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

Security Researchers Announce First SHA-1 Collision, Confirming Fears About Its Vulnerabilities

In a joint announcement today, Dutch research institute CWI and Google revealed that they have broken the SHA-1 internet security standard "in practice". more

Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Grow 23.1% Year over Year in 2nd Quarter of 2014

The worldwide smartphone market grew 23.1% year over year in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q14), establishing a new single quarter record of 295.3 million shipments, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. more

Transparency Comes to Load Testing via the Cloud

The importance of online presence continues to grow exponentially. More and more of our personal and professional endeavors are conducted online. Because of this, the ability to ensure a good experience for our online friends and customers also is increasing rapidly. At its core, load testing is nothing more than ensuring your online presence is ready for the number of visitors you expect. It's simple to explain, but historically it's been anything but simple, or easy to afford. 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

New Cybersecurity Regulations in New York Go Into Effect

Major financial firms operating in New York will face stiff cybersecurity obligations starting Wednesday under a new regulation introduced in the city. more

How COVID-19 is Affecting the Smartphone Industry

At first glance, the COVID-19 pandemic would seem to be great news for tech companies. Depending on which set of statistics you look at, internet usage has spiked by up to seventy percent over the past month as people around the globe are forced to work, socialize, and entertain themselves at home. However, it's not all good news for tech companies. 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

IGF Hyderabad: Interview of Participants

I am uploading short video interviews of Internet Governance Forum (IGF) participants during the 3 - 6 December 2008 conference in Hyderabad, India. The participants are asked a standard set of questions... Some 10 interviews are now online. My aim, if possible, is to interview at least 100 participants. more

The US-China Cold War in Cyberspace

In 2019 and 2020, the economic conflict between the US and China reached a peak. There was a months-long tariff battle that is still not fully resolved. After blocking Chinese-centered equipment manufacturer Huawei from its own markets, the US pushed hard to get the Five Eyes and all of its allies to block Huawei from foreign markets, too. Then the US started blocking its own companies... 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

Cyber Espionage Group, Snowbug Targets South American Foreign Policy

Cyber espionage group targets South American and Southeast Asian governments using custom Felismus malware. 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

US Carriers Continue Their Decline As More Folks Push Their Way Into the “Tier 1” Club

Clint Hepner from Renesys reports: "The US old guard of AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and Qwest are treading water or declining. And as if to highlight that fact, Telecom Italia, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom (AS5511) all became transit-free during the year. ... [P]roviders with a strong global footprint and a diverse set of offerings are continuing to rise in the rankings. And those organizations with popular content or captive end-users will find themselves increasingly in the driver's seat when it comes to pricing negotiations. When it comes to the Internet, the only constant is change and we can expect more turmoil in 2011 as the market continues its rapid evolution." more

ICANN Meeting in Nairobi to Go Ahead Despite Safety Concerns

A special board meeting was held today by ICANN in order to address the upcoming meeting in Nairobi and security concerns raised by the community as a result of recent events in the city. ICANN has reaffirmed it's commitment to the meeting in Nairobi and an announcement was made via a blog post by Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's President and CEO. more