News in Networking: 160-Tbit/s Cable, Airline Network Issues, and a Patched-Mac Vuln

Summary

Microsoft, Facebook and teleco provider Telxius announced this week that their high-capacity subsea cable project is complete. A “network issue” in a global flight-booking system caused major airline delays. And an “alarming number” of patched Macs are vulnerable to an issue in the Extensible Firmware Interface. More after the jump…

This week’s top story picks from the Kentik team.

Microsoft, Facebook and teleco provider Telxius announced this week that their high-capacity subsea cable project is complete. A “network issue” in a global flight-booking system caused major airline delays. And an “alarming number” of patched Macs are vulnerable to an issue in the Extensible Firmware Interface.

Here are those headlines and more:

• Microsoft and Facebook Laid a 160-Tbit/s Cable 4,100 Miles Across the Atlantic (The Verge)
  Microsoft, Facebook, and telecoms infrastructure provider Telxius announced their new high-capacity subsea cable, called Marea, is complete. “The cable is capable of transmitting 160 terabits of data per second, the equivalent of streaming 71 million HD videos at the same time, and 16 million times faster than an average home internet connection,” reports The Verge.
• Airlines Suffer Worldwide Delays After “Network Issue” (Bloomberg)
  Amadeus IT Group SA, which operates a global flight-bookings system, said a “network issue” was to blame for a number of delays on Thursday morning.
• Internet Explorer Bug Leaks Whatever You Type in Address Bar (Ars Technica)
  A bug in Internet Explorer “allows any currently visited website to view any text entered into the address bar as soon as the user hits enter. The technique can expose sensitive information a user didn’t intend to be viewed by remote websites,” reports Ars Technica.
• How UPS is Using Analytics to Improve Performance (ZDNet)
  Juan Perez, chief information and engineering officer for UPS, says network planning tools and analytics will help his company “to optimize its logistics network through the effective use of data.”
• Alarming Number of Patched Macs Vulnerable to Stealthy Firmware Hacks (Ars Technica)
  “The exposure results from known vulnerabilities that remain in the Extensible Firmware Interface, or EFI, which is the software located on a computer motherboard that runs first when a Mac is turned on. EFI identifies what hardware components are available, starts those components up, and hands them over to the operating system,” reports Ars Technica.
• Ericsson and Telstra Encrypt In-Transit Data Over 100Gbps Link (ZDNet)
  Ericsson, Ciena, and Telstra have encrypted data while in transit over a 100Gbps link between the U.S. and Australia using multiple subsea cable systems, reports ZDNet.
• Emerging Vendors 2017: Networking And VoIP Startups You Need To Know (CRN)
  CRN just published a list of top networking and VoIP startups to watch. Kentik was honored to be named on the list as a company “with the goal of making networking easier to manage and consume.” Check out the full list.

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