AT&T’s 911 Tech, Russia Cyberattacks, Musk’s Twitter Would Reinstate Trump
AT&T has launched technology that will use the GPS on phones to help emergency responders more accurately find calls.
May 11, 2022 – AT&T said Tuesday that it has launched a more accurate way for emergency responders to locate distressed calls, according to a press release.
AT&T is partnering with telecommunications company Intrado to deliver what they call the “Locate Before Route” feature, which includes the use of a phone’s GPS capabilities and not just cell towers to more accurately route emergency calls to call centers in closest proximity. The companies said the technology is expected to decrease delays in emergency response.
AT&T said the rollout has started in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Guam, and is estimated to be nationwide by the end of June.
Russia conducted cyberattacks on Ukraine before invasion, western officials say
Russia was behind a number of cyberattacks since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine, including on communications company Viasat one hour before the official launch of the attack on February 24, according to western intelligence released Tuesday.
Officials from the U.S., European Union, and the United Kingdom said the cyberattacks, which started as early as January, reverberated across the European continent, including disrupting internet users and wind farms in central Europe. Viasat said “tens of thousands of terminals have been damaged, made inoperable and cannot be repaired,” according to a report from the UK government.
“In the months leading up to and after Russia’s illegal further invasion began, Ukraine experienced a series of disruptive cyber operations, including website defacements, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and cyber attacks to delete data from computers belonging to government and private entities – all part of the Russian playbook,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press statement Tuesday.
“The U.S. Government has developed new mechanisms to help Ukraine identify cyber threats and recover from cyber incidents,” Blinken added. “We have also enhanced our support for Ukraine’s digital connectivity, including by providing satellite phones and data terminals to Ukrainian government officials, essential service providers, and critical infrastructure operators.”
Cybersecurity leaders from western nations were said to meet at the CYBERUK 2022 conference in Newport, Wales on Tuesday to discuss the threats.
Musk says he will reverse Twitter ban on Trump if he buys the company
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that if he ends up buying social media platform Twitter, he would reinstate the account of former president Donald Trump.
Trump was banned from the platform following tweets he made that the platform interpreted as encouraging the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
Musk, who got approval from Twitter’s board last month to purchase the company for $44 billion, said at a Financial Times conference Tuesday that the company’s decision to ban Trump was “morally wrong.”
Musk has been an outspoken critic of Twitter’s policies of removing people from the platform, saying that this harms free speech.
