system. But that risk is completely shared with zillions of other potential radiators of energy in the entire electromagnetic spectrum... GE, of course, owns NBC. There is a MAJOR conflict of interest at the corporate level of GE... more

Meet Peter Harrison, the Only Caribbean Candidate for ARIN Board of Trustees Elections

Peter Harrison has been named among four finalists to contest elections for two seats on the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) board of trustees in October 2018. ARIN is one of five Internet registries worldwide that coordinate the distribution and administration of number resources. The registry serves the United States, Canada and several territories in the Caribbean. more

Department of Homeland Security Issues More Warnings on Security Vulnerabilities in Medical Devices

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning about cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices which have come after independent researchers, or the companies themselves, reporting the problems. more

Court Refuses Injunction in .africa TLD Case

"DotConnectAfrica's attempt to have ICANN legally blocked from delegating the .africa gTLD to rival applicant ZACR has been denied," Kevin Murphy reporting in Domain Incite. more

OpenDNSSEC Launched to Help Drive Adoption of DNSSEC

A team of developers including .SE (The Internet Infrastructure Foundation), LNetLabs, Nominet, Kirei, SURFnet, SIDN and John Dickinson have come together to create open source software, called OpenDNSSEC, to make it easier to deploy DNSSEC. Patrik Wallström, responsible for DNSSEC at .SE comments: "In order to spread the use of DNSSEC to an increased number of domain names, the management surrounding this technology must be simplified. Together with a number of collaborators, we're developing OpenDNSSEC. Leveraging our deployment experience, we will produce a well-packaged, easy-to-use and flexible DNSSEC tool that eliminates all manual procedures. Those in charge of name servers no longer need detailed knowledge about the protocol in order to use it." more

Rightside Rejects Donuts’ Unsolicited $70 Million Proposal, Says Undervalues Business

In an announcement released this morning, Rigtside said its Board of Directors has rejected the unsolicited proposal from Donuts Inc. to acquire Rightside's entire registry of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and related assets for $70 million in an all-cash deal. more

Networking Firm Loses $46.7 Million to Fraudulent Wire Transfer

Ubiquiti Networks Inc., a San Jose based maker of networking technology, has disclosed that cyber criminals stole $46.7 million via a "business email compromise fraud involving employee impersonation." more

Iran Nears Completion of Internet Kill Switch Amid Protests, Says Iran International

Iran is finalizing a nationwide internet isolation system that would allow authorities to disconnect from the global web, as protests continue and external equipment sources, including Huawei, remain shrouded in secrecy. more

Carriers Constrain Entrepreneurs

Previously, I've written about how the success of the MVNO (though not without its problems) demonstrates how an Open Access-like business model can work in a wireless context. The underlying carrier, such as Sprint or Verizon, can sell access to its network at wholesale rates to a company like Virgin Mobile, which then markets to consumers. This model can be and is a success both for the retailer and the wholesaler. MVNOs are not perfect. more

How Can You Make More Accurate Capacity Planning Decisions?

Cable operators face a big challenge today as data utilization continues to increase on their networks. Keeping up with the demand for high quality services while upgrading network infrastructure seems to be a never-ending task. Many times, network upgrades are done without much help from tools and systems, leaving it mostly based on experience and performance indicators defined by the operator. Unfortunately, this is the reality for far too many service providers today. more

Cyptech Needs You!

In August of last year I wrote in a blog about the importance of cryptech to wide-scale trust in the Internet. For those who don't know about it, http://cryptech.is is a project aiming to design and deploy an openly developed, trustable Hardware Security Module (HSM) which can act both as a keystore (holding your secrets and keeping them private) and as a signing engine. more