The download speeds that consumers get are about half of those promised by service providers, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. In 2009, U.S. residential consumers subscribed to broadband services with an average and median advertised download speed of 7 Mbit/sec. to 8 Mbit/sec., respectively, the FCC said. But the actual average speed they received was 4 Mbit/sec. and the actual median speed was 3 Mbit/sec. The FCC criticized the use of maximum rather than actual speeds and said it will support efforts to develop a better way to rep... Read More »

Says flaw is 'low risk;' Google security researcher calls it 'non-issue,' blasts press Mozilla on Tuesday said that it will not patch a bug that blocks the display of a warning when Firefox detects a potentially deceptive URL, saying the flaw was not a threat. "This issue poses very low risk to users," said Johnathan Nightingale, director of Firefox development, in an entry yesterday to Mozilla's security blog. "There is currently no fix in plan since Mozilla does not believe this can be used to attack users." Others backed Mozilla's decision to ignore the bug. Michal Zalewski, a Go... Read More »

Microsoft: Games to be front and center for Windows Phone 7, Didn't had such an excurse in the World of Games? Microsoft is reconfirming, on the eve of Gamescom 2010, that it is making sure the Windows Phone 7 platform will be a game-centric one. On August 16, Microsoft officials confirmed earlier reports that Microsoft Game Studios is creating a dedicated group to develop video games for Windows Phones. The group also will help recruit smaller, indie game makers, according to the company. Microsoft says the dedicated group inside of Microsoft Game Studios will develop video games for... Read More »

As many as five million Web sites hosted by Network Solutions have been serving up malware, probably for several months, a security expert said today. "This is one of the biggest infections for drive-by download attacks that I've seen," said Wayne Huang, co-founder and CTO of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Armorize Technologies, a Web application security company. Network Solutions disputed Huang's estimate of between 500,000 and 5 million infected sites, but was unable to provide its own count. Huang said his firm's researchers initially tracked the infection to a widget installed by Netw... Read More »

Miscreants have unleashed a new type of clickjacking worm onto Facebook. The latest assault relies on tricking users into using the Facebook "Share" feature without notifying surfers that content is being shared. By contrast, an otherwise similar clickjacking attack dating back from May relied on duping a user into injudicious use of the social network's "Like" feature. Sophos explains that the opening move for the latest attack poses as a "Facebook fan page" for the "Top 10 Funny T-Shirt Fails ROFL" and other potentially eye-catching content. These fan pages, once selected, load malicio... Read More »

Verizon says it's completed a field trial in which it delivered a 1Gbps service to an existing Fios business customer. The test involved taking a new fiber connection from an existing GPON system at the company's Taunton call-switching office to a second optical network terminal (ONT) at the customer's facility. The second ONT was provisioned for 1Gbps service, and the speed was tested with a local speed test server over an optimized route, as well as across the public internet with a regional speed test server over 400 miles away. Verizon said that the download speed for the link to... Read More »

A group of four Democratic politicians claims that a proposal announced last week by Google and Verizon does not give the federal government enough authority to regulate the Internet. The companies' Net neutrality proposal does not grant the Federal Communications Commission sufficient "oversight authority" and should permit the agency to slap new regulations on wireless services, the politicians said in a letter on Monday. It was addressed to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, a fellow Democrat, who has been left in an awkward position after a federal appeals court slapped down the agency... Read More »

Appealing as it may sound as a way to protest insidious social marketing, the "Dislike" button being promoted through Facebook status updates offers victimization rather than rebellion. The "Dislike" button is the latest in a series of viral survey scams to hit the social networking site. "Beware of the fake Facebook 'Dislike' button," warned Facebook Security in an online post on Monday. "As always, we advise you not to click on suspicious links on Facebook. We're working hard to stop these from spreading. If you see one, report it to us, and warn any friends who might be affected." ... Read More »