Category: Internet

Facebook-owned Instagram to allow users to apply for new verification

fACEBOOK,INSTAGRAM,MESSANGER

Users will soon apply for verification on Instagram as the social media giant platform rolls out a number of new features aimed at increasing transparency and engagement. Instagram said it was rolling out the feature locally to clear the air around its verification process which had become the centrepiece of several conspiracy theories including paid-for blue badges and fake influencer accounts. “Our community asked us for more transparency around this issue, and with today’s announcement we’re sharing clear details about verification requirements and eligibility criteria,” Instagram’s strategic partner manager APAC,…

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New: Net Neutrality is Finally Dead.

Staff Writer

After months of delays, the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality finally took effect yesterday. But if you’re expecting broadband providers to suddenly feast on their customers and institute every now-legal impediment they can on free expression, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. What comes next isn’t internet hell but legal purgatory. First, the technical aspect of things: Restoring Internet Freedom, the FCC rule that officially does away with 2015’s Open Internet Order, was proposed last April, finalized in November, passed in December, entered into the Federal Register in February, approved by…

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South Africa’s Second biggest database New leak.

Barely a year after South Africa’s largest database leak was revealed in 2017, the country has suffered yet another data leak as 934,000 personal records of South Africans have been leaked publicly online. The data includes, among others, national identity numbers (ID numbers), e-mail addresses, full names, as well as plain text passwords to what appears to be a traffic fines related online system. Working together with Troy Hunt, an Australian Security consultant and founder of haveibeenpwned, along with an anonymous source that has been communicating with iAfrikan and Hunt, we’ve managed to establish that the…

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Google Changes New Rules on Election Adverts.

Staff Writer

Google is demanding that those placing political ads during the forthcoming US elections must prove they are US citizens or permanent residents. The demand is part of an update to its policies that tries to make political adverts more “transparent”. In addition, advertisers must reveal who has put up the cash for the advert. Social media firms have updated their policies in the wake of revelations that their ad platforms have been abused by Russian propaganda outfits. Google’s new policy follow similar changes at Twitter and Facebook governing who can…

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Google New Confirms Its Services Are Casualties Of A Russian Blockage Due To The Recent Telegram Ban

Staff Writer

A shower of paper airplanes were darted through the skies of Moscow and other towns in Russia as users answered the call of entrepreneur Pavel Durov to send the blank missives out of their windows at a pre-appointed time in support of Telegram, a messaging app he founded that was blocked last week by Russian regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN) that uses a paper airplane icon. RKN believes the service is violating national laws by failing to provide it with encryption keys to access messages on the service (Telegram has refused to comply).…

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Wikipedia Adds New Page Reviews for Easier Surfing

Staff Writer

Wikipedia added a useful new feature earlier this week: page previews. The Wikimedia foundation says that it’s “one of the largest changes to desktop Wikipedia made in recent years,” and provides readers with a popup window that provides a bit of additional context for the article behind the link. Reading through any Wikipedia page can turn into a rabbit hole that can take you to places you never expected. That exploration can be a fun, informative adventure, but it can also be a distraction, especially if the article you click…

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Telstra announces New First Global 5G Wi-Fi hotspots

Staff Writer
Safaricom

Telstra has announced switching on the world’s first 5G-enabled Wi-Fi hotspots in the Gold Coast ahead of the Commonwealth Games next month, with visitors to the region able to gain access to the free service. While no smartphones or tablets currently support 5G, Telstra said it is using 5G backhaul and infrastructure in its newly launched 5G Innovation Centre in the Gold Coast to power standard Wi-Fi access points. Telstra Networks MD Mike Wright said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon that there are seven or eight hotspots in the…

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The End of Wikipedia Free Access Zero Program.

Staff Writer

The Wikimedia Foundation has announced that free access to Wikipedia will end in 2018, which was part of the Wikipedia Zero partnership programme. The organization has discontinued Zero and has stopped forming new carrier partnerships. It will let its existing alliances end over time. Wikipedia Zero was created in 2012 to address high mobile data costs when accessing the service.Through the program, the foundation partnered with mobile operators to waive mobile data fees for their customers to freely access Wikipedia on mobile devices. “Over the course of this year, no…

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Google Chrome launches new default ad-blocker

Staff Writer

Google has launched an ad-blocker for its Chrome web browser that is designed to prevent “annoying” and “intrusive” ads being shown to users. Google announced the move to curtail full-page and auto-playing video ads, among others, last year. The choice of which ads to block will be determined by the Coalition for Better Ads (CBA) – made up of companies including Google and Facebook. Sites will have 30 days to remove disruptive ads before blocking begins. A survey of 40,000 US and European web users found that the most intrusive…

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New Dutch DDoS mystery attacks on Netherlands banks?

There is as yet no indication of who is behind the massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Netherlands banks and government websites that ran from last weekend to Tuesday. Initial reports suggesting a Russian connection appear baseless. The attacks began just a couple of days after media reports stated that Dutch intelligence tipped off their American counterparts about state-sponsored Russian spies hacking the apparatus of the Democratic Party and stealing the infamous “leaked emails” that may have swayed the 2016 election. “This weekend’s DDoS attacks were heavier than…

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