German IPv6 Council Starts Contest, Looking for Fresh IPv6 Ideas

Last week the German IPv6 Council initiated a contest for new ideas related to IPv6 where the council invited submissions of applications which are based on the new internet protocol. The council hopes the contest will be a helpful step towards an efficient and large deployment of IPv6. The IPv6 Council, founded in late 2007 in Potsdam, will award prices of up to 10,000 Euros to the best developers' ideas for concepts, applications, and implementations. The winners will be announced and receive their awards at the 2nd German IPv6 Summit on May 14th, 2009 in Potsdam. more

Google and Facebook Join Forces to Directly Connect Los Angeles to Hong Kong via Undersea Cable

TE SubCom, leading provider of undersea communications technology and marine services, along with Facebook, Google, and PLDC (Pacific Light Data Communication Co. Ltd.), have announced that they will co-build the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), a 12,800 km transpacific submarine cable system that will provide the first direct undersea route between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, California (USA) with ultra-high capacity transmission. more

Can Zero Trust Security Put an End to Human Security Weaknesses?

How bad is the human security weakness problem? Verizon's 2022 Data Breaches Investigations Report says 82 percent of data breaches have human involvement. This involvement can mean misconfigurations, poor security policy implementation, negligence, and falling prey to social engineering schemes. Essentially, a vast majority of data breaches have penetrated cyber defenses because of human carelessness, inconsistencies, and gullibility. more

Using 42 GHz Spectrum for Broadband

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission circulated draft rules to govern the lower 42 GHz spectrum (between 42-42.5 GHz). This is within the range of spectrum referred to as millimeter wave spectrum. This is one of the more unusual FCC spectrum deliberations because this spectrum is totally empty -- there is nobody currently authorized by the FCC to use the spectrum band. The FCC is starting this deliberation with a clean slate. more

China Developing Cyber Weapons to Gain Control of Enemy Satellites

According to a leaked US intelligence report, China is developing capabilities to "deny, exploit or hijack" enemy satellites as a core part of its goal to control information.  more

Google, Facebook Quietly Start Using Automation to Remove Extremist Content

"Google, Facebook quietly move toward automatic blocking of extremist videos" report Joseph Menn and Dustin Volz in Reuters: "Some of the web’s biggest destinations for watching videos have quietly started using automation to remove extremist content from their sites, according to two people familiar with the process." more

The Privacy Shield Governing EU-US Data Flows Gets European Approval

"EU-U.S. commercial data transfer pact clears final hurdle," Julia Fioretti today reported in Reuters: "A commercial data transfer pact provisionally agreed by the EU executive and the United States in February received the green light from EU governments on Friday." more

Obama Proposes $19 Billion for Cybersecurity in Final Budget Plan

President Obama is seeking a 35 percent increase in cybersecurity funding in his final budget to boost the capability of the federal government to defend itself against cyberattacks, reports Ellen Nakashima in the Washington Post. more

Good Internet Hygiene During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We are all aware of the steps for mitigating the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19): Wash your hands; Practice social distancing; Report exposure.But these are not the only activities to practice right now. Cyber-criminals are taking advantage of this health crisis and the emotional upheaval it creates to perpetrate their crimes. Therefore, we also need to exercise good internet hygiene. In a time of crisis or tragedy, bad actors don't slow down; their efforts amplify. more

Bangladesh Central Bank Governor Quits Amidst One of the Largest Cyber Heists

Bangladesh's central bank governor has resigned today amidst theft of $81 million from the bank's U.S. account, as details emerged in the Philippines that $30 million of the money was delivered in cash to a casino junket operator in Manila. more

Getting Serious About Satellite Texting

One of the more interesting telecom announcements at the CES electronics show in Vegas was the announcement from the partnership of Qualcomm and Iridium of plans to bring satellite texting capability to many more cell phones and other devices. We've already seen a few other announcements recently of the ability to make emergency text calls when out of reach of cell coverage. more

The ITU Strategic Plan: Time to Terminate

In recent times, groups of people gather at the ITU in Geneva and write a "strategic plan" covering the next few years. Indeed, there is a current questionnaire to that effect. It is frozen in a world that existed 30 years ago, and by any measure, surreal and absurd. It needs to be terminated. Here is why. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has existed in various forms since 1850 to perform two basic functions. more

Cheers to ICANN!

It has been 1.5 years since I have started my journey with ICANN. Within this short journey of mine, looking back I remember a nice memory that makes me love ICANN more and forces me to get involved even deeper. I got to know about ICANN in the APNIC conferences. I didn't really get the enormity of ICANN until I attended my first ICANN meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 2017 as a fellow. more

Mobilizing the Internet Community for Coronavirus Pandemic Communications

The Coronavirus pandemic has profound impact on every aspect of every person's life. We all have turned to the Internet to stay informed on this one subject. Unfortunately, the Internet community is not equipped to organize the Internet around one subject. Governments and businesses are reorganizing their websites daily to make new paths to new coronavirus information on many topics suitable for their many audiences. more

Google Internet Traffic Continues to Soar

Craig Labovitz reporting today on Arbor Networks blog: "In their earnings call last week, Google announced a record 2010 third-quarter revenue of $7.29 billion (up 23% from last year). The market rejoiced and Google shares shot past $615 giving the company a market cap of more than $195 billion. This month, Google broke an equally impressive Internet traffic record -- gaining more than 1% of all Internet traffic share since January. If Google were an ISP, as of this month it would rank as the second largest carrier on the planet..." more