The FCC’s Christmas Gift to Internet Users

No doubt your Christmas would be troubled and anxiety ridden if not for this column assuring you that the Trump administration decision last week to “repeal net neutrality” does no such thing. Net neutrality long ago became the expectation of broadband customers. It was an expectation that internet service providers routinely met during the two decades before the Obama rules were enacted. It’s an expectation they will continue to meet after the Obama rules have been withdrawn. Net neutrality means unfiltered, unhindered access to what the web offers. Net neutrality is the business that broadband suppliers are in. What is being repealed is...

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Government-forced 'net neutrality': Putting future inventors between a rock and a hard place

One of my favorite Greek Myths is Sisyphus, an arrogant king who earned a terrible punishment by trying to cheat death: he was forced to roll a rock pointlessly up a hill, only to watch it roll back down every time, for all of time. Fast forward to modern times, and the debate surrounding “net neutrality” very much feels like my rock. We make a move in the right direction — taking a hands-off regulatory approach to the Internet — but then leftist activists swoop in, and try to throw shackles on the Internet. Armed with their good old playbook, these activists have declared war and are unapologetic in their efforts to spread mistruths that...

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The $300 Million Contract Awarded to the Interior Secretary's Friend's Company Is Exempt from Government Audits

The federal government has awarded a tiny Montana company a $300 million no-bid contract to repair Puerto Rico's hurricane-wrecked electrical grid. The company, Whitefish Energy, has close ties to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. A copy of that contract leaked last night, and it seems to prohibit the federal government from auditing Whitefish's work and to shield other details of the company's efforts from being disclosed via open records laws. "In no event," the contract says, will the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Comptroller General of the United States, "or any of their authorized representatives...

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6 Reasons to Use a VPN

A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, allows you to browse the Internet without fear of being spied on by neighbors, hackers, or the government, as the case may be. While you might think that only those with something to hide would be interested in using a VPN, that’s definitely not the case. Think of all the information you put out there on a daily basis without even thinking about it: Your Facebook status, your credit card numbers, your passwords…the list goes on. You might think that the websites you’re using are secure, and while that may be the case, it’s the security of your network that you need to worry about. There are also some ways...

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Massive iOS 11 leak reveals key iPhone 8 secrets ahead of launch

Oh, Apple, you just can’t keep leaking unreleased software, can you? After the massive HomePod leaks that practically confirmed many of the iPhone 8 rumors that we kept bumping into, we have a similar blunder from the Cupertino-based company. This time around, someone close to Apple leaked iOS 11 GM, the final iOS 11 version that’s actually be installed on the iOS devices launching soon. And iOS 11 GM is full of iPhone 8 details. The software was obtained by 9to5Mac, which inspected it for iPhone 8 clues. It turns out there are plenty of secrets that were not spilled in the previous HomePod dump. iPad Pro display The iPhone is finally getting...

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FTC settles with Lenovo over a built-in snooping software, $3.5 million fine

SAN FRANCISCO —  Lenovo, the world’s second largest computer manufacturer, has settled with the Federal Trade Commission over charges it shipped some of its laptops preloaded with software that compromised security protections in order to deliver ads to consumers. The company will also pay $3.5 million to 32 states that were part of the settlement. The VisualDiscovery program caused pop-up ads to appear on the user's screen whenever his or her cursor hovered over a similar-looking product on a website. While only information about websites the user visited was transmitted, the program had the ability to access all of a consumer’s...

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Apple's Real Reason for Finally Joining the Net Neutrality Fight

OVER THE PAST few months, as the Federal Communications Commission has moved closer to weakening net neutrality protections, countless tech companies have signaled their support for a strong and open internet. The lone voice missing through the debate: Apple. Yesterday, the final day to comment on the FCC's current net neutrality proceedings, the company finally broke its silence with a comment filed in support of strong rules to protect the open internet. But why, at the 11th hour and well after other tech giants joined the fight, is Apple speaking up now? And why, for that matter, is it speaking up at all? Apple's filing outlines several...

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Saros Cycle Solar Eclipses (Astronomy)

"Eclipse Countdown Until First Contact in Oregon August 21, 2017 UT" On Monday, August 21, 2017, all of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun. Anyone within the path of totality can see one of nature’s most awe inspiring sights - a total solar eclipse. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun's tenuous atmosphere - the corona - can be seen, will stretch from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun's disk. NASA created this website to provide a guide to this amazing event. Here you will...

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Google Will Launch Android O After The Total Solar Eclipse On Aug. 21: Rumors Say It's Android Oreo

Google announced that it will launch Android O on Aug. 21, and rumors claim that the next major version of the mobile operating system will indeed be named Android Oreo. Android O will be unveiled right after the total solar eclipse, a phenomenon that will sweep across the entire country for the first time since 1918. Android O To Launch Aug. 21 Google created a webpage dedicated to the upcoming total solar eclipse, which includes important information on the phenomenon, such as its expected time and ways to watch it for users outside the United States. Google also revealed details about the Eclipse Megamovie Project, which will gather...

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China pledges neutrality unless US strikes North Korea first

China’s government says it would remain neutral if North Korea attacks the United States, but warned it would defend its Asian neighbor if the U.S. strikes first and tries to overthrow Kim Jong Un’s regime, Chinese state media said Friday. “If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime, and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so,” reported the Global Times, a daily Chinese newspaper controlled by the Communist Party. Meanwhile, other Asia-Pacific countries have come out in support of the United States in the event of a North Korean nuclear...

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Donald Trump prepares supporters for worst as Robert Mueller's Russia investigation closes in

Embattled President tells fanbase election hacking conspiracy an establishment fabrication invented to deprive them of their leader of choice President Donald Trump is again attacking the media on Monday, and his broadsides carry a newly ominous edge: He is both faulting the media for allegedly downplaying the size and intensity of support from his base and accusing them of trying to deliberately weaken that support for him. 7 Aug Donald J. Trump  ✔ @realDonaldTrump The Trump base is far bigger & stronger than ever before (despite some phony Fake News polling). Look at rallies in Penn, Iowa, Ohio....... Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump Hard...

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No more ransomware: How one website is stopping the crypto-locking crooks in their tracks

No More Ransom launched a year ago: here's the story of how cybersecurity firms and law enforcement are working together to bring down ransomware. Law enforcement organisations and cybersecurity companies around the world have attempted to do what they can to disrupt ransomware -- whether through takedowns of cybercriminal gangs by the authorities or security companies finding and providing decryption keys. But this disjointed approach can only get so far in the modern hyper-connected world in which criminals cooperate across international borders and time zones. It's why the No More Ransom initiative was launched a year ago, with the idea...

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The Petya ransomware is starting to look like a cyberattack in disguise

The ransomware that wasn’t The haze of yesterday’s massive ransomware attack is clearing, and Ukraine has already emerged as the epicenter of the damage. Kaspersky Labs reports that as many as 60 percent of the systems infected by the Petya ransomware were located within Ukraine, far more than anywhere else. The hack’s reach touched some of the country’s most crucial infrastructure including its central bank, airport, metro transport, and even the Chernobyl power plant, which was forced to move radiation-sensing systems to manual. The ostensible purpose of all that damage was to make money — and yet there’s very little money to be found....

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Cyberattack Hits Ukraine Then Spreads Internationally

Several companies have been affected by the Petya cyberattack, including, from left, Rosneft, the Russian energy giant; Merck, a pharmaceutical company; and Maersk, a shipping company. Credit Left, Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters; center, Matt Rourke/Associated Press; right, Enrique Castro Sanchez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Computer systems from Ukraine to the United States were struck on Tuesday in an international cyberattack that was like a recent assault that crippled tens of thousands of machines worldwide. In Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, A.T.M.s stopped working. About 80 miles away, workers were forced to manually monitor radiation...

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Global Cyberattack: What We Know and Don’t Know

A screenshot of what appeared to be the ransomware affecting systems worldwide on Tuesday. The Ukrainian government posted the shot to its official Facebook page. A quickly spreading ransomware attack is hitting countries across the world including France, Russia, Spain, Ukraine and the United States, just weeks after a ransomware attack known as WannaCry. What We Know • Several private companies have confirmed that they were hit by the attack, including the American pharmaceutical giant Merck, the Danish shipping company AP Moller-Maersk, the British advertising firm WPP, the French multinational Saint-Gobain and the Russian steel, mining...

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