Uncategorized

FBI wants network administrators to tighten security, up to a point

31 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Crackers working for the Russian government broke into the computer system of “a U.S. political party” during the last election cycle. That’s the unsurprising top line conclusion of a joint report issued by the federal homeland security department and the FBI. Two separate teams working for Russian intelligence agencies phished more than a thousand party functionaries and eventually gained access to administrator level privileges on the target system.

Beneath that top line, though, lurks a fascinating, and ironic, description of how state-sanctioned crackers can penetrate workaday IT networks maintained by corporations and government agencies, and what can be done to stop them.… More

CenturyLink tries to hide California market squeeze under pile of paperwork

30 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

CenturyLink is asking the Federal Communications Commission for formal permission to buy Level 3, and it’s trying to portray the deal as a couple of complementary, non-overlapping companies coming together to fight the bigger, badder companies that make the telecoms market so uncompetitive.

Not so. At least where California is concerned.

The filing would have you believe that CenturyLink just…

Provides communications services including voice, wholesale local network access, high-speed Internet access, data transmission, security monitoring, and information, entertainment, and transport services through its copper and fiber networks in the United States.

… More

Governor Brown picks two "closest advisors" for CPUC

29 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

The inner circle.

Cliff Rechtschaffen, a senior advisor to governor Brown, and Martha Guzman Aceves, his deputy legislative affairs secretary, were appointed to fill two soon-to-be vacant slots on the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday. Governor Brown issued a press release saying “both have sound judgment and a commitment to protecting ratepayers and ensuring safe, reliable and climate-friendly energy in California”.

They have something else: a tight working relationship with Brown. According to a story in the Los Angeles Times by John Myers…

Gov.

… More

Fiber route from California's north coast to central valley in line for $42 million subsidy

28 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, , , ,

Another major middle mile fiber project is queued up for approval at the California Public Utilities Commission. A draft decision that would grant a $42 million subsidy from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to the Digital 299 project was published just before the Christmas break and is expected to be up for a vote by commissioners in February. Inyo Networks – the company behind the Digital 395 system and other CASF-funded projects – made the proposal in August 2015.… More

FCC waves a wireless weed whacker at local governments

27 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Honorable mayor and members of the city council…

A bright – or at least brighter – line is likely to be drawn around the discretion local government have to grant permission, or not, to install small cell sites. At the urging of Mobilitie, an aggressive and disingenuous mobile infrastructure company, the Federal Communications Commission is taking a harder look at local and state restrictions on wireless facilities. It’s asking for public comments on whether it should invoke its status as an “expert agency” to cut through conflicting federal court rulings and issue a single set of rules that determine and preempt local government permit review processes regarding wireless sites….… More

Google floats an operating system for geeks who can't dance without a beat

26 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,


What else does a boy need?

If you’re reading this, it’s courtesy of one of two operating systems that were born in the Rhythmless Void between the break up of the Beatles and the Great Disco Awakening: UNIX or CP/M. (Unless you are truly an uber geek and still rocking your Commodore 64 or pre-OS X Apple or something even more esoteric – I genuflect in abject admiration. Or unless you’re a masochist and you’re reading this on a Blackberry: I salute your embrace of pain and humiliation).… More

Gratitude, and warm holiday wishes to all

25 December 2016 by Steve Blum

Take it for what it’s worth, but I am truly thankful.

Merry Christmas and a happy Hanukah to all. I don’t think today is Kwanza or Festivus or the winter solstice or whatever holiday I might be forgetting, but if that’s what rows your boat, then by all means have a joyous one of those too.

I want to thank everybody who has read this blog over the past eight years. It’s you, Gentle Reader, who makes this enterprise worthwhile and enjoyable, and I very much appreciate it.… More

Can secure data and the FBI both be in the national interest?

24 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

A bipartisan congressional review of encryption policy – particularly in regards to law enforcement access to private data – came down squarely against requiring back doors or giving master keys to cops. The top line conclusion of the study was “any measure that weakens encryption works against the national interest”. But that doesn’t mean that the encryption working group established by the house judiciary, and energy and commerce committees thinks law enforcement agencies should throw up their hands and walk away.… More

Arizona scores a victory as DMV vanquishes Uber

23 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, , ,

So what if Acme got a permit?

Angry taxi drivers couldn’t do it. Stroppy city councils couldn’t do it. But California’s department of motor vehicles did it. The DMV has, um, driven Uber out of California, and into the arms of Arizona. The fight over Uber’s (sorta) self-driving car test in San Francisco ended with the offending vehicles being loaded onto a truck and hauled across the Colorado River. According to a story on SFGate.com, Arizona is happy to see them…

“Our cars departed for Arizona this morning by truck,” an Uber spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon in a statement.

… More

A quick FCC shift could stall, but not kill broadband rules

22 December 2016 by Steve Blum
, ,

It’s not a question of when the incoming Trump administration will roll back common carrier status for Internet service. It’s a question of if it can be done. It’s a near certainty that the new Federal Communications Junta Commission will try to reclassify broadband back to being an information service. The common carrier label is the keystone of most major FCC decisions in the last couple of years. Remove it and a tall stack of regulations tumbles.… More