Government - Infoworld

The E.U.'s cynical campaign against U.S. cloud providers

David Linthicum — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

The U.S. government continues its attempts to quell controversy about U.S. jurisdiction over cloud data that U.S. companies store overseas. This "can be traced at least in part to early efforts at a sort of digital protectionism in the form of [E.U. member] state efforts to promote European cloud companies over their U.S.-based competitors.

Obama wants less offshoring, vendors see shift back to U.S.

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:57:20 +0000

President Barack Obama is trying to encourage U.S. companies not to send work overseas. This might not be as hard a job as it seems for some types of IT work.

NSA releases security-enhanced version of Android

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:08:55 +0000

The National Security Agency (NSA) has released SE Android, a security-enhanced version of Android, which provides and enforces stricter access-control policies than those found in the popular mobile operating system by default.

Mobile tactics could be key to 2012 election

ccraig — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:59:38 +0000

Given the explosive growth in smartphone and tablet use over the past four years, campaign strategies for using mobile technologies could prove critical in the 2012 presidential election.

So far, analysts say, the candidates in both the Democratic and Republican parties are mostly focused on social networking and connecting to the electorate via desktop computers, apparently eschewing a stronger mobile focus until later on in the campaign.

Why politicians should never make laws about technology

Paul Venezia — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

In the weeks leading up to the SOPA vote (or delayed vote, as it were), I perused my representative's website, looking for a phone number or other means of contact to inform them of the bill's odiousness and potentially catastrophic fallout. I'm reasonably sure they'd heard it before, but had been blithely ignoring it. This simple act underscored a problem possibly bigger than SOPA: the fact that as with far too many of our elected officials, technology legislation isn't even on his radar.

When will we take back our privacy?

Roger A. Grimes — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Back in 1999, I remember being extremely agitated when Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy said, "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it!" regarding consumer privacy protections. "How arrogant is this guy?" I remember asking. Little did I know he was speaking the truth, albeit earlier than most of us wanted to hear it.

The freedom to tweet: Not applicable in Thailand or in Kansas

Robert X. Cringely — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:48:40 +0000

As regular visitors to Cringeville know, I'm a big fan of freedom of speech. The First Amendment is far and away my favorite (though I'm also partial to the 4th, 13th, 15th, and 21st). So I'm especially glad I don't live in Thailand or Kansas, where what you say or do on cellphones and social networks can land you in hot water -- or a prison cell.

Android draws closer to military readiness

InfoWorld Tech Watch — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:30:50 +0000

The U.S.

Google offers opt-out method for Wi-Fi geolocation mapping

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:34:34 +0000

Google is offering wireless network owners worldwide the possibility of opting out from its Wi-Fi geolocation mapping efforts, in the wake of a decision by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) that this process is in violation of legislation in the Netherlands.

Google uses its Street View cars to build a global database of wireless access points and their geographic location. The database is used by the company's services and other Android applications to approximate the location of individuals based on the Wi-Fi networks detected by their handsets at a given time.

Germany to sue Facebook over facial recognition

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:31:19 +0000

The Hamburg Data Protection Authority (DPA) is starting preliminary procedures to bring legal action against Facebook over the facial recognition feature used for photo tagging on the social network. The authority decided that further negotiation is futile after the social networking giant didn't agree to obtain consent from users retroactively.

When you tweet, the CIA listens

Robert X. Cringely — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:28:51 +0000

Careful what you say on Twitter, the spooks may be listening.

As a fascinating and rare insider report by AP reporter Kimberly Dozier reveals, the Central Intelligence Agency is analyzing millions of Twitter posts each day to get the inside skinny on events transpiring half a world away.

E-voting remains insecure, despite paper trail

InfoWorld Tech Watch — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:51:25 +0000

Microsoft Research has revealed a potential flaw in verifiable e-voting machines through which fraudsters could easily use discarded ballot receipts as a guide for altering votes.

How to revive the feds' lifeless 'cloud first' policy

David Linthicum — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Remember the federal government's "cloud first" policy? A year ago, the Washington Post reported, "The [General Services Administration, the main procurement agency] is the first federal agency to make the Internet switch, and its decision follows the Office of Management and Budget's declaration last month that the government is now operating under a 'cloud-first' policy, meaning agencies must give priority to Web-based applications and services."

Google reports big boost in U.S. requests for user data

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:25:41 +0000

U.S. government requests for Google user data jumped nearly 30 percent in the first half of this year compared to the prior six months, the search vendor said this week.

A report released by Google on Tuesday showed that between January and June of this year, various U.S. law enforcement agencies made 5,950 requests for user data from Google accounts or services.

New tool helps protect small businesses from cyber attack

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:39:58 +0000

With hackers increasingly setting their sights on small businesses, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Monday it will provide an online tool to help those businesses develop a cyber security strategy.

The Small Biz cyber Planner will ask a series of questions such as "Does your business use credit cards?" and "Does your business have a public website?" Based on the responses, it will generate a planning guide to help companies put in place basic policies to protect against cyber threats.

DHS issues warning that Anonymous may attack infrastructure

admin — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:43:28 +0000

The U.S. government is keeping a wary eye on what it says is hacking collective Anonymous' growing interest in attacking critical infrastructure targets.

A DHS bulletin posted this week assesses the ability of the collective to inflict damage on industrial control systems that manage equipment at power plants, water treatment facilities, chemical plants, and other potential targets.

U.S. mobile carriers to offer usage alerts

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:06:19 +0000

Major U.S. mobile carriers will begin offering usage alerts to customers in an effort to help them avoid surprise charges on their bills, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and a mobile trade group announced Monday. Some mobile customers have complained of unexpected charges in the thousands of dollars in recent years, said Julius Genachowski, the FCC's chairman.

Cray building $97 million supercomputer for U.S.

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:59:04 +0000

The never-ending global push to build ever faster supercomputers took another step today with Cray's announcement that it was awarded a contract from U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to build a system that could potentially deliver up to 20 petaflops of peak performance, or 20 quadrillion floating operations per second.

Cray said the contract is worth more than $97 million.

Feds expand data center closing goal

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:55:23 +0000

About 30 percent of the federal government's IT spending is being used to support data center infrastructure, and the U.S. hopes to save billions down the road as it closes and consolidates its data centers.

Steven VanRoekel , who was recently appointed federal CIO, replacing Vivek Kundra , who resigned to take a fellowship at Harvard, plans to broaden the government's consolidation plan.

Google asks court to dismiss lawsuit over Microsoft-only cloud contract

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:02:41 +0000

Google and one of its resellers have asked a federal court to dismiss their case against the U.S. Department of the Interior over Microsoft-only bids for cloud-based services.