Keep the pipes flowing: The Indian government’s Department of Telecommunications has told state governments they should avoid Internet shutdowns in situations not involving an emergency or public safety, Business Insider India reports. There were about 130 Internet shutdowns in the country in 2018, up from 79 the year before. But shutdowns close off residents’ access to banking and other online services, the agency said in its notice.
A fragmenting Internet: The global Internet is fracturing with governments increasingly exerting their influence on digital companies, markets, and rights, Foreign Policy says. The authors see a future Internet Warring States Period, in which several countries jockey for influence on the Internet, which could lead to a fragmented Internet in areas where there was once common ground.
Fake crackdown: Egypt is using a crackdown on so-called fake news to detain or jail “scores” of journalists, bloggers, and social media users, the Los Angeles Times reports. In 2018, Egypt jailed 19 journalists for allegedly “disseminating false information,” while all other countries jailed a total of nine journalists.
Beware the cryptominers: Internet users saw a 4,000 percent increase in crytomining malware in 2018, The Next Web says. MacAfee Labs noted more than 4 million new threats in the third quarter of this year, compared to the 500,000 for the same period in 2017.
Not the best kind of news: Internet of Things security flaws were among the top news stories about IoT in 2018, CRN reports. In June, security vendor Armis noted that 496 million IoT devices were vulnerable to an old exploit called DNS binding. Affected devices included routers, speakers, IP phones, and smart TVs.
AI navel gazing: Companies are increasingly looking to use Artificial Intelligence to mine their own data, notes Forbes. AI-as-a-service products will help companies make sense of the data they hold.
Intelligent war games: The U.S. Marines are looking to use AI to design war games and plan for future battles, the Martine Corps Times reports. AI could help Marine leaders test operational plans, develop operations and prioritize resources.
Read “Splintering the Internet: The Unintended Consequence of Regulation” and learn what you can do so that we #DontBreakTheInternet.