Australia’s First Online Census Halted Due to Multiple DDoS Attacks

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports deliberate and "malicious" attacks from offshore, designed to sabotage nation's first online 2016 Census. more

Broadband Internet Crunch is Beginning to Occur

Internet demand remains at a rate which could outpace capacity within the next two to four years, according to "Internet Interrupted: Why Architectural Limitations Will Fracture the 'Net," a new report today from Nemertes Research. ...If left unaddressed, the development of next generation applications, from software to interactive video, will likely be stifled as users find Internet infrastructure incapable of efficiently delivering quality content. more

Will COVID-19 Traffic Kill the Internet?

This is the question being asked all across the industry as the volume of data traffic has leaped upward due to students and employees working from their homes. We got our first glimpse of the impact of the crisis when Verizon announced a week into the crisis that they were seeing a 22% increase in data traffic in their network. More recently, AT&T announced a 27% increase in network traffic. more

Activist Hackers Target Government Websites Amid Escalating Israel-Hamas War

Hackers have intensified attacks on government websites and media outlets, both on the Israeli and Palestinian sides. more

Trump a Disaster for Innovation Said Tech Leaders in an Open Letter

The list includes Internet Pioneer, Vint Cerf; eBay Founder, Pierre Omidyar; Facebook's Dustin Moskovitz; Reddit's Alexis Ohanian; Medium's Ev Williams; Apple's Steve Wozniak; and venture capitalists Vinod Khosla and Chris Sacca. more

WHOIS Disclosure Questions

In 2020, the ICANN Generic Name Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council approved a plan to revamp the WHOIS system as per the recommendations given by the ICANN Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP). This plan directed ICANN to develop a centralized System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) for WHOIS records. After much debate regarding the suitability and cost of such a system, ICANN brought together a group... more

ETSI Launches Industry Specification Group: Europe for Privacy-Preserving Pandemic Protection

Nothing can describe the situation the world is living today more accurately than the current aspect of the Dolores Park in the town of San Francisco (USA). These days the green grass shows an abnormal aspect. A series of white circles span all the ground around. It is not the effect of an extra-terrestrial visit, it is just the consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic: the circles mark the safety areas where families can enjoy the park, socially-distanced, under the Sun. more

U.S. Cable TV Industry’s Rapid Decline Continues: Over 6.9 Million Customers Cut the Cord in 2023

at the end of 2023. LRG compiles most of these numbers from the statistics provided to stockholders, except for Cox and Mediacom - they now combine an estimate for both companies. Leichtman says this group of companies represents 96% of all traditional U.S. cable customers. I suspect there are regular blog readers who wonder why I post these statistics every quarter. more

Will Electronically Steered Antennas Replace Parabolic Antennas in Satellite Ground Stations?

Three recent developments make me wonder whether we are on the cusp of a shift in satellite ground station technology from parabolic to electronically steered antennas (ESAs). The U.S. Space Force operates the Satellite Control Network, with 19 parabolic antennas at seven locations around the world. more

Telecoms Development Booming in the French Pacific Territories

After the nuclear submarine debacle with France, political ties have been restored, and both France and Australia have agreed on further cooperation in the South Pacific, where France has several overseas territories. Also, here telecoms is a key issue. Such cooperation has become more urgent with the increased political interest of China in the region. more

2025 Cheat Sheet for Digital and Internet Governance

The year 2025 will be a landmark year for digital diplomacy and global governance. It is the year of wrapping up the UN cybersecurity OEWG and the negotiations on cybercrime at the Ad Hoc group. It's the year UN member states will decide on the future of the World Summit of Information Society process and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). more

Internet Three Strikes Laws Violate International Law, Says UN Report

Michael Geist reporting in his blog: "The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression has released an important new report that examines freedom of expression on the Internet. The report is very critical of rules such as graduated response/three strikes, arguing that such laws may violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Moreover, the report expresses concerns with notice-and-takedown systems, noting that it is subject to abuse by both governments and private actors." more

Is There a Business Case for Fast Cellular?

We've gotten a glimpse of the challenges of marketing faster cellular usage since the two major cellular providers in South Korea made a big push in offering ultrafast cellular broadband. South Korea has two primary cellular carriers – SK Telecom and KT – and both have implemented cellular products using millimeter wave spectrum in Seoul and other dense urban areas. more

The Security Talent Gap Is Misunderstood and AI Changes It All

Despite headlines now at least a couple of years old, the InfoSec world is still (largely) playing lip-service to the lack of security talent and the growing skills gap. The community is apt to quote and brandish the dire figures, but unless you're actually a hiring manager striving to fill low to mid-level security positions, you're not feeling the pain -- in fact, there's a high probability many see problem as a net positive in terms of their own employment potential and compensation. more

Ted Cruz May Have a Point

As the time ticks away on Senator Cruz's ersatz Doomsday clock, possibly accompanied by the fat sound of Mic Michaeli's analog synthesiser riff, it is easy to dismiss all his arguments as the ravings of a disappointed Cecil Underwood. Some in the ICANN community have described Cruz as a skilled orator. This isn't precisely accurate. He is certainly a competent orator but his outstanding skill is that he is a brilliant courtroom advocate. more