Last month, McDonalds dumped its .brand top level domain names .McDonalds and .MCD, HTC the phone company has joined a growing list of new gTLD applicants who have opted to terminate registry agreements. HTC is now the 27th .brand owner to kill its gtld. The $4.3 billion-a-year Taiwanese HTC wrote to ICANN on May 8 …
It was reported last week that China was clamping down on users who rely on virtual private networks (VPN) to break free of its notorious internet filter. Apple Inc. has now removed some virtual private network applications from its stores in China, a move that could block users ability to bypass a local web firewall …
Geneva, 31 July 2017 New data released by ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), show that 830 million young people are online, representing 80 per cent of the youth population in 104 countries. ITU’s ICT Facts and Figures 2017 also shows a significant increase in broadband access and subscriptions …
In a white paper released on Thursday, EFF has warned domain registrants against unfair policies set by new TLD registries and offers ways to minimize exposure to trademark bullying. The white paper titled, “Which Internet registries offer the best protection for domain owners?” also touches on how some domain name registries and registrars do a …
UK businesses are most likely to pay up following a ransomware attack, new figures have claimed. Research by security firm Malwarebytes found that almost half (49 per cent) of UK businesses would pay ransom following a ransomware attack. Globally, the figure sits somewhat lower, at 42 per cent, according to Malwarebytes’ “Second Annual State of …
Following the outbreak of the Petya-based malware in Ukraine, the author of the original version, Janus, decided to release his master key, probably closing the project. You can read the full story here. Based on the released key, Malwarebytes has prepared a decryptor that is capable of unlocking all the legitimate versions of Petya (read …
Around 1,000 people marched through central Moscow on Sunday to protest against the government’s harsh legislative controls on the internet. Russia in recent years has moved to impose restrictions on internet use, blacklisting web pages for extremist content and prosecuted a growing number of individuals for posting online. Protesters on Sunday highlighted the case of …
The FBI yesterday released a public service announcement (PSA) alerting parents to the dangers potentially imposed by smart toys. Early this year, security researcher Troy Hunt, reported that a series of web-connected, app-enabled toys called CloudPets have been hacked. The manufacturer’s central database was reportedly compromised over several months after stunningly poor security, despite the attempts …
The Department of Justice and its international partners announced Thursday a takedown of a massive Dark Web marketplace that was allegedly one of the world’s biggest sources for the sale of drugs and illicit materials, striking a blow to the cybercriminal underground. In shutting down AlphaBay and arresting its alleged founder, Alexandre Cazes, the Justice …
Amazon.com has become the latest winner in the ICANN Independent Review Process IRP. Amazon was one of the largest applicants for new domain names, but its .brand strategy was slowed down when governments opposed its .amazon application. Amazon’s applications had been rejected three years ago after ICANN accepted Governmental Advisory Committee consensus advice. That advice, …