New credit card chip technology goes live today
ST. PETERSBURG -Starting today, businesses that accept credit cards must be prepared to handle transactions with new chip-embedded cards or find themselves paying the bill in the event of fraud. They’re called EMV cards, and consumers will insert them into a card reader at checkout, rather than just swiping. The card reader takes the info […]
North America Just Ran Out of Old-School Internet Addresses
EVERY COMPUTER, PHONE, and gadget that connects to the Internet has what’s called an Internet Protocol address, or IP address—a kind of numerical name tag for every device online. And the Internet is rapidly running out of the most commonly used type of IP address, known as IPv4. Today, the American Registry for Internet […]
Obama administration is letting US carriers bring phone and internet service to Cuba
US telecom companies are now able to set up shop in Cuba for the first time thanks to loosening trade and travel restrictions between the two countries. Starting Monday, companies like AT&T and Verizon will be able to establish a physical presence in Cuba, partner with Cuban companies, and enter into licensing agreements to provide […]
Brazil to Boost Internet Speed Through Europe
Brazil will boost its Internet communications to reduce dependence on U.S. hubs and be able to host global data centers for heavy users like YouTube and Netflix, Jorge Bittar, head of state-run telecoms company Telebras, said in an interview. At present, all submarine fiber-optic cables connect Brazil to the Internet through the United States. That’s […]
Alibaba’s cloud business has built a data center cooled by lake water
AliCloud, the cloud computing division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has built a new data center that has the interesting distinction of being cooled by water from a nearby lake. It’s just the latest in a string of advances and progressive designs for giant computing facilities over the past several years, as Internet […]
Russian-Speaking Hackers Tap Satellite Internet Connections
The three elements anchored the plot of the James Bond movie Goldeneye. They’re also apparently the basis for a real-life Russian-speaking spy operation that covers its tracks with consumer satellite Internet connections, Russian computer-security firm Kaspersky Lab ZAO said Wednesday. The release arguably is as notable for its authors as its content. Kaspersky has […]
Rand Paul poses in front of NSA data center that he pledges to shut down
On Saturday, presidential hopeful and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) made an unusual campaign stop. Wearing his usual shades and messy curls, Paul posed with arms crossed in front of a controversial Utah data center belonging to the NSA. Alongside the photo, posted on Facebook, Paul made a bold campaign pledge: to essentially tear that data […]
Level3 suffering major outages; effects are felt worldwide
You may wonder what Level3 is, but it is a major backbone of the Internet based in the US. Many services and even ISPs rely on it to ensure major parts of the world are connected; in fact everything from Yahoo Mail, PSN, Xbox Live, Outlook, BT, Twitch, HBO Go, Craigslist, and other networks […]
North Korean Internet Goes Down
North Korea’s Internet went down twice in the past 12 hours as Pyongyang talks about going to war with South Korea. Dyn Research reported the Internet outages, but it is not clear whether they were intentional or not. Kim Jong Un on Friday ordered troops to enter a “wartime state” and warned the South to […]
Cubans Get a Tantalizing Taste of the Internet
HAVANA— Nancy Cabrera has hardly talked with her daughter in the last two years, inhibited by Cuba’s restrictive Internet access. But now, Ms. Cabrera and her daughter, who lives in China, have started to video-chat on their smartphones in a new public Wi-Fi spot as the communist regime here cautiously begins to improve connectivity. “We […]
Chinese police arrest 15,000 for Internet crimes
BEIJING — Police in China said on Tuesday they had arrested about 15,000 people for crimes that “jeopardized Internet security,” as the government moves to tighten controls on the Internet. Since taking over in 2013, President Xi Jinping has led an increasingly harsh crackdown on China’s Internet, which the Communist Party views with greater importance […]
FCC Fines Internet Company $750,000 for Blocking Wi-Fi Hotspots at Convention Centers
The Federal Communications Commission is fining a telecommunications provider $750,000 for blocking guests’ personal Wi-Fi hotspots at convention centers, where it has charged $80 for a single day of Internet access through its own Wi-Fi network. The FCC says it investigated Smart City Holdings following an informal complaint and found evidence of Wi-Fi hotspot blocking […]
Google loses data as lightning strikes
Some people have permanently lost access to their files as a result. Some disks damaged following the lightning strikes later became accessible. But a few were irreversibly affected. Generally, data centres require more lightning protection than certain other buildings. While four successive strikes might sound highly unlikely, lightning does not need to strike a […]
The Consequences of a Washington Internet Power Grab
As commissioners with the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission, respectively, we are disturbed to see our agencies on a collision course that could disrupt the country’s thriving Internet providers and businesses, with little or no added benefit for consumers. As the Internet brings greater efficiencies and benefits to the U.S. economy, some regulators […]
Hackers target internet address bug to disrupt sites
Hackers are exploiting a serious flaw in the internet’s architecture, according to a security firm. The bug targets systems which convert URLs into IP addresses. Exploiting it could threaten the smooth running of internet services as it allows hackers to launch denial-of-service attacks on websites, potentially forcing them offline. Regular internet users are unlikely to […]
Will the Internet Listen your Private Conversations
Like a lot of teenagers, Aanya Nigam reflexively shares her whereabouts, activities and thoughts on Twitter, Instagram and other social networks without a qualm.But Aanya’s care-free attitude dissolved into paranoia a few months ago shortly after her mother bought Amazon’s Echo, a digital assistant that can be set up in a home or office to listen […]
Major Flaw In Android Phones Would Let Hackers In With Just A Text
Android is the most popular mobile operating system on Earth: About 80 percent of smartphones run on it. And, according to mobile security experts at the firm Zimperium, there’s a gaping hole in the software — one that would let hackers break into someone’s phone and take over, just by knowing the phone’s number. Just […]
Google separates YouTube and Google Plus
Google looks say good bye to Google Plus, an awkwardly named social network that the American search engine had launched four years ago hoping it would become a serious rival to Facebook. Google has spent the last several months chopping up Google Plus’s most useful pieces and making them separate services as it moves away from […]
Dump truck behind Comcast outage in Denver
DENVER – Thousands of Comcast customers were without service after a dump truck damaged a fiber Tuesday. The outage was first reported around 8:30 a.m., affecting about 9,000 customers in the southern part of Denver, according to Comcast spokesperson Alexandra Ballas. Service was fully restored by 7 p.m. Repair crews determined the damage was caused […]
Hackers Hijacked A Jeep And 5 Other Scary Hacks
Jeepers creepers! It’s time to take security on the “Internet of things” seriously. Wired reporter Andy Greenberg recently asked two hackers to prove an exploit by taking over Greenberg’s Jeep Cherokee as he drove down a highway in St. Louis, which they did to great effect: As the two hackers remotely toyed with the […]