Category Archives: Luxembourg

Using Flash to defeat phishing^H^H^H^H^H Key loggers

Posted by Patrick Vande Walle on 1 March 2007 None comments
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Update: 2nd March 2007: The bank confirmed they want to use Flash to defeat key loggers.

  1. Key loggers are a “feature” of MS Windows, mostly. Well conceived operating systems do not allow the installation of such malware. The choice of the operating system is up to the user. He is free to upgrade to a more secure one. If he does not, that is his problem not the bank’s.
  2. On the Windows platform, key loggers should be intercepted by the anti-virus program. If it does not, that is the user’s problem not the bank’s.
  3. While the Flash applet may help defeat the key loggers on the Windows platform for the specific use of the online banking service, it does not solve the general issue of the key logging malware on the Windows platform in general. In fact, this would give the false impression to the clueless user that he is protected against key loggers, while in fact he is only protected for a specific application and not when using his credit card on Amazon or elsewhere.

The only conclusion one can draw from the whole thing is that the bank wants to be legally covered in case a customer complains. Security has nothing to do with it. The bank could easily disclaim liability in case the user does not implement the right security tools on his computer. It could, for example, disclaim liability in case the browser allows the installation of malware, which is typical of Internet Explorer.

The original post is after the break

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IT, Society, and Culture: Power to the People

Posted by Patrick Vande Walle on 8 February 2007 None comments
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The American Chamber of Commerce of Luxembourg is organizing an event tonight at the RTL TV studios called “IT, Society, and Culture”.

I will be presenting some reflections on how we went from a top-down approach of the Internet to a bottom-up proces and what the challenges are. My presentation is here in PDF format.

The main idea behind the presentation is that we have not yet reached the bottom-up phase, despite all the talk about blogs, YouTube, etc. The fact remains that the hoster of the blog or video sharing platform is still in a position to take down you web site. There is still someone, somewhere who can silence you. It is only when your platform will be under your total control that we will be able to the the user is the Internet, as Time Magazine puts it.

However, before we can reach that stage there are still some technical challenges we need to solve. If you wish to host your blog on your home computer, you need an easy to understand operating system and web server. It’s coming. You also need bandwidth. Asymetrical DSL won’t cut it. What you need is fiber to the home, with 100 Mbits both ways. You also need a fixed IP address. With current IPv4 addresses becoming scarce, IPv6 seems like the answer.

There are societal challenges, too. With IP everywhere and always on, we risk an Orwellian society where every one of your moves can be monitored. Will the average Internet user use the increased bandwidth to contribute something useful for the society, or post gore videos of men being hanged ?

France Télécom announces 100 Mbit Internet to the home

Posted by Patrick Vande Walle on 16 December 2006 2 comments
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The French newspaper Le Monde reports that the incumbent operator France Télécom will start deploying 100 Mbit/s Internet connections to the home in the Paris area, starting next March. Its competitor, Free, has similar projects.

At the same time, the Luxembourg incumbent is saying it will not deploy a FTTH network if competitors are allowed to use it.
In the meantime, “high speed” in Luxembourg still means 3 Mbit/s. Look out P&T Luxembourg: as you can see you from your French neighbour, one can be the incumbent and nevertheless be innovative.

Is competition the answer to all price issues ?

Posted by Patrick Vande Walle on 12 December 2006 None comments
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My newspaper this morning reported that Luxembourg is opposing a proposal from the European Commission regarding new regulation on the pricing of mobile phone calls.

For those not aware of what is at stake, here is a brief explanation. Currently, when roaming with your mobile phone all over Europe, you pay substantial roaming charges when abroad, even if you wish to make a local call. What the Commission says is that a local call is a local call, irrespective of what is your home network operator. If you are a customer of LuxGSM and happen to be in Paris, you should be able to call a number in Paris at the same price a customer of Orange or Bouygues would pay.

Looks fine. The trouble is that Luxembourg mobile operators (LuxGSM/P&T, Tango/Tele 2 and VoxMobile) consider that they would lose too much money and, as a consequence, would have to substantially raise the prices of local calls for everyone, including their own customers.

This demonstrates a real issue with competition in small markets like Luxembourg. What is costly to operators is the infrastructure. There are 2 GSM and 2 3G networks for 3 operators. Does it make sense for a country of 400 thousand people ?
The same applies to the Internet infrastructure. There are 2 competing DSL networks. 2 major operators have fiber networks throughout the country, with a third operator coming.

In such conditions, no operator can make any significant economies of scale, leading to high retail prices.
ISOC Luxembourg has been suggesting for a long time that all the infrastructure should be owned by a neutral not-for-profit operator, which would then resell capacity to telecom operators and ISPs. This would not only allow to rationalize the network infrastructure, it would also make billing the operators more transparent.

Let the private sector rule … and fail

Posted by Patrick Vande Walle on 14 October 2006 1 comments
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The Internet gurus tend to be convinced that only the private sector is able to run the Internet. You hear it on every occasion. ICANN should be transferred to the private sector. Internet connectivity in less developed countries will become cheap once the state-owned monopolies will disappear. We could go on for hours.The facts are not that simple. Here’s a real life example.

For years, Luxembourg has tried to attract foreign e-commerce companies. The government has done a lot in terms of lower taxes, highly skilled and multilingual work force, good salaries and living conditions, etc. The only thing that is missing is Internet bandwidth. There is enough for everyday use, but hosting Amazon, Google or You Tube would put the country’s international connectivity to its knees. For years, tier-1 operators said there is no market for large pipes over here. For years, there have been lost business opportunities.

Given the failure of the allmighty private sector to match the demand, the government has decided to pour 30 million Euros in a government agency called Luxconnect, whose task will be to dig and/or rent fiber connections between Luxembourg and the main European Internet exchanges. The two first targets are AMS-IX and DE-CIX. In addition, the agency will build a local fiber ring servicing the main zones hosting IT companies.

It is not yet clear if the agency will provide layer 1 (raw fiber), layer 2 (Ethernet) or Layer 3 (IP) connectivity to the local ISPs. I guess there will be several offers.

In any case, those who think it is fashionable to display any public sector involvement in the Internet as unnecessary interference should ask themselves if the private sector is always able to match the demand.

A few references:
Official press release(French)
Press article from Paperjam (English)
Draft law (French)
No web site yet at www.luxconnect.lu