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FCC chair wants more competition to SpaceX's Starlink unit

September 11, 2024

Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel said she wants to see more competition to SpaceX's internet satellite constellation Starlink and that "Our economy doesn't benefit from monopolies". This, after the same woman said in 2022 the FCC was denying SpaceX funding for rural broadband because, she said, "We cannot afford to subsidize ventures that are not delivering the promised speeds or are not likely to meet program requirements."

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AES Crypt 4 Released

August 31, 2024

One of the most popular file encryption software products on the Internet is AES Crypt. This project was supported by Packetizer, but has now been transitioned from Packetizer to Terrapane where the original author continues development and support. The latest version was just released, bringing with it many improvements ranging from user interaction to security.

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NIST Releases First 3 Finalized Post-Quantum Encryption Standards

August 13, 2024

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized its principal set of encryption algorithms designed to withstand cyberattacks from a quantum computer.

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Personal Data of 3 Billion People Stolen in Hack, Suit Says

August 2, 2024

Jerico Pictures Inc., a background-check company doing business as National Public Data, exposed the personal information of nearly 3 billion individuals in an April data breach, a proposed class action says.

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Secure Boot is completely broken on 200+ models from 5 big device makers

July 25, 2024

Researchers from security firm Binarly revealed that Secure Boot is completely compromised on more than 200 device models sold by Acer, Dell, Gigabyte, Intel, and Supermicro.

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CrowdStrike update crashes Windows systems, causes outages worldwide

July 19, 2024

A faulty component in a CrowdStrike Falcon update is crashed Windows systems, impacting various organizations and services across the world, including airports, TV stations, and hospitals.

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VoIP / Videoconferencing

Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally amid antitrust scrutiny

April 2, 2024

Microsoft, will sell its chat and video app Teams separately from its Office product globally, the U.S. tech giant said on Monday.

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Avaya files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

February 15, 2023

Avaya Holdings Corp has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and secured a financing of $780 million as it restructures its business, the IT firm said on Tuesday.

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HP Inc. to Acquire Poly

March 28, 2022

HP Inc. announced a definitive agreement to acquire Poly, a leading global provider of workplace collaboration solutions, in an all-cash transaction for $40 per share, implying a total enterprise value of $3.3 billion, inclusive of Poly’s net debt.

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Ericsson to acquire Vonage for USD 6.2 billion

November 24, 2021

Ericsson to acquire Vonage for USD 6.2 billion to spearhead the creation of a global network and communication platform for open innovation

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Verizon will buy video conferencing company BlueJeans

April 16, 2020

Verizon is buying the video conferencing platform BlueJeans for $400M. BlueJeans' founders and management team will join the company to continue the platform's growth and its employees will also become part of Verizon.

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Security

Bitbucket artifact files can leak plaintext authentication secrets

May 21, 2024

Threat actors were found breaching AWS accounts using authentication secrets leaked as plaintext in Atlassian Bitbucket artifact objects. The issue was discovered by Mandiant, who was investigating a recent exposure of Amazon Web Services (AWS) secrets that threat actors used to gain access to AWS.

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Android 15, Google Play Protect get new anti-malware and anti-fraud features

May 15, 2024

Google announced new security features coming to Android 15 and Google Play Protect that will help block scams, fraud, and malware apps on users' devices.

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Leaked FBI email stresses need for warrantless surveillance of Americans

May 9, 2024

A Federal Bureau of Investigation official recently urged employees to "look for ways" to conduct warrantless surveillance on US residents, an internal email shows. Security measures need to be further tightened, both in the consumer and enterprise spaces.

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Maximum-severity GitLab flaw allowing account hijacking under active exploitation

May 2, 2024

A maximum severity vulnerability that allows hackers to hijack GitLab accounts with no user interaction required is now under active exploitation, federal government officials warned as data showed that thousands of users had yet to install a patch released in January.

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Cisco says hackers subverted its security devices to spy on governments

April 24, 2024

Cisco Systems said that hackers have subverted some of its digital security devices to break into government networks globally.

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Cloud Computing

Nearly all AT&T subscribers’ call records stolen in Snowflake cloud hack

July 12, 2024

AT&T said a breach on a third-party cloud platform exposed the call and text records of nearly all its cellular customers. The leaked data is said to include phone numbers that AT&T subscribers communicated with, but not names.

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Cisco to Acquire Splunk

September 21, 2023

Cisco and Splunk, the cybersecurity and observability leader, announced a definitive agreement under which Cisco intends to acquire Splunk for $157 per share in cash, representing approximately $28 billion in equity value.

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Mobile

FCC blasts T-Mobile’s 365-day phone locking, proposes 60-day unlock rule

July 19, 2024

Citing frustration with mobile carriers enforcing different phone-unlocking policies that are bad for consumers, the Federal Communications Commission is proposing a 60-day unlocking requirement that would apply to all wireless providers.

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T-Mobile to buy almost all of U.S Cellular in deal worth $4.4 billion with debt

May 28, 2024

T-Mobile is buying U.S. Cellular’s wireless operations and certain spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion, and further consolidating the industry.

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US FCC approves T-Mobile deal to buy budget provider Mint Mobile

April 25, 2024

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it will approve the T-Mobile US deal to buy Ka'ena Corp, the owner of budget service provider Mint Mobile, for up to $1.35 billion.

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AT&T now says data breach impacted 51 million customers

April 10, 2024

AT&T is notifying 51 million former and current customers, warning them of a data breach that exposed their personal information on a hacking forum. However, the company has still not disclosed how the data was obtained.

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Other News

Amazon launches its fourth-generation Graviton4 chip as competition intensifies

July 9, 2024

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is launching its fourth-generation Graviton processor, the Graviton4 chip that promises to deliver substantial improvements in performance and efficiency, including three times the compute power and memory of its predecessor, 75% more memory bandwidth, and 30% better performance.

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Starlink Mini Dish Release Appears to Be Imminent as New Images Surface

June 17, 2024

Starlink is one step closer to launching the Starlink Mini dish. SpaceX updated its app over the weekend and with the update came some official images of the dish itself, which will start rolling out to select areas as soon as next month.

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Rumble sues Google over digital advertising practices

May 13, 2024

Video sharing platform Rumble said it has sued Google, arguing the tech giant has engaged in anticompetitive practices across its digital advertising products and sought damages in excess of $1 billion.

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Meta Stock Drops 15% on "Disappointing Q2 Forecast"

April 24, 2024

Meta reported its first quarter earnings, and while it beat analysts' expectations on the top and bottom lines, a disappointing Q2 forecast sent shares of the social media giant plummeting more than 15%. Zuckerberg said the company is "scaling capex and energy expenses for AI."

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What we know about the xz Utils backdoor that almost infected the world

April 1, 2024

A lone Microsoft developer rocked the world when he revealed a backdoor had been intentionally planted in xz Utils, an open-source data compression utility available on almost all installations of Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

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Cisco Launches Webex Hologram, An Augmented Reality Meeting Solution

October 26, 2021

Cisco unveiled a preview of its next-generation hybrid work collaboration product called Webex Hologram. It is the industry's only real-time meeting solution that takes advantage of augmented reality headsets to combine feature rich Webex meeting functionality with immersive 3D holograms.

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8X8 Acquires Jitsi Video Communications Technology from Atlassian

October 29, 2018

8x8, Inc. announced that it has acquired the Jitsi open source video communications technology and its highly skilled team of open source video technology experts.

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TrueConf Brings the Courtroom to the Prisoner: Connecting Courts and Prisons in Switzerland with TrueConf Server

April 5, 2018

Department of Justice and Home Affairs has deployed a TrueConf Server video conferencing system in the courtrooms and prisons in the Canton of Zurich state department. This removes the need for mandatory physical appearance at court proceedings and parole hearings, and also reduces transport costs.

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InFocus unveils new video collaboration platform

February 11, 2016

InFocus has announced a new platform that focuses on scalable video collaboration

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WhatsApp could add voice calling very soon

April 9, 2014

Several rumors running around indicate that WhatsApp will add VoIP functionality to it's popular messaging platform.

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Line goes live with calls to cell phones, landlines

March 17, 2014

Line, the Japan-based mega messaging app, said that it's giving its audience in eight countries access to a new product called "Line Call," a service that lets people dial landlines and cell phones from the application for a fee.

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Chromebox For Meetings Set To Disrupt Enterprise Video Conferencing

February 6, 2014

Google just introduced Chromebox for meeting, a new integrated system that lets users easily arrange virtual meetings whether scheduled in Google Calendar or spontaneous. Based on Chrome OS, Chromebox for meeting is a dedicated enterprise/SMB virtual conferencing appliance that is designed to be much more affordable and easier to setup than existing solutions.

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Just Hanging Out

February 6, 2014

In collaboration with Google, Vidyo announced today both a product and a service that will allow H.323- and SIP-based video devices to interconnect with Google+ Hangouts

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FCC votes to begin testing an overhaul of US phone system

January 30, 2014

The Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to launch a series of trials to investigate how best to update the telephone system in the United States. The idea is to replace the system's traditional phone lines with networks that are based on Internet Protocol.

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Google sells Motorola unit to Lenovo for $2.9B

January 29, 2014

Google confirmed that it has sold Motorola for $2.91 billion, consisting of $660 million in cash and $750 million in Lenovo shares, with the remaining $1.5 billion paid in the form of a three-year promissory note.

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Logitech launches camera that turns any place into a video collaboration room

January 28, 2014

Logitech is launching a new conference camera that turns any meeting room into a video collaboration place.

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Tata Comm Launches Mobile VoIP Platform

January 20, 2014

Tata Communications Ltd. (Tata Comm) announced the launching of its mobile VoIP platform, a hosted, white label solution that allows mobile network operators (MNO) and other retail voice providers to deliver and monetize innovative converged IP communication services.

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Patent licensing terms still murky for next-gen video

January 17, 2014

A patent licensing group has revealed many names of the corporate muscle behind H.265/HEVC — but the license itself remains elusive even as the technology arrives in the marketplace.

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