Also on today’s menu:
Pitfalls Of Censorship
Seeking Secure Internet
The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative will extend high-speed internet service to nearly 17,000 members in 32 Grafton County towns, from Bristol to Littleton and from the Connecticut River to Campton.
Over the past two years, NHEC has confined its broadband projects to only four towns — Lempster, Colebrook, Sandwich, and Acworth — with the Sandwich and Acworth networks expected to be operational this spring.
The newly approved Grafton County project is expected to take 12 to 18 months.
Meanwhile, Hub66, with a network operations center in the Bristol Town Office, is starting home installations for its internet service, established through a $260,000 Northern Border Regional Commission grant and an investment by the town.
The first phase of the project extended the fiber network already in place for the Newfound Area School District by 24 miles, from downtown Bristol to the statewide NetworkNH system at Plymouth State University. The second phase provided the additional fiber backbone necessary to connect all of Bristol’s municipal, educational, and commercial buildings.
Hub66 now provides the final link to connect property owners with the fiber network.
Also announced was Comcast’s ongoing expansion of its fiber-based network into Laconia and Gilford. The company plans to complete its expansion in those areas by the end of 2022. Comcast recently opened a new Xfinity Store in Gilford’s Lake Shore Marketplace.
Pitfalls Of Censorship
As governments and social media sites expand their censorship of Russian media, Nick Clegg, Meta’s vice-president of global affairs, says the company has denied Ukrainian officials’ requests to remove access to its platforms in Russia. Clegg points out that such a move would prevent everyday Russians from using the platforms to learn about the war, voice their views, or organize protests. “We believe turning off our services would silence important expression at a crucial time,” Clegg wrote on Twitter.
Alexandra Givens, chief executive officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based non-profit, suggested instead that social media sites should provide more aggressive labeling of state media. Moves to de-emphasize their content online might help to reduce the spread of harmful material without cutting off a key information source, she said.
“These platforms are a way for dissidents to organize and push back,” Givens said. “The clearest indication of that is the regime has been trying to shut down access to Facebook and Twitter.”
Seeking Secure Internet
The Department of Homeland Security has established a Cyber Safety Review Board to look into past cyber events and focus on improvements across the private and public sectors “to build a more secure digital future.”
The board’s first review is focusing on the vulnerabilities discovered in late 2021 in the widely used log4j software library, which has provided hackers with unprecedented access to information. After addressing any ongoing vulnerabilities and threat activity, the group will use the lessons learned to make recommendations to improve cybersecurity and incident response practices.
“To the greatest extent possible, the CSRB will share a public version of the report with appropriate redactions for privacy and to preserve confidential information,” the department stated in announcing the formation of the group.
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