Amazon's drone trials; ACCC slams broadband ads; Taking on ransomware

The ACCC has called for better information about broadband speeds in advertising, arguing it would improve competition and consumer outcomes in the retail broadband market.

The commission said there is currently a lack of clear information about broadband performance in advertising and other material available to consumers.

“At the moment, it is difficult for consumers to access accurate information as broadband advertising is not focusing upon speed and performance. Consumers are being presented with little information or vague claims like ‘boost’ and ‘fast’, or just pictures in advertising of athletes or animals,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“Consumers need accurate information about broadband speed and performance so that they can understand if what they are being offered will actually meet their needs,” he said.

The ACCC said it will consider steps that could be taken to help address the problem.

Commenting on the ACCC’s statement, the Communications Alliance said that the ACCC itself has placed a restriction on the broadband industry’s ability to offer more transparent information about broadband speeds.

The Comms Alliance said that the ACCC’s ‘Information & Industry Guidance Paper: Broadband Internet Speed Claims and the Trade Practices Act 1974’, provides the following guidance:

“ISPs should avoid using hypothetical speeds in headline claims describing a service and in the names or titles that ISPs give to particular plans […] ISPs must be able to substantiate stated maximum or ‘up to’ speeds as being achievable by users of their services.”

Comms Alliance CEO John Stanton said: “The ACCC guidance also requires ISPs to take account of a wide range of factors when they wish to make any statement about the data transfer rates available to consumers using their services.

“Some of these factors — including the need to consider the numbers of users of a broadband service within a customer’s premises, as well as the nature of the modem-device connection (eg, cable or Wi-Fi) — are unrealistic for ISPs to identify on a customer-specific basis, thus making it difficult or impossible to make any claim about data transfer rates,” Stanton said.

The ACCC is seeking comment from the public on the issue and has prepared a discussion paper on the topic.

Submissions of comment are due by 25 August 2016. More information on the submission process, and a link to the discussion paper, are available at the ACCC website.

Ransomware collaboration

Kaspersky Lab and Intel have teamed up with two European law enforcement agencies — Europol and the Dutch National Police — to launch an online resource devoted to fighting ransomware.

Kaspersky described the site, which is called No More Ransom, as an “online portal aimed at informing the public about the dangers of ransomware and helping victims to recover their data without having to pay ransom to the cybercriminals”.

The No More Ransom website provides users with information on ransomware and allows victims to report a ransomware crime.

It also provides tools that may help users recover data that has been locked by ransomware. At launch, the site contains four decryption tools for different types of malware, Kaspersky said.

Jornt van der Wiel, Security Researcher at Global Research and Analysis Team, Kaspersky Lab, said: “The biggest problem with crypto-ransomware today is that when users have precious data locked down, they readily pay criminals to get it back. That boosts the underground economy, and we are facing an increase in the number of new players and the number of attacks as a result. We can only change the situation if we coordinate our efforts to fight against ransomware.”

Wilbert Paulissen, director of the National Criminal Investigation Division of National Police of the Netherlands, said: “We, the Dutch police, cannot fight against cybercrime, and ransomware in particular, alone. This is a joint responsibility of the police, the justice department, Europol and ICT companies, and requires a joint effort.”

UK drone trials

Online retailer Amazon has obtained approval from the UK government to trial new methods of testing its drone-based parcel delivery systems.

Amazon said that a cross-government team has granted the company permission to explore three key areas related to drone-based parcel delivery:

• Beyond line-of-sight operations in rural and suburban areas.
• Testing sensor performance to make sure the drones can identify and avoid obstacles.
• Flights where one person operates multiple highly automated drones.

Amazon Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communications Paul Misener said: “This announcement strengthens our partnership with the UK and brings Amazon closer to our goal of using drones to safely deliver parcels in 30 minutes to customers in the UK and elsewhere around the world.”

Amazon’s drone-based Prime Air delivery system, which is currently in development, is designed to be able to deliver packages weighing up to 2.25 kg to customers in 30 minutes or less.

The company said the trials will help identify the operating rules and safety regulations that will be necessary to help move the drone industry forward.

Image courtesy Amazon.