Do Not Track: Not as Simple as it Sounds

Over the past few weeks, regulators have rekindled their interest in an online Do Not Track proposal in hopes of better protecting consumer privacy. ... There are a variety of possible technical and regulatory approaches to the problem, each with its own difficulties and limitations, which I'll discuss in this post. more

Troubling Efforts to Distort and Undermine the Multistakeholder Process

ICANN's request for comment on amending the .com registry agreement to restore Verisign's pre-2012 pricing flexibility ended last Friday and, with 8,998 responses submitted by stakeholders, may have been a multistakeholder version of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Public interest in .com pricing is understandably high but the sheer volume of responses – nearly three times the number of comments submitted this summer on deregulating .org pricing – also suggests a show of force... more

U.S. Issues Cyber Incident Coordination Policy

White House has issued new directive spelling out how the Federal government will coordinate its incident response activities in the event of a large-scale cyber incident. more

The Growth Rate of Broadband Speeds

Cisco has changed the name of its periodic predictions of broadband usage from the Visual Networking Index to the Annual Broadband Report, and recently issued a report that covers the period from 2018 to predictions made through 2023. Cisco is one of the few industry players that projects future broadband usage. Their past reports have been spot on in terms of predicting future broadband usage. more

Japan Developing Distinctive Anti-Cyberattack Virus

The Japanese Defense Ministry is creating a computer virus capable of tracking, identifying and disabling sources of cyberattacks, according to reports. The development of the virtual cyberweapon was launched in 2008. Since then, the weapon has been tested in a closed network environment. "The most distinctive feature of the new virus is its ability to trace cyber-attack sources. It can identify not only the immediate source of attack, but also all "springboard" computers used to transmit the virus." more

Stargate Expands: OpenAI and Partners Unveil Massive AI Infrastructure Push Across the U.S.

OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank have announced five new data centers as part of their $500 billion Stargate initiative. This privately funded project aims to expand AI infrastructure across the United States. more

Want to Help Guide the Future of the MANRS Routing Security Initiative?

Would you like to help guide the future of the Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) initiative? As the MANRS community continues to develop new efforts to make the routing layer of the Internet more secure (ex. the equipment vendor program), would you like to help lead the work? The MANRS community is seeking volunteers for its new Steering Committee. The committee will lead the community as it evolves its governance model.  more

Luddites of the 21st Century Unite, Revisited

Some years ago I wrote a post on the fact that I saw the world automate fast and did not see a lot of people worrying about the consequences for their lives. Nobody was smashing automated production lines. Smashing smartphones and laptops. In fact, embrace of new technology by the masses probably never before in history went this fast. Several and very different causes, including globalization, have led to a level of wealth that made these expensive tools and toys within reach of a vast number of people. more

Lead With Privacy and Customers Will Follow

From high-profile data breaches to increasingly sophisticated tracking systems, the issue of consumer privacy is earning a lot of headlines these days. To better protect their personal privacy, many consumers are taking matters into their own hands. A Forrester Consulting survey revealed that one-third of consumers polled admitted to using do-not-track tools and ad blockers to protect their online privacy, while another 25 percent have cancelled at least one online transaction after reading the seller's privacy policy. more

Justice Department Recommends That the FCC Deny the Proposed ARCOS Cable Segment Connecting Florida and Cuba

In September 2020, I wrote a post on a proposed 56-kilometer link between the ARCOS undersea cable and the north coast of Cuba, near Havana. The Trump-appointed Justice Department Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector was to conduct a 120-day security review of the proposal. more

The Growth of DNS-OARC Highlights Great Strides in DNS Research

This past weekend several of my Dyn colleagues and I attended the DNS-OARC annual meeting and fall workshop in Montreal. "OARC" in the organization's title stands for "Operations, Analysis and Research Center". DNS-OARC was founded by the Internet Systems Consortium (best known as the maintainers of the BIND DNS software) in 2004 to address a gap in the DNS community. Engineers working to extend the DNS protocol itself have always had a home in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), but there was no corresponding community for those who operated DNS infrastructure and did research using data gleaned from DNS operations. more

Pinpointing Urban Broadband Gaps

The City of Chicago asked some researchers at the University of Chicago for help to identify the neighborhoods and the number of households that are not connected to broadband. It's been well known that large numbers of people in cities don't have broadband, but there have been no easy ways to pinpoint where solutions are needed. more

Optimistic Speculation on What Elon Musk Might Do With Twitter

Elon Musk is a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist" which leads some to worry that Twitter will be open to the sort of thing one finds at gab.com if his purchase of the company is completed. I have no idea what Musk plans to do with Twitter but let me offer some optimistic speculation. For a start, I don't believe Musk will use Twitter to advance right-wing candidates or policy. more

Where Do You Start to Mitigate the Latest Destruction-Motivated Cyber Threats?

With traditional cyber strategies failing businesses and governments daily, and the rise of a new breed of destruction-motivated Poli-Cyber terrorism threatening "Survivability", what are top decision makers to do next? There is a global paradigm change in the cyber and non-cyber threat landscape, and to address it the industry has to offer innovative solutions. more

AFRINIC Partners With ICANN on AFRICA DNS Business Exchange Programme

A series of internships have been set up to facilitate capacity building for registrars and registries in Africa to boost the African domain name business. Launched by ICANN in partnership with AFRINIC, the first phase of the DNS Business Exchange Programme involved interns selected from ICANN accredited registrars. more