Sinowal Trojan May Be One of the Worst Crimeware Ever Created

A sophisticated cybercrime group that has maintained an especially devious Trojan horse for nearly three years has stolen login credentials of close to 300,000 online bank accounts and almost as many credit cards during that time, according to reports released today by RSA FraudAction Research Lab. The spyware is called Sinowal Trojan, also known as Torpig and Mebroot. RSA reports that their findings are based on data collected on this Trojan over the course of almost three years -- including information regarding its design and its infrastructure. Findings indicate that this may be one of the most pervasive and advanced pieces of crimeware ever created by fraudsters, say RSA experts. more»

Photos of Google's Latest $600 Million Data Center

Earlier this month, Google officially opened its new data center in South Carolina which was first reported during April of 2007 when the company announced its plans to invest $600 million in the project. This data center is one of the four new data center projects announced by Google last year with other locations being Lenoir, North Carolina; Council Bluffs, Iowa and Pryor, Oklahoma. more»

ICANN Released Its Draft for New Top-Level Domains, 45 Day Comment Period Now Open

In follow up to its earlier announcement this year regarding the relaxation of rules for the introduction of new Top-Level Domains, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) yesterday released a draft version of the Applicant Guidebook for those interested in applying for a new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). Although application comes with a hefty entry fee of close to $200,000, the development of new gTLD introductions will be of particular interest to trademark owners as well as any other company involved with domain names. Among various issues, the guidebook aims at addressing concerns such as who would qualify for '.apple' or '.amazon' gTLDs. more»

Spam Volumes Dropped by Two-Thirds After Major Spam Hub Shut Down

The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide plummeted on Tuesday after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations engaged in spam activity was taken offline, reports Brian Krebs of The Washington Post today. "Experts say the precipitous drop-off in spam comes from Internet providers unplugging McColo Corp., a hosting provider in Northern California that was the home base for machines responsible for coordinating the sending of roughly 75 percent of all spam each day." more»

Open Root Server Network to Close

Alternate DNS root server, the Open Root Server Network (ORSN) is shutting down. The project which began almost six years ago, is set to close at midnight on the last day of 2008. The following is part of the official statement released for the closure: Since start of operation in 2002 ORSN was a political alternative to ICANN/IANA operated root server network. It was also well known for technical innovation by providing IPv6 support before it was introduced in the ICANN/IANA operated root servers..." more»

Susan Crawford, Kevin Werbach Named Obama's FCC Review Team Leads

We'd like to congratulate our long time CircleID participants, Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach for being named today as Obama-Biden FCC Transition Team Leads. Susan Crawford, is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School who recently ended her term as a member of the Board of Directors of ICANN and is the founder of OneWebDay. Kevin Werbach, is an Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also the founder of the Supernova Group and the organizer of Supernova, a leading executive technology conference. more»

Obama Selects Internet, High-Tech Veteran as Part of Transition Team

Julius Genachowski, a veteran of Internet business operations and Washington tech policy has been named to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, "a move that could signal the prominence of high-tech policy in the new administration," reports Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post today. According to Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago, Genachowski will be among the team that will help Obama choose members of his new administration. more»

Read Obama and McCain Campaign Responses to Key Wireless, Broadband Issues

RCR Wireless has posted responses received from presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain to questions covering a wide range of policy issues confronting the wireless industry, telecom, broadband and high-tech sectors in general. Questions asked by Jeffrey Silva, RCR Wireless' Washington Bureau Chief, included: What are the biggest telecom and technology issues the next president of the United States will face? While the wireless industry is more competitive than other telecom sectors, consolidation in recent years has reduced the number of service providers. What steps would Obama/McCain administration take to prevent antitrust abuses and protect consumers? more»

ICANN Terminates EstDomains, Seeks Bulk Transfer of Customers

In follow up to reports on ICANN's termination of notorious domain name registrar, EstDomains due to fraudulent activities, the Internet oversight agency is now preparing to transfer domain names of its customers to other registrars... However the question asked by experts is whether any other registrar would have an interest in inheriting EstDomains questionable domain names. more»

Governments Concerned Over Introduction of New Geographical Top-Level Domains

There has been a lot of argument at the 33rd meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Cairo, which ends on Friday, about the rules for introducing new top-level domains. If certain governments have their way, ICANN will have to wait before introducing country or regional names as top-level domains (TLDs). They want the procedure for introducing new country domain names (ccTLDs, such as .uk) in non-Latin alphabets to be adopted first. This emerges from a report delivered by the Latvian diplomat Janis Karklins, chairman of ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) at the meeting in Cairo. more»

FCC Approves White Space for Broadband in Unanimous Vote

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today approved, in a 5-0 unanimous vote, the plan to open up unused, unlicensed portions of TV white space spectrum for wireless applications and devices. However, to prevent interference, FCC has also placed some "rigorous certification process" which device offered by a technology company for use on the white spaces will have to go through. more»

Egyptian Minister Demands ICANN to Become an Independent Organization

At the start of the 33rd meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Cairo, Tarek Kamel, Egypt's Minister for Communications and Information Technology, has called for ICANN to become an independent organization. Referring to the imminent expiry of ICANN's contract with the US Government next September, he said he expected ICANN to become a genuinely-independent, transparent and stable organization. Kamel is considered to be an important advocate of ICANN in the Arab world. more»

Anti-Phishing Working Group Join Domain Registrars in Fight Against Phishing

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), in consultation with the ICANN Registrar Constituency and several domain name registrars, has published a "best practices" advisory for registrars to help them implement mechanisms to make it more difficult to register and use domains for illicit uses such as phishing, a confidence scheme used to dupe consumers out of personal financial information. Several globally active registrars, including APWG members Go Daddy, the world's largest registrar and Network Solutions, the world's oldest commercial registrar, have already implemented or are planning to implement many of the best practices prescribed by the APWG's Anti-Phishing Best Practices Recommendations for Registrars, released this month. more»

Defense Science Board Urges Obama to Take Immediate Cybersecurity Measures

According to a report by the Defense Science Board, the President-elect Barack Obama will inherit a cybersecurity infrastructure that is ill-prepared for advanced cyberattacks which will be of particular challenge for the new leaders... Reporting today on eWeek, Roy Mark writes: "The Bush administration has been widely criticized by security experts as de-emphasizing cyber-security and hamstringing the authority of officials in charge of government-wide cyber-security" said Roy Mark in a report eWeek." more»

DDoS Attacks Getting More Powerful, ISPs Report Concern Over New Threats and Budget Pressures

Massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against ISPs and their customers have almost doubled over the past year, according to a new security report. Attacks on networks making them unavailable to intended users -- also known as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks -- exceeded 40 gigabits in the last year according to Arbor Networks' annual survey of ISPs from North America, South America, Europe and Asia. more»