US Relief Package Provides $7 Billion for Broadband

After months of deliberation, congressional leaders reached a $900 billion coronavirus relief deal on Sunday, including billions in funding for broadband internet access. From a report: Congress’ latest relief measure provides $7 billion in funding for broadband connectivity and infrastructure. That figure includes $3.2 billion for a $50-per-month emergency broadband benefit for people who are laid off or furloughed during the…

Hackers Tied To Russia Hit US Nuclear Agency, Three States

The U.S. nuclear weapons agency and at least three states were hacked as part of a suspected Russian cyber attack that struck a number of federal government agencies. Microsoft Corp. was also breached, and its products were used to further attacks on others, Reuters reported. Bloomberg reports: The Energy Department and its National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains America’s nuclear stockpile,…

CloudLinux To Invest More Than a Million Dollars a Year Into CentOS Clone

An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet: When Red Hat, CentOS’s Linux parent company, announced it was “shifting focus from CentOS Linux, the rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), to CentOS Stream, which tracks just ahead of a current RHEL release,” it lost a lot of friends. CentOS co-founder, Gregory Kurtzer, immediately announced he’d create his own RHEL clone…

‘Save Europe from Software Patents’, Urges Nonprofit FFII

Long-time Slashdot reader zoobab shares this update about the long-standing Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, a Munich-based non-profit opposing ratification of a “Unified Patent Court” by Germany: The FFII is crowdfunding a constitutional complaint in Germany against the third attempt to impose software patents in Europe, calling on all software companies, independent software developers and FLOSS authors to donate. The…

CISA and FBI Warn of Rise in Ransomware Attacks Targeting K-12 Schools

In a joint security alert published this week, the US Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warned about increased cyber-attacks targeting the US K-12 educational sector, often leading to ransomware attacks, the theft of data, and the disruption of distance learning services. From a report: “As of December 2020, the FBI, CISA, and MS-ISAC continue…

One In Six Cadillac Dealers Opt To Close Instead of Selling Electric Cars

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Drive: General Motors knows all too well that a fully electric future is coming. As a company, GM wants to have 30 EVs for sale by 2025 and Cadillac will reportedly be leading the Detroit automaker’s electric charge in the United States. Recently, it was reported that GM told dealerships to invest in…

AutoX Becomes China’s First To Remove Safety Drivers From Robotaxis

Residents of Shenzhen saw truly driverless cars on the road today. From a report: AutoX, a four-year-old startup backed by Alibaba, MediaTek and Shanghai Motors, deployed a fleet of 25 unmanned vehicles in downtown Shenzhen, marking the first time any autonomous driving car in China tests on public roads without safety drivers or remote operators. The cars, meant as robotaxis, are…

Verizon Wiring Up 500K Homes With FiOS To Settle Lawsuit

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Verizon has agreed to bring FiOS fiber-to-the-home service to another 500,000 households in New York City by July 2023, settling a lawsuit over Verizon’s failure to wire up the entire city as required in a franchise agreement. “Today’s settlement will ensure that 500,000 households that previously lacked Verizon broadband access because of…

China Rises as World’s Data Superpower as Internet Fractures

Back in 2001, the U.S. was the dominant country when it came to cross-border data flows. It was the early days of the internet boom, and America was where tech companies and tech-savvy consumers were. But the global data order is changing rapidly. From a report: China now accounts for 23% of cross-border data flows, nearly twice the share of the…

Google Plans Fiber-Optic Network To Connect Via Saudi Arabia and Israel for First Time

Google is laying the groundwork for a fiber-optic network that for the first time will connect through historical enemies Saudi Arabia and Israel while opening a new corridor for global internet traffic, according to people familiar with the plans. From a report: The project linking India to Europe is Google’s latest globe-crossing internet construction effort. The Alphabet subsidiary is vying with…