Government

A bill before the New York State Assembly would essentially ban anonymous comments on New York-based Web sites. Read more »

The US State Department has launched a digital campaign against Al Qaida in which they are replacing the terror organization’s anti-American propaganda ads on Yemeni tribal sites with anti-terror propaganda of their own, according to an Associated Press report. Read more »

An Armenian court sentenced a 27-year old Russian man to four years in jail this week following his conviction in connection with the infamous Bredolab botnet that infected 30 million computers over the last few years.

G. Avanesov, later identified as Georgy Avanesov by several media outlets, was officially sentenced for committing computer sabotage by the Court of First Instance of Armenia's Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun administrative districts Monday. Read more »

Hacktivists, malware, scams, data theft and DDoS attacks are among the Department of Homeland Security’s concerns regarding this summer’s Olympic Games set to take place in London, according to the DHS Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center’s Strategic Outlook. Read more »

There's an old saying that all things end badly or else they wouldn't end. It sounds nice, but it's not necessarily true. Plenty of things simply end. The useful career of the Police, Man Vs. Food and highway A1A all ended without any catastrophic effects or gnashing of teeth. Now, with the end of Howard Schmidt's career as White House cybersecurity coordinator nearing its end, much will be made of what he did or didn't accomplish in his time in government service. That's a fun parlor game to play, but the most important aspect of Schmidt's time in Washington is the simple fact that he answered the bell when no one else would. Read more »

In this talk from the TEDx San Jose conference, security and privacy researcher Chris Soghoian explains the way that surveillance works these days, why it's so easy for law enforcement to watch private citizens and why companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and others won't protect their users from this surveillance.

Defense giant Northrop Grumman is hiring software engineers to help it carry out "offensive cyberspace operations," according to a recent job posting. Read more »

Howard Schmidt, the top White House information security adviser, is retiring after more than two years on the job and several decades in security both in government and private industry. Schmidt is in his second stint as the White House security chief and he's leaving at a time when cybersecurity has moved into the top tier of military and economic concerns for the country. Read more »

In a bulletin, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is warning healthcare organizations about the threat posed by insecure, network attached medical devices and the proliferation of smart phones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices in medical settings. Read more »

A U.S. Senator's bill to broaden cybersecurity intelligence gathering is in trouble after other legislators question whether proposed protections comes at the expense of citizens' privacy. Read more »