verizon

European regulators have raided the offices of three Internet Service Providers (ISPs) said to have intentionally slowed Internet traffic over a business dispute. The officials are exploring a new legal tactic that could also be used to stop such ... slowdowns in the US. The dispute involves Cogent Communications, which is effectively an Internet middleman. It transfers data between major websites and the Internet Service Providers that carry data to customers' homes. Last month Cogent claimed US-based Verizon was intentionally slowing down the traffic it handles for video streaming sites like ... (view more)

According to a new study from Verizon, almost one in three of the world's cyber attacks originate in China. The study also revealed that Chinese attackers are more interested in cyberespionage than stealing money. The figures are part of Verizon's ... annual Data Breach Investigations Report. The report aims to bring together data from cybercrime experts from around the world. This year the data covers a total of 47,000 "security incidents," though the vast majority of these incidents appear to have been failed attacks. Only 621 cases are known to have involved an actual breach of security with ... (view more)

Verizon is developing a new product that would decide what TV advertisements to show particular viewers, based on their past viewing behavior. The new system could even select commercials by taking into account everything about you, right down to ... your mood. Although the company originally filed the patent application in May 2011, only recently has that application gone public. Other firms can now object if they believe the technology described isn't original. According to the application, one of the limits of television advertising is that it doesn't take into account what the viewer is doing ... (view more)

A federal court has ruled that major cellphone carriers must let their smaller rivals use their data networks. This could mean more competitive deals and better coverage for smartphone and tablet owners, as well as those accessing mobile broadband ... on a laptop. The United States Court of Appeals has rejected a challenge by Verizon, thereby upholding an earlier ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The original ruling primarily covered data roaming, the technique by which customers of one cellphone carrier access the data services of another carrier. The FCC had said that ... (view more)

Verizon says it won't charge customers who live in areas hit hard by Hurricane Sandy for service lost during the massive 'superstorm.' On a case-by-case basis, the company will also consider helping people in other locations. The network says the ... fee waiver is part of an ongoing program to help victims and restore cellphone service. Under the program, Verizon will waive fees for customers in ten New York counties and twenty-one New Jersey counties. The deal involves waiving the fees for all domestic calls and texts made by customers in the designated counties between October 29 (when the ... (view more)

Verizon has announced that it will double the download speed of its top-tier broadband service. Observers regard this as a somewhat startling announcement, given that this service is already considered the fastest in the United States. According to ... reports, Verizon subscribers who sign up for its top service will soon have access to download speeds ranging up to 300 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 65 Mbps. Download Movies in Two Minutes To put these data transfer speeds into context, reports the LA Times, subscribers to this faster broadband service will be able to download a ... (view more)

According to a new report from Verizon, the majority of data stolen last year was the work of "hacktivists," many of whom were hoping to send a political message. According to security experts, this means that attacks by hackers seeking financial ... gain were, for the first time ever, overshadowed by other motivations for breaching security systems. The report, called "Data Breach Investigations," details examinations by Verizon of 855 security breaches. Ninety of the attacks were found within the ranks of Verizon's own customers, and 765 came from law enforcement agency ... (view more)

Are you unhappy with your mobile service? If so, there's a good chance you're an AT&T customer. According to a recent customer satisfaction survey, AT&T once again ranks dead last among all mobile service providers. The survey comes from ... Consumer Reports, which released this latest report on mobile service providers this past Tuesday (December 6). For the second straight year , AT&T came in well behind its major competitors, including Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Even worse, AT ... (view more)

According to a recent report, the number of records compromised by data breaches fell dramatically in 2010. While that makes for welcome news, the number of actual breaches was much, much higher last year than in 2009. The figures come from ... Verizon's business department, which carries out investigations into security breaches as a commercial service. Unlike its figures for 2009, the company included details of some cases provided by the US Secret Service for the first time in 2010. That makes a direct comparison very tricky, though it turns out the overall trends are clear. Three Times More ... (view more)