• Archives
• Subscribe
• Add Your Link
• Harlow’s Books & Cds
• Register 'ur URL

F-G

CTG Releases National Survey of Cross-Boundary Information Sharing

Factors Influencing Government Cross-Boundary Information Sharing: Preliminary Analysis of a National Survey was released today by The Center for Technology in Government. The report is part of a long term project to understand how governments share information across program, agency and jurisdictional boundaries as they work to improve programs and services. For example, some 700 survey participants from law enforcement and health care reported that clarity of roles and responsibilities; knowledge of organizational policies and information needs; informal problem solving; and information confidentiality, security, privacy and disclosure concerns were prominent in the course of their CBI initiatives. CTG will continue to analyze the project data to test the weight of each of the factors as compared to their overall influence, and make further results available in both academic and practitioner publications

Details Here

first published week of:   10/05/2009

FBI suspects terrorists are exploring cyber attacks

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at people with suspected links to al Qaeda who have shown an interest in mounting an attack on computer systems that control critical U.S. infrastructure, a senior official told Congress on November 17. While there is no evidence that terrorist groups have developed sophisticated cyber-attack capabilities, a lack of security protections in U.S. computer software increases the likelihood that terrorists could execute attacks in the future, the official warned. If terrorists were to amass such capabilities, they would be wielded with “destructive and deadly intent,” the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 17. “The FBI is aware of and investigating individuals who are affiliated with or sympathetic to al Qaeda who have recognized and discussed the vulnerabilities of the U.S. infrastructure to cyber-attack,” he told the committee, without providing details. Such infrastructure could include power grids and transportation systems. The control systems of U.S. infrastructure as well as money transfers are now connected directly or indirectly to the Internet. Hackers have been able to penetrate computer systems running components of the U.S. electric grid as well as divert bank transfers. In an interview Tuesday, a former Homeland Security secretary said al Qaeda already has some cyber-attack capability.“I don’t think they’re the most capable in the world, but they have some capability,” he said. The former Homeland Security secretary said he expects al Qaeda to develop more cyber-attack skills that would allow them to attack infrastructure that is less well protected, perhaps in the transportation and energy sectors.““It’s only a matter of time” he said. “They’re getting the capability to do some damage”

Details Here

first published week of:   11/16/2009

FCC and its impact on the enterprise in 2009

What do you think of when you see the phrase “enterprise computing”? A typical free association request will probably produce glossary terms like database, processor, network, and scalability before anything like “telecom policy” or “the Federal Communications Commission” comes up. But, in fact, enterprise computing and the FCC have a lot in common, especially when it comes to the servers that maintain broadband-powered business networks.

Next year, the people who run these systems for banks, hospitals, schools, public utilities and a million other entities will be watching President Elect Barack Obama’s FCC on a variety of crucial issues. Will the 700MHz auction rollout create real open device access? Can manufacturers use recently approved technologies like unlicensed white space to expand the flexibility of enterprise systems? How will Obama’s economic stimulus package help broadband and the tech sector?

Details Here

first published week of:   01/05/2009

FCC wants real answers from ISPs on broadband investment

Yes, we know—when the FCC puts out a press release (PDF) titled “Columbia Institute for Tele-Information to Conduct Independent Review of Telecom Capital Expenditures to Assist FCC,” the eyeballs begin to glaze and the limbs feel suddenly heavy. But this one’s worth rousing the brain for, because the FCC announcement means that the agency is taking a close look at just how much investment ISPs make in their broadband lines.

The FCC’s National Broadband Plan is due to Congress next February, and the agency just launched the first of its 20 different staff-led workshops into all aspects of US broadband. The FCC is looking beyond its walls, too, already commissioning studies about worldwide broadband deployment and usage from Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society (of which Charles Nesson, the Harvard Law professor who recently represented file-swapper Joel Tenenbaum, was a cofounder).

Details Here

first published week of:   08/17/2009

FCC: did it cook the books on broadband over power lines?

The other shoe has finally dropped on that court decision which forced the Federal Communications Commission to delay its green light to Broadband over Power Line technology (BPL). The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which successfully sued the FCC over its go-ahead, has obtained and published a small pile of nonredacted versions of studies that the Commission claimed supported its pro-BPL position.

Details Here

first published week of:   05/11/2009

--Page 1 of 5--

Volume 31

-->