Wanted: Young Cyberexperts to Defend Internet

The federal government, education officials and giant military contractors are collaborating to recruit a new class of tech professional specifically trained to battle data thieves, online scammers and cyberspies.

FCC Moves to Expand Role in Broadband

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission wants to overturn a 2002 commission ruling that designated broadband transmission as a lightly regulated service and instead classify it as a telecommunications service, which is more strictly regulated. 

Study Shows Inequalities in 'White-Spaces' Wireless

University of California, Berkeley researchers recently published a detailed analysis of the potential for long-distance wireless Internet connectivity using white spaces, the portion of the radio spectrum that was vacated by the switch to digital TV. 

In Debate, Audience Finds that the Cyberwar Threat Is Not Exaggerated

A panel of four leading security experts recently held a debate about the threat of cyberwarfare. The discussion emphasized that the threat is indeed very serious. 

Kaminsky Issues Developer Tool To Kill Injection Bugs

Renowned security researcher Dan Kaminsky today went public with the launch of a new venture as well as its first deliverable--a tool for application developers that helps prevent pervasive string injection-type attacks, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).

New Tech Moves Beyond the Mouse, Keyboard and Screen

Goodbye computer mouse, keyboard and monitor. Say hello to a new, simpler era of human-computer interaction--this time, with no clunky hardware standing between you and digital information.

'Email Triage' Technology Helps Manage Urgent Issues on Mobiles

IBM has unveiled research on how people handle email differently when using mobile devices.  

Cyber-War a Growing Threat Warn Experts

In 2007, Estonia was the subject of a series of cyber attacks which crippled the Internet across the country. Banks, government departments and the national media all found their websites swamped by a tidal wave of spam which took them down. The perpetrators were never caught.

Behind the Scenes of Windows Phone 7

The first Windows Phone 7 devices won't hit the market until the holidays. But in various conference rooms here on this Thursday in late May, it's already crunch time.

Children's Book Apps Get Curiouser and Curiouser

I prefer the old-fashioned experience of reading in the printed form, though I'm intrigued by the idea that the iPad, and eventually other tablet devices will give rise to a hybrid medium--call them book apps--that mix text with video, sound and game-like interactivity.

10 R&D Cybersecurity Initiatives Congress Seeks

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010, which was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate, lists 10 R&D initiatives the government would support to secure information systems and networks. 

Get Smart: Targeting Phone Security Flaws

Data from the National Vulnerability Database shows that last year security experts identified 30 security flaws in the software and operating systems of smartphones made by Apple, Nokia, and Research in Motion, nearly twice as many as the year before. 

How the Apple II Taught Programmers to Economize

Imagine trying to program a virtual machine--a software instance that mimics all the characteristics of a physical computer--on a device with 2 kilobytes of RAM.

China: Our Internet Is Free Enough

China, with the most Internet users of any country in the world, has issued its first government whitepaper declaring an overall Internet strategy--one that advocates Internet growth while implicitly defending censorship policies amid global concern over online repression and China-based cyber espionage.

CFP: Intelligent Transportation Systems

One of the goals of this years Computers Freedom and Privacy conference is to ask the question, "Can we be 'smart' and private?"  Wednesday's panel on Intellegent Transportation Systems (ITS) asks, as we make driving safer, more efficient and more comfortable, how can we, at the same time protect the privacy of drivers?

CFP: Activism and Social Networking- Advocating for Privacy

The Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference (CFP) continued Tuesday afternoon with a panel called Activism and Social Networking: Advocating for Privacy.  Panelists each described recent campaigns utilizing both online and in-person strategies. 

Technology Milestone Heralds a More Secure Internet

Moves to make the web's address system more secure will take a major step forward next month. In the planning for a decade, the Domain Name System Security Extentions, DNSSEC, will help protect users from cyber attacks such as phishing and spam.

Singapore Gets Wired for Speed

This island city-state, thanks to its small size and a big public investment, could soon be the first country blanketed with a fiber optic infrastructure so fast that it would enable the contents of a DVD to be downloaded in only a few seconds.

19th-Century Tech Makes a Smarter iPhone

Rarely has 19th-century technology stirred an audience of 21st-century technophiles as it did last week when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed that the next-generation iPhone will pack a gyroscope. But will this new sensor be, in Jobs's words, "just perfect for gaming"?

Microsoft's Xbox Motion Control System Is Kinect

After more than a year of speculation, we finally know what Microsoft's new motion-control system is called. For those that have referred to it for a year as Project Natal, meet Kinect for Xbox 360.

Merely Human? That’s So Yesterday

On a Tuesday evening this spring, Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, became part man and part machine. About 40 people, all gathered here at a NASA campus for a nine-day, $15,000 course at Singularity University, saw it happen.

In Defense of Computers and the Internet for Learning

If you’re reading this blog post on a computer, mobile phone or e-reader, please stop what you’re doing immediately. You could be making yourself stupid. And whatever you do, don’t click on the links in this post. They could distract you from the flow of my beautiful prose and narrative.

Computing with Secrets, but Keeping them Safe

A novel technique could see future Web services work with sensitive data without ever being able to read it. Several implementations of a mathematical proof unveiled just last year will allow cryptographers to start making the proposal more practical.

Pentagon Manhunt

Pentagon investigators are trying to determine the whereabouts of the Australian-born founder of the secretive website Wikileaks for fear that he may be about to publish a huge cache of classified State Department cables that, if made public, could do serious damage to national security, government officials tell The Daily Beast.

No Secrets

Julian Assange’s mission for total transparency.

Countering Counterfeiters—Smart Technology Secures Supply Chains

Counterfeiting is a huge problem. Luxury goods are a favorite target, but so are vital products including medications and aircraft parts. European researchers have created a new way to stem the tide.

The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In

While waiting for an elevator at the Fair Oaks Mall near her home in Virginia recently, Janice Im, who works in early-childhood development, witnessed a troubling incident between a young boy and his mother.

Cyber War: Microsoft a Weak Link in National Security

"Microsoft has vast resources, literally billions of dollars in cash, or liquid assets reserves. Microsoft is an incredibly successful empire built on the premise of market dominance with low-quality goods." Who wrote those lines? Steve Jobs? Linux inventor Linus Torvalds? Ralph Nader? No, the author is former White House adviser Richard A. Clarke in his new book, Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It.

High-Wire Robot to Inspect the Grid

Researchers at the Electric Power Research Institute have developed a robot that can crawl along transmission lines to inspect electrical wires without the need for manned helicopter inspections. 

New Cyber Chief Outlines Strategy

Security experts said this week that they were cheered by calls from General Keith Alexander, head of the new U.S. Cyber Command, for global rules of engagement for cyber-war, and for increased engagement with nations that are major sources of cyber crime and espionage, including Russia and China.