Category: TECH

AT&T hit with a $100 million fine after slowing down, “throttling” its ‘unlimited’ data

Staff Writer

Washington Post reports that the Federal Communications Commission slapped AT&T with a $100 million fine Wednesday, accusing the country’s second-largest cellular carrier of improperly slowing down, throttling Internet speeds for customers who had signed up for “unlimited” data plans. The FCC found that when customers used up a certain amount of data watching movies or browsing the Web, AT&T “throttled” their Internet speeds so that they were much slower than normal. Millions of AT&T customers were affected by the practice, according to the FCC. The fine, which AT&T says it will fight, is the largest ever levied…

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Microsoft opens a ‘No Back Door’ Transparency Center to allow European governments a look at its source codes

Staff Writer
Microsoft

Microsoft has opened a Transparency Center in the Belgian capital, offering European governments a look at its source code. The center, opened in Brussels last week, will “enable governments to review and assess the source code of Microsoft products and to access important security information in a secure environment,” Microsoft said. The center is the second such facility the company has built – the first was opened in Redmond last year – and will be open to governments that have signed up to the company’s Government Security Program, which lets…

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How 5 most valuable internet companies have changed over the past 2 decades

Staff Writer
Google

It’s mind-boggling how the 5 most valuable internet companies have changed over the past 20 years In 1995, the internet was just about to get started. It was only a year after big internet companies like Yahoo and Netscape were founded. Fast forward 20 years later, and the web business landscape looks a lot different from back then. In fact, only 1 out of the 5 most valuable public internet companies from 1995 are still in the top 5 list, according to Mary Meeker’s “Internet Trends” report. Check out the…

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DotConnectAfrica joins the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) at the CBC TECH 2020 Launch in Washington DC

DotConnectAfrica Trust joined, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Tuesday, May 19 2015,  at the launch of CBC TECH 2020, a new initiative aimed at engaging the tech sector in increasing African-American representation and inclusion in the industry. The event was held at Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue Washington, DC  20540. Photo: Congressman G. K. Butterfield, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) at the Tech 2020 launch  The CBC Diversity Task Force Members include Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC), CBC Chairman, Rep. Barbara Lee (CA), Co-Chair,…

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Simple Website Security Flaw Exposes Data Of Charter Internet Customers

Staff Writer
Liquid Telecom

A Website Security flaw discovered in the site of Charter Communications, a cable and Internet provider active in 28 states, may have exposed the personal account details of its customers. Security researcher Eric Taylor discovered the cable provider’s vulnerability as part of his research, and demonstrated how a simple header modification performed with a browser plug-in could reveal details about Charter’s Internet subscribers. After Fast Company notified Charter of the issue, the company said it had installed a fix within hours. The vulnerability could reveal personal information of “millions” of the…

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Confirms it was Hacked

Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis confirmed on Tuesday that hackers had successfully hacked the bank, redirecting users of its online research services to fake websites set up by the attackers. The breach was just the latest in a spate of hackings against government systems in recent months, affecting the White House, the State Department and even the president’s own email account. In this case, the attack appeared to compromise the Internet’s routing system, known as the domain name system, or D.N.S thus was  hacked. In…

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Is Quantum computing about to make big trouble for cybersecurity?

Staff Writer
Google

There is a race to build quantum computers, and (as far as we know) it isn’t the NSA that is in the lead. Competing are big tech companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft; startups; defense contractors; and universities. One Canadian startup says that it has already developed a first version of a quantum computer. A physicist at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Ronald Hanson, told Scientific American that he will be able to make the building blocks of a universal quantum computer in just five years and a fully-functional demonstration machine…

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Big Market Research: Internet Security Market Expected to Grow Positively Despite a Rise in Hacks

Google

PORTLAND, Oregon, April 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Big Market Research adds a report titled “Global Internet Security Market – Size, Industry Analysis, Trends, Opportunities, Growth and Forecast, 2013 – 2020.” The report states that the market would attain a value of $42.8 billion by 2020 with a CAGR of 8.1% during the year 2014 – 2020. As of now, software solution dominates the market. However it is mentioned in the report that the cloud based system would register more growth during the forecast period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141014/710132 ) The widespread application of…

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Why investors should be concerned about cybersecurity breaches

Staff Writer
Liquid Telecom

Major security breaches continue to hit headlines, as businesses are forced to shift from focusing on the imminent nature of threats to calculating their potential financial impact. Companies are investing billions of dollars in cybersecurity, but the average return on spending for security technology is only 14%. Every year the cost of a data breach continues to rise. In spite of this, investors and shareholders don’t react strongly to news of a breach. Target’s stock fell 11% after it revealed it was the victim of one of the largest breaches ever to…

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EU hopes to abolish Internet geoblocking as it stands in the way of a modern digital market

Staff Writer

The European Commission has said it is resolved to do away with the common practice of the user IP-based blocking of some digital content on the Internet. It said geoblocking stood in the way of a modern digital market. The EU executive announced Wednesday it had reached a decision in principle to tear down national Internet usage barriers by scrapping the widespread practice of what’s become known as geoblocking. It’s a method of preventing users from accessing certain websites, videos, music and other content based on their location and has…

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