Eurobites: Interoute Doubles Up on Cable Connection

Also in today’s EMEA regional roundup: Russian banks hit by IoT attack; Google defends Android strategy to EU; ZTE signs German smart city agreement.

• Interoute Communications Ltd. has opened a dual-entry connection to the SEA-ME-WE 5 cable that carries traffic from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to Interoute’s pan-European network. The traffic will now be able to enter Europe either via France, through its Marseilles point of presence (PoP), or via Italy, through its PoP in Palermo. Interoute claims that having a presence at both these locations means it will be able to offer customers added resilience. Separately, Interoute has announced a new PoP in Miami, which serves as a hub for Latin America. (See Interoute Offers Dual Entry on SEA-ME-WE 5 Routes.)
• More evidence that the Internet of Things has the potential to become the Internet of Very Bad Things has emerged with the news that five Russian banks have been the subject of a sustained cyber attack this week, with the modus operandi again being the use of connected devices such as webcams and digital video recorders to launch a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. As the BBC reports, the targets included state-owned Sberbank, which said it had endured 68 similar attacks in 2016. (See When IoT Attacks! Cams Caused Huge Internet Outage.)
• Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has hit back at the European Commission’s charge that the way it freely distributes its Android operating system to mobile phone makers is harmful to competition. In a blog, Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president and general counsel, argues that, contrary to what the Commission believes, Android does compete with Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)’s iOS, and claims that what the Commission is proposing is likely to make the problem of Android “fragmentation” worse. (See Eurobites: Brussels Gunning for Google Over Android Dominance.)
• ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763) has signed a smart city agreement with the “Drei gewinnt” network of German towns that comprises Rüsselsheim am Main, Raunheim and Kelsterbach. The Chinese vendor will help introduce a series of digital offerings and set up an innovation center to help further the smart cities cause.
• A survey by BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA) has found that two thirds of office workers in France, Germany, Spain and the UK believe that the ability to work remotely, with the appropriate devices and software, is more important to them than a company car. However, around half of those surveyed who are already working remotely said that they often waste time trying to get hold of colleagues and find it difficult to access documents and files.

  — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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