Windstream said it’s now offering managed Wi-Fi services to E-Rate-eligible public schools and libraries. The company said it created the E-rate-specific service “for those taking advantage” of expanded program funding included in the FCC E-rate modernization order. The commission adopted the order Dec. 11 (see 1412110049). The E-rate service “creates a secure and reliable network for K-12 schools and libraries as they adapt to the changing technology needs of today’s students,” said Windstream Enterprise Chief Marketing Officer Joseph Harding in a Monday news release. “Our expert E-Rate team has been in place since the program’s inception in 1997, helping our customers maximize funding and better understand the overall process.” Schools and libraries that want to get E-rate funding for the Windstream service need to file FCC Form 470 applications by Thursday and file Form 471 by March 26, Windstream said.
CEA’s index of consumer expectations, which measures consumer outlook about the U.S. economy as a whole, increased 3.3 points from January to reach 181.2, the association said Tuesday. This month’s index also is 13.6 points higher than that of February 2014, reaching its highest February level since CEA launched the index eight years ago, it said. “U.S. economic growth is poised to sustain a run of above-trend growth over the next few quarters,” said Shawn DuBravac, CEA chief economist. “Desirable financial conditions continue to develop with improved household net worth, strengthening income and consumer spending growth. Employment gains are also adding to the jump in consumer confidence.” CEA’s separate index of consumer technology expectations, which measures consumer intentions on tech spending, jumped 6 points in February from January to reach 94.9, CEA said. This month’s index is 10.7 points higher than in February 2014, also setting a record high for the month, it said. “While consumer sentiment is prone to seasonal variation during this time of the year, the February 2015 levels are extremely strong,” DuBravac said. Ultra HD TVs are among the “key tech categories” that continue to show “better-than-expected strength,” he said.
Blog writer Jessica Bennett alleges violations of California privacy laws and of federal wiretap statutes, in a complaint against Lenovo for installing Superfish software on a Lenovo Yoga 2 convertible laptop she bought late in 2014. The complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, seeks class-action status and unspecified statutory damages against Lenovo and Superfish, which also was named as a defendant. Lenovo shipped products that included Superfish software between September and December, but the software has been disabled since January, the company said in a statement last week (see 1502190046). Superfish lets consumers view more advertisements, but some privacy advocates consider the software a security threat. Soon after buying the Lenovo product, Bennett "was writing a blog post for a client when she noticed spam advertisements involving scantily clad women appearing on her client’s website," the complaint said. "A few hours later, Plaintiff was doing research for a different client when she saw the same block of advertisements intruding on a different, very well known site. It was then that Plaintiff knew that her computer was infected with Spyware." Lenovo didn't comment.
Lenovo shipped tablets that included Superfish software between September and December, but the software has been disabled since January, Lenovo said in a news release Thursday. Superfish lets consumers view more advertisements, but some privacy advocates consider the software a security threat. Superfish “tampers with Windows' cryptographic security to perform man-in-the-middle attacks against the user's browsing,” an Electronic Frontier Foundation blog post said Thursday. “This is done in order to inject advertising into secure HTTPS pages, a feature most users don't want implemented in the most insecure possible way,” it said. “Superfish technology is purely based on contextual/image and not behavioral. It does not profile nor monitor user behavior,” Lenovo said. “It does not record user information. It does not know who the user is. Users are not tracked nor re-targeted. Every session is independent.” Lenovo said it won’t use the software again.
ICANN’s accountability proposal process started after the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition process, but the latter is making “considerable progress,” NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said in a blog post Thursday, referring to ICANN 52 in Singapore last week (see 1502180034). Strickling said it’s “important” the IANA transition and ICANN accountability work streams “remain in sync.” NTIA will “only consider a coordinated and complete transition plan,” he said. It’s “so important that we get this transition right,” Strickling said. “If it doesn’t take place, we will embolden authoritarian regimes to seek greater government control of the Internet or to threaten to fragment the Internet, which would result in a global patchwork of regulations and rules that stifle the free flow of information.”
The Telecommunications Industry Association sees the cybersecurity information sharing executive order that President Barack Obama signed last week (see 1502130048) as helping industry, TIA CEO Scott Belcher said. It will “enable the voluntary sharing of real-time bi-directional cybersecurity information amongst and between key government and industry partners (and their suppliers),” Belcher said in a written statement Tuesday. It "moves towards an improved ability for businesses to have more access to government information on threats and more open channels for greater information sharing between companies,” Belcher said. Congress must “provide adequate liability protections” and ensure that “an information-sharing regime appropriately addresses privacy and civil liberties concerns,” he said. “Information sharing should not be viewed as the end game,” but rather as a “tool to achieve timely, reliable, and actionable situational awareness through information sharing, analysis, and collaboration,” Belcher said. “It is important for the White House, Congress and other stakeholders to also work together towards other important improvements, such as cybersecurity R&D, workforce training and education, and public awareness.”
21st Century Fox completed its buy of video advertising company true[X], 21st Century Fox said in a news release Tuesday. True[X] ”specializes in consumer engagement and on-demand marketing campaigns,” the release said. The companies announced a preliminary agreement in December, the release said.
NTIA released its first quarterly report on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, as mandated by Congress’ December funding measure. The 12-page report covers IANA-related activities through Jan. 31. Released Wednesday, it highlighted several statements by companies and think tanks that support the goals of the transition, including AT&T, Microsoft and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It said the IANA Coordination Group “hopes” to have the transition proposals consolidated and submitted to NTIA by the end of July. Many in the ICANN community don’t believe the tentative Sept. 30 deadline provides enough time to have the IANA transition proposal finalized (see 1501230063). NTIA said it’s “absolutely critical” that it monitors the transition’s progress at ICANN meetings and by continuing to represent the U.S. on ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee.
“Now is the time to support comprehensive legislation to help protect personal and corporate data, promote security best practices and encourage the sharing of threat intelligence,” Online Trust Alliance Executive Director Craig Spiezle said in a statement on the release of OTA’s data protection and breach readiness guide Wednesday. The report includes a template with recommended language organizations should use when notifying the public of a data breach, details on why sharing information about breached data with law enforcement is important, security best practices, and reasons it’s important to complete security and privacy assessments and audits of vendors and cloud providers. “To maintain a competitive advantage over today’s cyber criminals, it is critical that the public and private sector continue to proactively leverage the power of task force partnerships,” said Robert Kierstead, Secret Service special agent in charge, Seattle Field Office. “Our continuing success in high-tech investigations is a result of the collaborative efforts of law enforcement and private sector partners." The OTA guide will be presented at a Friday national cybersecurity open house, co-sponsored by the Department of Justice, FBI and Secret Service. The report findings include that 90 percent of data breaches that occurred in the first half of 2014 “could have been easily prevented,” and 40 percent of data breaches were the “result of external intrusions,” an OTA release said. “The pillars of data security are digital literacy, up-to-date awareness of threats and active security protocols,” said Timothy Wallach, supervisory special agent over the FBI Seattle Cyber Task Force. “Anyone who wants to protect themselves online needs to start with educating themselves in those areas, not once but continually.”
NetGain, a new open Internet initiative, will launch Wednesday at a Ford Foundation event in New York City. NetGain has the backing of the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Mozilla Foundation and the Open Society Foundation, a news release said. Participants in Wednesday’s event, which will be webcast, include Gwen Ifill, Washington Week managing editor; Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web Foundation founder; filmmaker Laura Poitras; and Ethan Zuckerman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Civic Media director. NetGain's principles include protecting privacy, transparency and free speech online.