CircleID: News Briefs

Google Notifying Half a Million Users Affected By DNSChanger

2012-05-23T11:19:00-08:00

Google has announced that it has started undertaking an effort to notify roughly half a million people whose computers or home routers are infected with a well-publicized form of malware known as DNSChanger. "After successfully alerting a million users last summer to a different type of malware, we've replicated this method and have started showing warnings via a special message that will appear at the top of the Google search results page for users with affected devices."

Google starts showing DNSChanger warnings via a special message.

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More under: DNS, DNS Security, Malware, Security, Web

Eugene Kaspersky: World Needs International Agreements On Cyber-Weapons

2012-05-23T09:50:00-08:00

Eugene Kaspersky has warned global leaders that the world needs international agreements about cyber-weapons in the same way as it needs agreements about nuclear or biological weaponry. The chairman and chief executive officer of Kaspersky Lab, warned delegates at CeBIT Australia that cyber-warfare and terrorism was the number one internet threat facing the world today. He said the Stuxnet industrial virus had demonstrated that cyber-weapons were capable of damaging physical infrastructure, and were "a thousand times cheaper" to develop than conventional weaponry.

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More under: Cyberattack, Cybercrime, Internet Governance, Malware, Policy & Regulation, Security

ICANN Reopens TLD Application System

2012-05-21T21:43:00-08:00

After nearly six weeks of shutting down its TLD Application System (TAS) due to software issues, ICANN announced today the reopening of TAS. From the announcement: "The system will remain open until 23:59 GMT/UTC on 30 May 2012. Consistent with our previous practice and to allow the application window to open as soon as possible, two-hour maintenance windows have been scheduled as follows: 22 May at 16:30 GMT/UTC, 25 May at 23:00 UTC, and 29 May at 22:00 UTC. ... During the last few weeks, we have fixed the technical glitch that caused us to take the system offline."

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More under: ICANN, Top-Level Domains

Vint Cerf: Internet Freedom Under Threat from Governments Around the World

2012-05-21T11:21:00-08:00

Internet freedom is under threat from governments around the world, including the United States, warned Vint Cerf on Monday. Andrew Feinberg reporting in the Hill: "Cerf, a computer scientist who was instrumental in the Internet's creation, now employed by Google as its 'Internet evangelist,' said officials in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe are using intellectual property and cybersecurity issues 'as an excuse for constraining what we can and can't do on the 'net.' 'Political structures ... are often scared by the possibility that the general public might figure out that they don't want them in power,' he said."

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More under: Censorship, Internet Governance, Policy & Regulation

Geneva Discussion to Include India's Proposal for Government Control of Internet

2012-05-17T13:37:00-08:00

Shalini Singh reporting in the Hindu: "The raging controversy over possible excessive state regulation of the internet based on the IT Rules 2011 is now likely to be dwarfed by discussions in Geneva later this week over India's proposal to the United Nations General Assembly, for government control of the Internet… In its proposal submitted to the General Assembly in New York on October 26, 2011, India has argued for a radical shift from the present model of multi-stakeholder led decision-making, to a purely government-run multilateral body..."

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More under: ICANN, Internet Governance

DNSChanger Disruption Inevitable, ISPs Urged to Bolster User Support

2012-05-17T10:28:00-08:00

Up to 100,000 customer modems are at risk of losing their internet connection from July 9 when the FBI disables rogue DNS servers seized late last year. The affected customer modems make up about a third of the 350,000 to 400,000 internet users believed to still have the DNSChanger malware on either their modems or Windows computers.

Read full story: SC Magazine

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More under: Cyberattack, Cybercrime, DNS, DNS Security, Malware, Security

A Look at the Rapid Evolution of the World's DNS Infrastructure

2012-05-08T10:48:01-08:00

A recent report by Pingdom looks at the booming growth of Internet's DNS infrastructure. From the article: "Five years ago there were 123 DNS root server sites (the "backend" of DNS) spread out on the Internet. Today there are more than twice as many, over 300. Five years ago, 46 countries had root servers. Today, 76 have them. In other words, not only has the number of root servers grown tremendously, but their geographical spread has increased as well. This is good news for the overall stability and performance of DNS worldwide."

The report also notes that Europe has overtaken North America as the world region with the most root server sites.

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Gas Pipeline Firms Under Targeted Phishing Attacks

2012-05-08T08:34:00-08:00

The United States Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) has issued a warning about an active "spear phishing" campaign targeting companies in the natural gas pipeline sector. In an advisory issued last week, ICS-CERT said it has received information about targeted attacks and intrusions into multiple organizations over the past several months.

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More under: Cyberattack, Malware, Security

ICANN Receives Beyond Expected Number of New gTLD Applications

2012-05-08T08:13:00-08:00

The upcoming expansion of the internet's domain name system could see more than 2,000 new top-level domains come into existence, according to policy overseer ICANN. The organisation revealed at the weekend that it has received 2,091 applications for its controversial new gTLD programme, and could see up to 214 more before it shuts the door to applicants.

Read full story: The Register

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More under: ICANN, Top-Level Domains

China Passes 1 Billion Mobile Subscribers, Over 400 Million Mobile Web Users

2012-05-04T12:29:00-08:00

China now has more than 1 billion mobile subscribers (India isn't far behind) — that's more than three times the US. Second, China now has more than 150 million 3G users, as reported by mobiThinking. "These are the sum of subscriber stats from the three main Chinese operators. Third, China has more than 400 million mobile Internet users (i.e. more than there are mobile subscribers in the US), according to Analysys International. Fourth, China is now the largest smartphone market in the world with 22 percent (overtaking the US at 16 percent), according to Canalys."

As of March 2012 the combined total subscribers of the top three Chinese mobile operators — China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom — is now 1,012.5 million, according to mobiThinking's arithmetic.
Sources: China Mobile; China Unicom; China Telecom, Via: mobiThinking

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More under: Mobile

FBI Pushing Plans to Force Surveillance Backdoors on Social Networks, VoIP, and Email Providers

2012-05-04T11:40:00-08:00

Declan McCullagh reporting in CNET: "The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require the firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance. In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities..."

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More under: Access Providers, Email, Internet Governance, Policy & Regulation, Privacy, VoIP, Web

UK ISPs Ordered to Block Pirate Bay

2012-05-02T12:35:00-08:00

Britain's High Court — not the highest, but well up the ladder — has officially ordered Internet service providers to block Sweden-based file-sharing site The Pirate Bay. That means top British ISPs must shut off access to the site as soon as possible. ISPs Everything Everywhere, O2, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media have said they will, while a sixth, BT, has asked for a few weeks to mull over whether it will comply or not. The Pirate Bay hosts "torrent" files that let users connect with each other to download or share information — in principle, a legitimate activity.

Read full story: Time

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More under: Access Providers, Censorship, Internet Governance, Policy & Regulation

Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum Has Been Renewed

2012-04-25T23:24:00-08:00

The United Nations has announced that the membership of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum has been renewed.

A total of 56 members, 33 among them new, have been appointed. The Advisory Group members are from all stakeholder groups and all regions, representing Governments, the private sector, civil society, academia and technical communities.

All Advisory Group members serve in their personal capacity, but are expected to have extensive linkages with their respective stakeholder groups. The main task of the Advisory Group is to provide advice on the preparations for the next meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 6 to 9 November 2012.

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More under: Internet Governance

Google Launches Storage Service, "Drive"

2012-04-24T11:16:00-08:00

Google today launched a long-rumored "Drive” service to allow users store photos, videos, and other digital files in its massive data centers. Available immediately, first five gigabytes of storage per account of Google Drive is free and additional storage will be sold for prices starting at $2.49 per month for 25 gigabytes.

"Drive is also an open platform, so we’re working with many third-party developers so you can do things like send faxes, edit videos and create website mockups directly from Drive," said Google in its announcement today.

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More under: Cloud Computing, Data Center

Names of the Inaugural Internet Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

2012-04-23T13:31:00-08:00

The names of the inaugural Internet Hall of Fame inductees were announced today at the Internet Society’s Global INET 2012 conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

Internet pioneers and luminaries from around the world have gathered at the conference to mark the Internet Society’s 20th anniversary, and attend an Awards Gala to honor 2012 inductees:

Pioneers Circle – Recognizing individuals who were instrumental in the early design and development of the Internet: Paul Baran, Vint Cerf, Danny Cohen, Steve Crocker, Donald Davies, Elizabeth Feinler, Charles Herzfeld, Robert Kahn, Peter Kirstein, Leonard Kleinrock, John Klensin, Jon Postel, Louis Pouzin, and Lawrence Roberts.

Innovators – Recognizing individuals who made outstanding technological, commercial, or policy advances and helped to expand the Internet's reach: Mitchell Baker, Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, Van Jacobson, Lawrence Landweber, Paul Mockapetris, Craig Newmark, Raymond Tomlinson, Linus Torvalds, and Philip Zimmermann.

Global Connectors – Recognizing individuals from around the world who have made significant contributions to the global growth and use of the Internet: Randy Bush, Kilnam Chon, Al Gore, Nancy Hafkin, Geoff Huston, Brewster Kahle, Daniel Karrenberg, Toru Takahashi, and Tan Tin Wee.

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Iran Investigating Suspected Cyberattack on Its Main Oil Export Terminal

2012-04-23T13:02:00-08:00

A virus was detected inside the control systems of Kharg Island — which handles the vast majority of Iran's crude oil exports — but the terminal remained operational, a source at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said. The virus, which is likely to draw comparisons with the Stuxnet computer worm which reportedly affected Iranian nuclear facilities in 2009-10, struck late on Sunday. It hit the internet and communications systems of Iran's Oil Ministry and of its national oil company.

Read full story: Reuters

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More under: Cyberattack, Security

EFF: U.S. Cybersecurity Strategy Likely to Have Serious Implications for Canadians

2012-04-19T12:46:00-08:00

EFF and several other civil society organizations have declared a 'Stop Cyber Spying Week' in protest of several controversial U.S. cybersecurity legislative proposals, including the bill currently before Congress and the Senate called CISPA. From the EFF statement:

[T]he U.S. cybersecurity strategy envisions a voluntary cooperative regime where Internet companies are given broad-ranging immunities to surveil Internet users and downstream online services. This amounts to an erosion of personal privacy safeguards currently in place. Under this regime, an online company need only to assert a vague 'cybersecurity objective' and it will have carte blanche to bypass domestic laws and protections against privacy invasion.

This legislation is likely to have direct implications for Canadians. Canada and the United States have agreed to a joint 'Beyond the Borders Initiative' aimed at establishing a 'secure perimeter' around the two countries.

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More under: Access Providers, Internet Governance, Policy & Regulation, Privacy

Study Reveals Economic and Societal Benefits of Establishing IXPs in Emerging Markets

2012-04-17T12:35:00-08:00

The Internet Society today published the results of a study that demonstrates the far-reaching economic and societal benefits of establishing Internet Exchange Points (or IXPs) in emerging markets. The study, commissioned by the Internet Society and conducted by independent strategy and research consultancy, Analysys Mason, examined the critical cost and performance benefits of IXPs in Kenya and Nigeria — two sub-Saharan countries that have been on the leading edge of Internet growth in Africa.

"Many emerging markets do not have well-established IXPs, forcing domestic Internet traffic onto long-distance international links, resulting in significantly higher costs and latency."

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More under: Access Providers, Broadband

Why SOPA Defender Joins Internet Society as Regional Director

2012-04-17T11:50:00-08:00

Paul Brigner – Appointed Regional Bureau Director, North America at Internet SocietyInternet Society recently announced the appointment of former chief technology officer of Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The decision has raised concerns within the Internet community as Paul Brigner had campaigned for SOPA while at MPAA as well as being on record opposing net neutrality while being an official at Verizon.

Cory Doctorow of the Guardian who has been investigating the story says a good case has been made for him being the right man for the job. Doctorow writes:

"I asked Brigner whether his statements about DNS blocking and seizure and net neutrality had been sincere. 'There are certainly a number of statements attributed to me that demonstrate my past thoughts on DNS and other issues,' he answered. 'I would not have stated them if I didn't believe them. But the true nature of my work was focused on trying to build bridges with the technology community and the content community and find solutions to our common problems. As I became more ingrained in the debate, I became more educated on the realities of these issues, and the reality is that a mandated technical solution just isn't a viable option for the future of the internet. When presented with the facts over time, it was clear I had to adjust my thinking.'"

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More under: DNS, DNS Security, Internet Governance, Net Neutrality, Policy & Regulation

Department of Commerce Begins Re-Solicitation for IANA Contract

2012-04-17T10:35:00-08:00

In follow up to the cancelation of IANA Contract RFP last month, the United States Department of Commerce (DoC), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have just issued solicitation of the contract. Details in the notice include:

The United States Department of Commerce (DoC), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) intends to award a contract to maintain the continuity and stability of services related to certain interdependent Internet technical management functions, known collectively as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). The anticipated period of performance of this contract is October 1, 2012 - September 30, 2015.

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More under: ICANN, Internet Governance, IP Addressing, Policy & Regulation