News Briefs

New EU Satellites to Protect Government Communications, Provide Connectivity and Surveillance

A new network of European telecommunication satellites will be active from 2024, following the green light by European Parliament. The Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite project is aimed at providing a secure communications infrastructure for EU government bodies and agencies, emergency services and European delegations around the world. more

GoDaddy Reveals Its Network Suffered a Multi-Year Security Compromise

On Friday, GoDaddy revealed that it had suffered a multi-year security compromise that allowed unknown attackers to steal company source code, customer and employee login credentials, and install malware that redirected customer websites to malicious sites. more

FAA Announces $175,000 Fine Against SpaceX for Failure to Submit Required Pre-Launch Information

SpaceX, the leading provider of commercial launches in the United States, is subject to FAA regulations and must provide safety data prior to any attempt at launch. Last year, SpaceX performed a record 61 launches, with 34 of them primarily for the Starlink program. more

Ukraine Conflict Transformed the Cyber Threat Landscape, Says Google

According to a recent analysis, the cyber threat landscape has changed dramatically one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Google TAG, Mandiant, and Trust & Safety have released a report titled, Fog of War: How the Ukraine Conflict Transformed the Cyber Threat Landscape, based on analysis from Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), Mandiant, and Google Trust & Safety. more

Google Fiber Launches 5-Gig Service in 4 of Its 12 Existing Metro Markets

Google Fiber is boosting its internet speeds and availability by offering a new 5-gig tier in four of its existing markets. Nick Saporito, Head of Multi-gig and Commercial Product, made the announcement in a blog post on Valentine's day titled: Fall in love with fast -- 5 Gig is here! more

China Withdraws From International Undersea Cable Project Amid Rising US Strife

China has cut its involvement in the Sea-Me-We 6 project as tensions rise between the US and China over the control of the physical infrastructure that transmits the world’s online traffic, according to a report by FT on Friday. more

Amazon Gets FCC Approval to Deploy Its Project Kuiper Broadband Satellites

Today, the FCC has sided with Amazon in a regulatory battle over Project Kuiper, the company's satellite internet system. Despite objections from rival SpaceX, the commission has approved Amazon's plan to prevent the upcoming satellite internet constellation from causing orbital debris in space. more

Hal Lubsen, Industry Leader and Former CEO of Afilias, Has Passed Away

Hal was an American entrepreneur and a visionary leader who managed and grew successful companies. He had a special impact on the domain name industry, where he founded domain retailer DomainBank and, in 2000, domain registry, Afilias. Hal grew Afilias into an industry leader and was also instrumental in founding Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit that manages the .org domain. more

SpaceX Restricts Ukraine’s Use of Its Satellite Internet for Drones

SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service has been seen as a great hope for connecting people in hard-to-reach areas, but it has also raised fears about the potential for weaponization and other abuse. According to COO Gwynne Shotwell, the company is pleased to help Ukraine in its "fight for freedom," but Starlink was "never intended to be weaponized." more

GoDaddy Laying Off 8% of Its Workforce Amid Uncertain Macroeconomic Environment

GoDaddy has announced a plan to reduce its global team size by 8%. The move will affect multiple levels in the company, as well as its three brands -- Media Temple, Main Street Hub, and 123 Reg. more

Healthcare Industry Was the Most Common Victim of Third-Party Breaches in 2022

Health care industry was the most common victim of cyberattacks in 2022, according to a report by cyber intelligence firm, Black Kite. The study found a total of 34.9% of cyberattacks occurred in health care, up 1% from the year before, making it the most attacked sector for the second year in a row. more

Feds Confirm Cyberattack Caused Nation’s Critical Suicide Helpline Outage

Federal officials have confirmed that a cyberattack caused a nearly day-long outage of the United States's 988 mental health helpline on December 1st, 2020. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) revealed that the attack occurred on the network of Intrado, the company that provides telecommunications services for the helpline.  more

Biden’s Cyberspace Ambassador Urges Americans to Tone Down the Anti-China and Anti-Russia Tough Talk on Tech

Nathaniel C. Fick, the federal government's inaugural ambassador at large for cyberspace and digital policy, has urged Americans to tone down the anti-China and anti-Russia tough talk on tech in order to establish better relations with nations that have yet to pick a side. more

EU-based DNS Internet Infrastructure Beginning to Take Shape, Planned to Onboard 100 Million Users

The EU has been pushing for the development of DNS4EU, a public European DNS resolver with built-in filtering capabilities, as a way to strengthen the "digital sovereignty" of the EU and protect citizens, companies, and public institutions from phishing attacks and malware. In December 2021, a consortium of 13 public and private companies from ten European countries were granted the project to build a public DNS resolution service tailored for the EU. more

The European Commission Proposes Charging Data-Heavy Streamers for Telecom Upgrades

The European Union has launched a consultation on a proposal that would require technology companies, such as Netflix and Alphabet Inc., who use the most bandwidth to help pay for the next generation of internet infrastructure. more