Who is awarding broadband funding? The FCC How much funding will be awarded? $16 billion When will the funds be available? The FCC will commence the auction on Oct. 29 Could broadband under this auction be delivered by satellite? Yes. “SpaceX is developing a low latency, broadband internet system using low Earth orbit satellites.” Reuters […]
Monthly Archives: June 2020
This week in Facial Recognition Software
Amazon halted sale of its facial recognition software to police forces for the next year. CNET | Amazon announces one-year pause on police use of its facial recognition tech Microsoft & IBM cease selling their facial recognition software Washington Post | Microsoft won’t sell police its facial-recognition technology, following similar moves by Amazon and IBM […]
Key Legislation to Bring BroadBand to Rural Areas
Where: Mississippi What legislation has closed the internet divide and brought broadband to rural areas? Mississippi Broadband Enabling Act, HB 366 (2019 | MS), allowing electric cooperatives to offer broadband service How can Electric Co-ops offer broadband? by establishing, acquiring and wholly or partially owning 1+ broadband affiliates co-ops can create a separate entity that provides and sells […]
Paper Ballots + Electronic Voting = Election Security?
Say you’re a state that replaced its former electronic voting system with electronic voting systems that also produce a paper ballot. What 2 data security issues still exist? The electronic voting systems could still be connected to the internet (hackable) The paper ballot requires the voter to check that their votes are correctly recorded. Will voters […]
Lege TREND. Protecting Seniors from COVID Scams
The legislation: Protecting Seniors from Emergency Scams Act S 3824 (116th Congress) What does S3824 require to protect seniors from COVID scams? FTC will track senior scams & list them on their website FTC will provide seniors guidance on avoiding scams Supporters of this legislation: AARP, the Elder Justice Coalition, the American Society on Aging, […]
COVID Era Hacking of Water Facility
Where: Israel Which parts of Israeli water facilities were hacked? water pumping stations and treatment plants What portion of these plants were targeted? control systems What did the head of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate say? “The coronavirus pandemic has reaffirmed that hackers are unwilling to refrain from attacking critical infrastructure.” Cyberscoop | Israeli official confirms attempted cyberattack […]
New Tech. Face Blurring Software Goes Mainstream.
Which company is offering face blurring services? Signal, an encrypted messaging app Which photos can have faces blurred? any photos are shared on the app What else is Signal Foundation doing? Seeking a manufacturer to make physical face coverings for demonstrators free of charge Cyberscoop | Signal wants to protect protesters’ privacy with new face-blurring […]
Data Security Standards Amended for COVID
Who is amending their data security recommendations? Cyberspace Solarium Commission What is the Cyberspace Solarium Commission? A bicameral, bipartisan organization with co-chairs, Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin). Its 14 Commissioners include 4 legislators, 4 senior executive agency leaders, and 6 nationally recognized experts from outside of government What are the new […]
Business TREND. Subscription Services.
Who is moving into subscription services? Tesla How is Tesla moving into a subscription service? By adding software subscriptions to its app By moving autonomous driving to a subscription service What do financial analysts think of subscription services? Tesla will be the only auto manufacturer fully monitoring its software The market has an appreciation for […]