Semiweekly Updates
Ericsson and China Mobile Partner to Foster 5G Technology
The world’s largest mobile operator, China Mobile Ltd., has recently signed a memorandum of understanding under China Mobile Research Institute with Ericsson to develop innovative 5G mobile network technologies to help revolutionize global information and communication technology, as well as initiatives related to the Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Both companies hope to have 5G technology ready for consumers by 2020, in coinciding with other 5G technologies that might be introduced during the same year. Currently, CMRI and Ericsson are working together to develop RAN features to create a highly advanced 5G infrastructure for industrial use, as well as working toward the standardization of 5G for public use.
Playstation Network, XBOX Live and Steam Experiences Series of DDos Attacks Over Christmas
After an imminent threat by several anonymous hacking groups, many online streaming gaming services including Playstation Network, XBOX Live and especially Steam has experienced problems with accessing servers, causing temporary downtimes over the Christmas holiday. While XBOX Live and Playstation network experienced a major DDos attack last Christmas, they appear to have only suffered from minor issues regarding Christmas traffic, new account registration, billing, subscriptions and other account-related issues.
However, Steam has suffered the most this Christmas year with their data breach as some users are finding themselves logged in to other user accounts and they were able to see their private details, including address and payment information. With over 125 million users in Steam, this makes the data breach as potentially the largest of 2015, beating Ashley Madison’s 37 million users.
Google to Invest $600M in New Data Center
Kentucky’s Governor Bill Haslam has announced that Google will invest $600 million to install its’ brand new data center in Clarksville, which will become the 8th in the U.S. and 15th globally. Google has purchased the Clarksville Hemlock Semiconductor site, which will transform into the data center. Additionally through agreements with the Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves 9 million people in seven states, the center will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy and Google will invest into new sustainable energy-based technologies.
Hyatt Hotels Hit by Credit Card Malware Breach, FireEye Investigates
Hyatt Hotels recently detected malware in their payment processing system. An impending investigation by hired cybersecurity firm FireEye is trying to determine exactly when the malware attack started, how long the attacks were ongoing, and how many of the chain’s 627 properties in 52 countries are affected. However, it is clear that sensitive information on customers’ credit and debit cards were potentially exposed during a four-month period, the attack has been detected as early as November 30th and Hyatt customers were not notified until December 23rd.
IST Research to Use Internap’s Bare-Metal IaaS for Deep Web and Dark Web Human Trafficking Reporting
IST Research, a research firm dedicated to analyzing big data through innovative technologies for humanitarian causes, has recently hired Internap’s Bare-Metal IaaS-based AgileSERVER to gather and analyze data from deep web and dark web services well as survey results and other data gathered across the world, to track and combat human trafficking and related crimes.
They have recently switched from Amazon AWS in order to upgrade in terms of performance and cost efficiency. Several estimates gather that over 36 million people are victims of human trafficking, and IST Research specializes in big data analytics, passive monitoring of open Internet data and active engagement with law enforcement, public prosecutors and NGOs to closely monitor international human traffickers.
Much of the data they are currently researching is stored in the deep web, where information gathered from sources is available online but not indexed in search engines, and in the dark web where anonymous IP addresses can conduct illicit and illegal activities. IST is hoping to aggregate and index the data found within the deep and dark web in order to address issues and solutions with global human trafficking.
Ellucian Partners with Amazon AWS for Higher Education
Education software provider Ellucian is signing an agreement to strengthen relationships with Amazon AWS. As part of the recent agreement, this will allow Ellucian enact many of their education solutions as cloud-based. Ellucian will utilize the Amazon AWS cloud to upgrade many of their services such as ERP to Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) for the more than 2,400 colleges and universities it serves globally.