government

A focus on possibilities at MIT Sloan CIO Symposium

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--One of the reasons I like to attend events like the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium is that they're opportunities for a reality check. Vendor confabs can sometimes feel like a bit of an echo chamber that is a bit disconnected from what IT departments are really doing or, at least, the pace at which they're doing it.

To be sure, the companies attending and speaking at events like this symposium tend to be more leading edge and forward-thinking than average. Even so, I was still a bit surprised at how strongly most of the end-user panelists … Read more

Apple responds to Rep. Markey on location

Along with testifying in front of the U.S. Congress about location data tracking, Apple today responded to a letter from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) about the company's location data practices.

In a letter (PDF) signed by Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel and senior vice president of legal and government affairs, the company addressed seven questions from Rep. Markey that had been sent to Apple before it made that information public in its "Q&A on Location Data" document published late last month.

"I am pleased that after my letter Apple announced that its … Read more

Fixing the Web's trust issues

Every time you turn around another company is reporting a serious data breach. Last week it was the LastPass online password management service that lost some e-mail addresses and master passwords, as CNET's Seth Rosenblatt reported in The Download Blog.

A couple of weeks before that, hackers broke into the servers of German software maker Ashampoo and made off with many of its customers' e-mail addresses; Elinor Mills provides details of the attack in her InSecurity Complex blog.

But these losses pale in comparison to the data breaches reported last month by e-mail service provider Epsilon and the ongoing … Read more

Google contest winner shows where our taxes go

With the deadline to pay our taxes ticking away, many of us wonder just how and where Uncle Sam spends our hard-earned dough. The winner of a recent Google contest reveals the answer.

In February, Google launched a contest designed to shed some light into the U.S. government's often perplexing spending habits. Dubbed the Data Viz challenge, the contest asked developers to create online applications that could show us visually where our income tax dollars are spent.

After receiving more than 40 entries, the Google jury has crowned its $5,000 Grand Prize winner. Created by developer Anil … Read more

The breach felt 'round the Web (week in review)

Last week, Epsilon was a little-known e-mail marketing firm, a behind-the-scenes player in the Web-marketing world. This week, it's held a prominent place in the headlines as the target of a massive data breach that exposed names and e-mail addresses for a broad swath of customers at dozens of prominent companies.

E-mails from the likes of Citibank, Chase, Capital One, Walgreens, Target, Best Buy, TiVo, TD Ameritrade, Verizon, and Ritz Carlton--have been flooding in-boxes since Epsilon announced its system had been breached. Some people (this writer included) have reported receiving as many as four of these warnings.

Companies like … Read more

The 404 795: Where we're shutting down for the weekend (podcast)

Two Natali Morris appearances in one week? It must be Friday. She joins us for the first half of today's episode, where we discuss today's top stories in tech and culture, including new terror alerts coming to Facebook and Twitter, a Vatican magazine that says hackers are doing God's work, a study linking physical pain to social rejection, and "LOL" earning its place in the English Oxford Dictionary.

The 404 Digest for Episode 795

The impact of a government shutdown. Terror alerts make their way to Facebook and Twitter networks. Vatican magazine compares hackers to the work of God. Scientists at Columbia link physical pain with social rejection. Laughing out loud all the way to the English Oxford Dictionary.

Episode 795 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Federal Web sites may go dark in shutdown

Many federal Web sites will go dark if the government shuts down tomorrow night, the White House indicated this afternoon.

A 16-page memo (PDF) to federal agencies says their Web sites may stay online only in a small number of situations, including tax collection and handling "exempted" activities such as payments and other functions that are paid for by previous annual budgets.

"The mere benefit of continued access by the public to information about the agency's activities would not warrant the retention of personnel or the obligation of funds to maintain, or update, the agency's … Read more

The Governator trailer spins Schwarzenegger as a superhero

Arnold Schwarzenegger: a man, myth, and a soon to be animated legend?

Stan Lee, the brilliant mind behind many famous Marvel superheroes, has unveiled the first facepalming trailer for a new animated series called "The Governator." The three-minute video shows off a souped up '90s throwback cartoon TV show that features ol' Arnie at the end of his eight-year term of governor of California. After resigning, he declares "I won't be back" and fades away from the public eye--until robots overrun the world.

In true Stan Lee fashion, the main protagonist has a secret; Arnold … Read more

Another Google service facing uncertainty in China

Google is facing potential trouble with the Chinese government over yet another one of its services.

The future of Google Maps, the company's online mapping service, may be in jeopardy as the company reportedly has yet to file the required application with the Chinese government to keep the service running, and the deadline is tomorrow.

China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping confirmed that it has not received an application from Google for a license for Google Maps, according to Bloomberg and other sources. If tomorrow's deadline passes, and a license application still has not been received, … Read more

France hit by cyberattack with G20 focus

The French finance ministry revealed today that it has been the victim of a major and sustained cyberattack.

The attack, which has been ongoing since December, seems to be the work of hackers looking for documents related to the G20 political group, which brings together 20 major nations tasked with stablizing the global economy and which is being led by France this year, according to AFP News.

With over 150 computers in the ministry reported to have been compromised, the ministry has so far been forced to shut down 10,000 computers, said a report in Paris Match magazine (Google Translate English version). … Read more