May 2012

Smartphone hijacking vulnerability affects AT&T, 47 other carriers

Computer scientists have identified a vulnerability in the network of AT&T and at least 47 other cellular carriers that allows attackers to surreptitiously hijack the Internet connections of smartphone users and inject malicious content into the traffic passing between them and trusted websites.

The attack, which doesn't require an adversary to have any man-in-the-middle capability over the network, can be used to lace unencrypted Facebook and Twitter pages with code that causes victims to take unintended actions, such as post messages or follow new users. It can also be used to direct people to fraudulent banking websites and to inject fraudulent messages into chat sessions in some Windows Live Messenger apps. Ironically, the vulnerability is introduced by a class of firewalls cellular carriers use. While intended to make the networks safer, these firewall middleboxes allow hackers to infer TCP sequence numbers of data packets appended to each data packet, a disclosure that can be used to tamper with Internet connections.

Supreme Court declines to hear $675,000 file-swapping case

The Supreme Court this morning declined to hear the appeal of admitted file-swapper Joel Tenenbaum, who recently asked the court to consider the proper process for slashing his $675,000 damage award.

The trial judge in Tenenbaum's case initially ruled that the jury verdict was unconstitutionally punitive, but the appellate court overturned this ruling and said that the judge first had to use the common-law process of "remittitur" to cut down the verdict before reaching the broader constitutional question. The Supreme Court's Tenenbaum denial means that the case will return to the trial level, where the judge may use remittitur to cut the award to the $2,250 per song maximum she will allow. But a remittitur ruling will allow the record labels a choice: accept the reduced amount or drag Tenenbaum through a second federal trial.

Verizon's and Comcast's data caps: Who wins and who loses?

Broadband data caps were a hot topic this week as Comcast and Verizon Wireless separately talked up upcoming changes to their policies. So how will these data cap tweaks affect consumers? In short, Comcast's move, which increases its existing cap from 250GB to 300GB and now imposes an overage fee for those who exceed the cap, is likely a positive for its subscribers.

Even the consumer advocates who typically hate the idea of data caps applauded the company for improving the policy. Meanwhile, Verizon's new plan, which will force existing subscribers "grandfathered" on its unlimited data plan into a tiered shared-data plan, will likely eventually lead to higher prices for wireless consumers. For Verizon and the other wireless carriers moving to these data caps, creating tiers of service based on usage is a way to make more money over the life of a customer. And the side benefit is that they also curb extremely heavy usage, which can be a problem for both wireless and wired broadband networks.

Mobile Contract Customers Fall, But Mobile Data Revs To Hit $80 Billion

For the first time, U.S. wireless operators during the first quarter collectively saw a net decline in post-paid, or contract, subscribers. The largest seven carriers lost a combined 52,000 contract customers, according to the latest data from mobile consulting and research firm Chetan Sharma. The firm attributed the drop-off to wider adoption of prepaid phones in recent times and heightened competition for remaining potential contract customers. Where will carrier revenue growth come from in future? With smartphone penetration estimated at 43% as of the first quarter, Chetan Sharma says that still leaves room for people to upgrade and plans that include data subscriptions. Almost 70% of devices sold in the first quarter were smartphones. The introduction of family data plans in the U.S. is also expected to be a boost for data revenues. Both Verizon Wireless and AT&T have confirmed they plan to roll out “data share” plans that let customers pay for a fixed amount of monthly data and share it among family members. Current wireless family plans let members share voice minutes, but not data.

Tricky to Win US-China Cyber Blame Game

The Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on China’s military prowess, unshockingly, raised concerns about the country’s cyber raids that are similar to those aired last year. Over the weekend, the Chinese government, in typical fashion, immediately disputed the allegations through state news media. What’s different is that this year’s report arrived a couple of weeks after U.S. defense chief Leon Panetta and his counterpart Gen. Liang Guanglie met to, among other things, find ways of avoiding cyber operation misunderstandings.

Industry and Feds Find Common Ground on BYOD Strategies

While government and industry are often not on the same page when it comes to where federal telecommunications is headed in the coming years, there is one area where they can agree: BYOD, or bring your own device, strategies will be largely adopted across the federal landscape within the next two years, according to a new study.

The new report, “Off the Hook: Federal Telecom Disconnect,” released by Meritalk and underwritten by CenturyLink and Telework Exchange, found that 39 percent of government and 56 percent of industry respondents to a survey believe that broad adoption of BYOD is likely by 2014. Twenty-seven percent of government participants and 20 percent of industry respondents predicted that new, dual-use phones that provide two numbers for government and personal use are more likely than a full-on BYOD strategy.

FCC tries voluntary approach

Washington is trying to use the handshake instead of the regulatory hammer when it comes to the booming wireless phone industry.

Members of Congress and the Federal Communications Commission have been trying to circumvent the tangle of regulations that tie up traditional land-line service — and raise costs — by getting wireless carriers to voluntarily self-regulate on some new issues rather than waiting for legislation or an FCC rule making. Anytime you can collaborate and work together with industry and get them to buy into an agreement with regulators — that offers a quicker set of solutions,” Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) said. He was part of a vocal congressional contingent that persuaded the nation’s four largest wireless firms in April to voluntarily create a database of stolen cellphones to help cut theft. That’s just one example of how Washington is trying to avoid the myriad of regulations and rules that have caused decades of legislation and litigation for land-line telephone companies. Other such agreements require wireless companies to notify customers if they’re about to incur big charges.

Broadcasting as an engine for local economies

[Commentary] Congress has been consumed in recent years with contentious debate over how best to preserve and enhance free and local broadcasting — the original wireless technology — while making available airwaves that can also be used to alleviate the much-hyped “spectrum crunch” for wireless broadband providers. We think lawmakers struck the right balance with legislation signed into law earlier this year that provides incentives for television stations that voluntarily choose to go out of business but that acknowledges the enduring and indispensable role that local broadcasting plays in the fabric of American society.

Lawmakers have good reason to want a healthy broadcast industry. Broadcast TV stations provide more than 186,000 jobs on an annual basis, which directly generate more than $30 billion in economic activity. The ripple effect of TV broadcasting on the economy is even greater, with 1.5 million jobs and $716 billion in annual economic activity attributed to the local television business. Those who dismiss the value of local television — or who would like to see broadcasting’s role in society diminished — seem clearly motivated by a desire to replace a free service available to all with a fee service available to some.

[Smith, a former two-term Republican senator from Oregon, is president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters]

More spectrum means more innovation

[Commentary] The U.S. wireless industry plays a vital role in Americans’ lives and in America’s economy. More than 40,000 of the world’s wireless industry experts, policymakers and enthusiasts were in New Orleans recently for International CTIA WIRELESS 2012. A stream of new and cool wireless products and services were unveiled, including announcements by AT&T’s Connected House, MasterCard’s PayPass Wallet, HTC’s Droid Incredible 4G and Samsung’s Focus 2. The announcement of these products seems like a beginning but the reality is that product announcements are long in the making. Part of the reason for that is because of the need for spectrum, the fuel for the wireless industry and its “virtuous cycle” of innovation. As long as our members have access to spectrum, the networks are upgraded to be faster and handle more capacity. Then the device manufacturers create new capabilities. Content creators then develop new uses and apps, so consumers can benefit from all of it. But it all starts with spectrum.

Some have accused us of “playing a game” when talking about the looming spectrum crisis. That is ridiculous for two simple reasons.

First, spectrum is the key element to addressing the “hockey stick” of demand we face in terms of usage, users and use. If there were a more effective solution, which would allow carriers to avoid spending billions of dollars at auction, our carriers would be deploying it.
Second, if the looming spectrum crisis is a “game,” then it’s one that involves a number of other countries around the world.

[Largent, a former four-term Republican congressman from Oklahoma, is president and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association]

Keep torch bright for global leadership in mobile

[Commentary] Americans are adopting mobile broadband faster than any computing technology in history, creating more than 1.5 million new U.S. jobs and offering tremendous potential to improve education, health care and public safety.

With the American-driven mobile apps revolution and the rapid rollout of 4G mobile services, the U.S. has now regained global leadership in mobile. But we can’t rest on our laurels. We must continue to pursue a multi-prong strategy to seize the mobile opportunity and tackle the challenges. Since 2009, the Federal Communications Commission has refocused the agency on broadband. On mobile broadband, our work has changed the conversation about spectrum and helped drive robust growth and innovation in mobile. When only a fraction of Americans had smartphones, app stores were new and tablets weren’t even available, we built a Mobile Action Plan to meet the nation’s emerging spectrum challenges. And those challenges are significant: Today, there are more active mobile devices than people in the U.S. The majority of mobile subscribers have smartphones. And the need for more spectrum in the mobile marketplace — and more efficient use of spectrum — has surged. Our plan focuses on five main areas, as we modernize legacy regulations and outdated policies inherited from before the mobile broadband revolution: unleashing new spectrum, removing barriers to broadband infrastructure build-out, driving greater efficiency in networks and devices, promoting competition and empowering consumers.

Benton

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