The world’s most complex computer virus, possessing a range of complex espionage capabilities, including the ability to secretly record conversations, has been exposed, reports the Telegraph.
Middle Eastern states were targeted and Iran ordered an emergency review of official computer installations after the discovery of a new virus, known as Flame. Flame can gather data files, remotely change settings on computers, turn on computer microphones to record conversations, take screen shots and copy instant messaging chats. Iran says it has developed tools that can defend against the sophisticated cyber attack.
The virus was discovered by a Russian security firm, Kaspersky Labs, that specialises in targeting malicious computer code. It made the 20 megabyte virus available to other researchers yesterday claiming it did not fully understand its scope and said its code was 100 times the size of the most malicious software.
Experts said the massive malicious software could only have been created by a nation-state.
It is the third cyber attack weapon targeting systems in the Middle East to be exposed in recent years. Stuxnet attacked Iran’s nuclear programme in 2010, while a related programme, Duqu, named after the Star Wars villain, stole data.
Iran has alleged that the West and Israel are orchestrating a secret war of sabotage using cyber warfare and targeted assassinations of its scientists as part of the dispute over its nuclear program.
Sprint has announced a new $1 billion credit agreement that will be used purchase equipment from Ericsson for the carrier’s Network Vision project. Deutsche Bank leads the group of banks that will be providing the credit facility, and the purchased equipment will help Sprint build out its LTE network. The network is expected to go live in four markets by the middle of this year, with the full rollout due in 2013.
Sprint’s LTE plans include four different bands of spectrum; 800MHz (iDEN to CDMA), 1,900MHz (PCS), and the PCS “G-Block” (for FD-LTE), and possibly 2,500MHz (Clearwire) for TD-LTE.
Everywhere Sprint has 3G coverage, it will also have 4G coverage. Sprint claims coverage in many areas will improve dramatically once 4G LTE replaces 3G service. Sprint has three key partners involved with the infrastructure side of its 4G LTE plans: Samsung, Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson.
Once the iDEN network has been decommissioned, the 800MHz spectrum will be freed up for 3G CDMA voice and push to talk service as well as 4G LTE data service. Sprint is confident that it has enough spectrum to maintain capacity through 2015.
Nextel gave their interfering 800 MHz frequencies to public safety users in exchange for 10 MHz in the PCS band. That spectrum is still not utilized because Nextel first had to move legacy users – tv remote trucks – to another frequency and buy microwave gear for them. Broadcasters have traditionally received corporate welfare from the FCC in the form of free spectrum.
TV remote trucks made room for the Nextel PCS spectrum by moving up the band and using digital compression. The frequency swap also enabled the FCC to stick in a new AWS band as well as a new 2.1 GHz (MSS) satellite phone band for TerraStar and ICO (which has not been successful).
While Verizon uses 2×10 MHz channels at 700 MHz, Sprint would use 2×5 MHz channels at 1.9 GHz. Their Nextel spectrum at 1.9 GHz would be roughly half the speed at half the range. But Sprint’s G-Block spectrum will be combined with other 1900 MHz spectrum for its LTE service. Sprint currently has an average of 20-25 MHz per market nationwide using their 1900 (PCS) service.
Sprint will reduce tower hardware with multi-mode radios and antennas, lowering maintenance costs. At the top of the tower, in the same radio, Sprint will have 1.9 LTE, 1.9 CDMA, 800 CDMA and in the future 800 LTE.
For the past two weeks I have been using a push-to-talk service called WAVE Connections while traveling in Norway, Germany, Spain, and England, and with it I can talk with colleagues in Europe and the United States as if they were in the same city. Before I left America I loaded WAVE on my Android Galaxy SII and iPhone 4S, MacBook Air and iPad.
This software allowed me to have almost-instant cloud-based two-way radio communications that is comparable to traditional radio services that I have been using since I was a kid. Anyone who’s ever used Nextel already know the benefits of push-to-talk services. The company behind the WAVE Connections service is Twisted Pair Solutions in Seattle.
The app works on Blackberries, iPhones, Androids or Windows phones as well as PCs and tablets, and they all can talk to each other wherever there is a data connection to the Internet.
There are three levels of WAVE Connections software: free, paid, and enterprise. The administrator registers on the WAVE site, sets up the number of talk groups and assigns users to each group. An email is sent to each registered user notifying them to download the appropriate software for their specific smartphone, tablet, or computer. A user name and password is assigned for all members of each talk group, which may be changed individually once the system is used by a particular subscriber.
Marc Tobias interviewed James Mustarde of Twisted Pair about how their push to talk software works. It uses IP on a data network, so you need a data connection (but not a voice channel).
IWN has been repeatedly scaled back. Funding was cut in fiscal 2010 and then again in fiscal 2011, and has been suspended altogether for fiscal 2012. Further, the Department of Homeland Security is no longer participating in the effort, cutting the total number of projected users to about 30,000, and, according to the inspector general report, future participation of the Department of the Treasury appears unlikely.
The Public Safety Spectrum Trust currently holds the license for Public Safety Broad Band spectrum in the 700 MHz band, but it has been restricted to a 5X5 MHz swath for LTE. The adjoining Public Service Narrow Band channel remains for voice communications using interoperable P-25 radios (at $5K a pop).
However, the 2012 Inspector General’s report on the Integrated Wireless Network (pdf), concluded the expense and limitations of P-25 radio networks is likely to bring the narrowband effort to a virtual halt, in favor of an integrated approach with both push-to-talk voice and broadband.
Taxpayers are funding a dedicated LTE network, exclusively for use by first responders. The $7 billion set aside for constructing the network won’t come close to funding the tens of thousands of $5,000 push to talk radios that will be required, not to mention building and maintaining the infrastructure. It will never reach citizens in many rural areas.
After extensive study, the FCC determined that a shared public/private partnership between first responders and cellular operators delivered better service at less cost. Technologies like WAVE appear poised to make $3,000 P-25 radios largely obsolete (as long as there is a data connection).
Skeptics might wonder if the same lawmakers who lobbied for a dedicated, nationwide LTE network, will be the first to cut funding when the cost overruns and jurisdictional disputes inevitably surface. With taxpayers funding a $25 billion dedicated network, we all have the right to ask whether or not lawmakers funded a white elephant.
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) infrastructure revenues doubled in the first quarter, according to Dell’Oro Group. “We expect multiple operators will launch VoLTE services by the end of 2012 after they have tested their networks when affordable handsets are available,” said Chris DePuy, Analyst at Dell’Oro Group. “Just as important, there are signs that operators will be launching revenue-generating services such as video conferencing, location services, messaging and file sharing in the coming year. These new communication services will represent the first major wireless operator responses to the threats posed by “over-the-top” services, enabled by smartphones” said DePuy.
Reuters reports that customers lined up a day ahead of store openings in Berlin. European and Asian network operators are pitched the device heavily and are offering attractive pricing (varies by operator and country) for the device.
Samsung’s new music service, Music Hub, plans to take on virtually every music service currently available. Two variants of the service are available; a free one, which stores any purchased music in the cloud for easy playback, and a 9.99-per-month alternative that allows customers to upload their own songs for unlimited streaming. It will initially only be available on the Galaxy S III in Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the U.K., but will “soon” be offered on a wider selection of devices, Samsung said in a press release.
Huawei Technologies denied on Tuesday that it benefited from illegal Chinese government subsidies, reports Reuters. Huawei, the world’s No.2 telecom equipment vendor after Sweden’s Ericsson, is being investigated by the European Union and may take action against Chinese telecom equipment makers in an anti-dumping case.
The Financial Times quoted unidentified EU officials and executives as saying that the commission had been gathering evidence in a case against China-based Huawei and ZTE Corp.
“Huawei has not received any communication from the European Commission regarding an investigation, but we are aware of media reports on this matter,” said in an emailed statement.
“We deny claims made in the media that Huawei employs dumping practices and has benefited from illegal state subsidies. Huawei also objects to the investigation that the European Commission is reportedly launching on the basis of these claims.”
The final report is expected next month, and if the two firms are found to have benefited from “significant Chinese government support”, then the EU may impose punitive tariffs on their imports into Europe.
Huawei is the world’s second-biggest maker of telecoms equipment, with annual sales of $28 billion—not far behind the leader, Ericsson, which had $35 billion in revenues in 2011. Over 40 percent of mobile traffic worldwide uses Ericsson networks. Huawei employs 110,000 people.
ZTE has said it could be shipping 100 million smartphones a year by 2015, according to Reuters. Huawei expects to ship more than 100 million mobile phones this year, including 60 million smartphones, as it aims to increase its global market share.
“Reaching 107 million mobile users in the U.S. and 156 million mobile users worldwide, Jumptap uses its extensive technology portfolio, as well as industry-first partnerships with third- party data providers, to understand mobile audiences better than any other ad network and provide intelligent targeting with scale,” according to a description on its Web site.
Mobile advertising uses a combination of an opted-in user’s location, browsing activity and purchasing habits, to deliver “relevant” ads and offers.
The Asus 7-inch Google Nexus slate is reported to be powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, and could cost less than $200 to rival the Amazon Kindle Fire. The new Google+ update was released to iOS a couple of weeks ago has finally arrived on Android. It features big images, improved Hangouts and quick shortcuts.
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The virus was discovered by a Russian security firm, Kaspersky Labs, that specialises in targeting malicious computer code. It made the 20 megabyte virus available to other researchers yesterday claiming it did not fully understand its scope and said its code was 100 times the size of the most malicious software. 
