Happy Birthday, Backbone

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the decommissioning of the NSFNET backbone on April 30 1995, an important milestone in the development of the commercial Internet. The NSFNET was set up by the US National Science Foundation in 1985 to enable university researchers access to five supercomputer sites across the United States, using Internet Protocol technology. In stepping back, the NSF supported a transition to an Internet shaped by market forces, and the explosion of commercial use soon followed. more

Towards a Quantitative Approach for Objectively Measuring the Similarity of Marks

Central to many intellectual property disputes is an assessment of the degree of similarity of two contested marks. A determination of similarity is fundamentally a subjective decision involving a range of relevant tests, which include consideration of the perception of the relevant consumer and recognition of the existence of degrees of similarity within a spectrum (from high to low). more

Major International Botnet Disabled Says U.S. Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI announced on Wednesday that they have taken actions to disable an international botnet of more than two million infected computers responsible for stealing corporate data including user names, passwords and financial information. more

A New Busy Hour – One of the Many Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

One of the many consequences of the coronavirus is that networks are going to see a shift in busy hour traffic. Busy hour traffic is just what it sounds like -- it's the time of the day when a network is busiest, and network engineers design networks to accommodate the expected peak amount of bandwidth usage. Verizon reported on March 18 that in the week since people started moving to work from home that they've seen a 20% overall increase in broadband traffic. more

Further Ideas in Mark Similarity Measurement

In the final three articles in my series looking at algorithms for measuring the similarity of marks, I extend the ideas to provide a more sophisticated and adaptable framework. Article 4 introduces a similarity score based on color distance in RGB space, offering a quantitative approach to trademark similarity. Article 5 refines word mark similarity by using the International Phonetic Alphabet to improve phonetic analysis. The final article presents a method for sorting colors by dominant shade, aiding in trademark review and potential guidelines for color mark protection. more

Google, Facebook, Twitter and Other Tech Companies Join Forces to Support Apple in FBI Case

Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft are among tech companies that have joined Apple in its iPhone fight with the U.S. government, according the latest report from the Wall Street Journal. more

Our Nuclear Facilities are Cyberattack-Proof, Claims Iran

Iran's nuclear facilities are immune to cyber attack a senior Iranian military official has claimed today according to various reports. "Gholam Reza Jalali, who heads an Iranian military unit in charge of combatting sabotage, was quoted Monday by the official IRNA news agency as saying that Iran and its nuclear facilities possess the technology and knowledge to deal with malicious software." more

Russian Central Bank Announces Mandatory Cyber-Security Regulations for Domestic Banks

"Russian banks will be faced with a whole range of new regulations, and penalties for non-compliance, when it comes to cyber-security, according to the country's Central Bank," Eugene Gerden reported today in SC Magazine UK more

There is Always a Back Door

A long time ago, I worked in a secure facility. I won't disclose the facility; I'm certain it no longer exists, and the people who designed the system I'm about to describe are probably long retired. Soon after being transferred into this organization, someone noted I needed to be trained on how to change the cipher door locks. We gathered up a ladder, placed the ladder just outside the door to the secure facility, popped open one of the tiles on the drop ceiling, and opened a small metal box with a standard, low-security key. more

DHS Asks Citizens to Practice Good “Cyber Hygiene”

Kicking off the sixth annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has urged computer users to practice good "cyber hygiene". The campaign was given a boost Wednesday when the Senate passed resolution 285 to support its goal to make U.S. citizens more aware of how to secure the internet. DHS has also announced that is has been given new authority to recruit and hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity professionals across the department to fill roles such as: cyber risk and strategic analysis; cyber incident response; vulnerability detection and assessment; intelligence and investigation; and network and systems engineering. more

GNSO Council: Attend the .ORG Protest!

Tomorrow EFF, NTEN, Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, and other organizations will hold a rally outside of ICANN HQ from 9-11 am. You know about the rally, and you should all attend this event! Whatever your feelings about the sale of .ORG, you are leaders of the GNSO, the body that makes gTLD policy. This is a gTLD event, and registrants are trying to talk with ICANN, and they are trying to talk with YOU. more

Domain Name Association Supports IANA Transition, Petitions Congress to Move Forward

I recently sent a letter to congressional leaders including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid expressing the Domain Name Association's support of the U.S. Administration's planned transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to the global multi-stakeholder community under the stewardship of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). more

Data Breach Costs Continue to Rise, 40% Increase Since 2005

According to a new study by PGP Corporation and Ponemon Institute, data breach incidents cost U.S. companies $202 per compromised customer record in 2008, compared to $197 in 2007. The study is based on 43 organizations across 17 different industry sectors with a range of 4,200 to 113,000 records that were affected. It is also noted that since 2005, the cost component has grown by more than $64 on a per victim basis since -- nearly a 40% increase. more

Would You Fly an Airplane That Had a Pre-flight Checkout That Was Only 40 Percent Complete?

In the aviation world safety is paramount. Commercial airlines go to major lengths to make sure that their planes are fully up to code and can fly safely in the air. The risks - loss of human lives - are far too extreme to take any chances. One result of this diligence is the fact that travel by plane is far safer than any other method - nearly 40 times safer per mile than travel by car. While application security risks are not as dire, research shows CSOs fail to use the same stringent level of safety to secure their Internet-facing applications. more

FCC Aiming for 100 Million Households at 100 Megabits Per Second

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission unveiled a plan on Tuesday proposing minimum broadband speeds of 100Mbps. In his remarks, FCC's chief Julius Genachowski said: "To meet the imperatives of global competitiveness and enduring job creation, we must have broadband networks of such unsurpassed excellence that they will empower American entrepreneurs and innovators to build and expand businesses here in the United States. Our plan will set goals for the U.S. to have the world's largest market of very high-speed broadband users. A '100 Squared' initiative -- 100 million households at 100 megabits per second -- to unleash American ingenuity and ensure that businesses, large and small, are created here, move here, and stay here." more