Author: Staff Writer

Man behind NSA leaks says he did it to safeguard privacy, liberty

Staff Writer

He’s a high school dropout who worked his way into the most secretive computers in U.S. intelligence as a defense contractor — only to blow those secrets wide open by spilling details of classified surveillance programs. Now, Edward Snowden might never live in the United States as a free man again. In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, Snowden revealed himself as the source of documents outlining a massive effort by the U.S. National Security Agency to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic…

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XO Group Uses Cloud Services to Control Dropbox Rogues

Staff Writer

Until last year, when XO Group employees wanted to share information or access it remotely, they usually bypassed IT and simply opened up a personal Dropbox account. While this step allowed them to access files anywhere and collaborate with colleagues, it also decreased corporate security, centralization, and IT control. Recognizing IT had to find a solution that met business and IT needs, XO Group began researching its options, said Tony Colon, director of IT, in an interview with Internet Evolution. XO Group, formerly The Knot, operates “life stage websites” focused…

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U.S. Confirms That It Gathers Online Data Overseas

Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — The federal government has been secretly collecting information on foreigners overseas for nearly six years from the nation’s largest Internet companies like Google, Facebook and, most recently, Apple, in search of national security threats, the director of national intelligence confirmed Thursday night. The confirmation of the classified program came just hours after government officials acknowledged a separate seven-year effort to sweep up records of telephone calls inside the United States. Together, the unfolding revelations opened a window into the growth of government surveillance that began under the Bush…

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Internet Society Funds 11 Community-Based Projects that Enhance Internet Environments in Underserved Regions

Staff Writer

nternet Society Funds 11 Community-Based Projects that Enhance Internet Environments in Underserved Regions The Internet Society today announced funding for 11 community-based Internet projects that will enhance the Internet ecosystem in underserved communities around the world. The Community Grants are awarded twice each year to Internet Society Chapters and Members. Recipients receive up to US$10,000 to implement their projects. The 11 projects funded in this round of grants will: •Enable teachers and students in the Sultanate of Oman to produce and share video presentations that meet Omani curriculum standards and…

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Apple loses US trade panel ruling in Samsung dispute

Staff Writer
Voice App

Apple has lost a ruling by a US trade panel in a patent dispute with its rival Samsung. The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Apple infringed on a Samsung patent, which could mean some older models of the iPad and iPhone are banned from sale in the US. The patent relates to 3G wireless technology and the ability to transmit multiple services correctly and at the same time. Apple said it plans to appeal. The ruling could also be reversed by a US presidential order within 60 days. The…

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Government IT Can’t Pass The Buck On Open Data

Staff Writer

Without automated open data, some delay is inevitable, because every record request is treated as a unique event, requiring assessment, redaction of non-public data, double-checking, etc. Automation and providing for self-service not only connect the spirit of the law to the letter of it, but they also save staff time and, over the long haul, keep costs down. Yes, open data can get political when city staffers release data sets without a plan. My advice: Focus on pragmatics: Where’s the biggest bang for your efforts? Where will you save a…

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DotConnectAfrica’s Sophia Bekele Named One of 50 African Trailblazers by NewAfrican Magazine, UK

Staff Writer

March 20, 2013, Mauritius, Port-Louis, Sophia Bekele, Executive Director of DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA Trust), has been named as one of the ’50 African Trailblazers under 50‘,  by the influential New African magazine UK, a member of the IC Publications group.  New African is a well known publication that is in the vanguard of contemporary Pan-Africanist projection and thinking. www.newafricanmagazine.com  The special “Collector’s Edition” of New African for May 2013 has been put together by the editors of the magazine to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the…

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Kaspersky plans source code reveal to avoid Huawei’s fate

Staff Writer

By Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor • Get more from this author Posted in Security, 30th May 2013 05:56 GMT Free whitepaper – European migration survey Eugene Kaspersky thinks Huawei’s products contain “some doors, they are not back doors, but somewhere in-between”, but that overall “there is nothing really wrong with Huawei”. Th Russian security supremo is nonetheless taking steps to ensure his company doesn’t experience the same less-than-welcoming reception Huawei has found in the US market. Kaspersky offered his opinion to Vulture South yesterday. Kaspersky breezes into Australia most years and…

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IT Suffers From Obama Admin’s Jekyll & Hyde Approach to Privacy Rights

Staff Writer

Recently, the Obama administration has been of two minds where privacy rights are concerned. On one hand, you have an administration that vowed to veto CISPA and mandated open data for government websites. On the other hand, you have an increasingly out-of-control Department of Justice on a fishing expedition at AP and demanding legislation to let the FBI wiretap private, encrypted communications and levy fines if a company fails to comply. To paraphrase Eminem, will the real Barack Obama, please stand up, please stand up. As it turned out, we…

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The danger of blindly trusting the technocrats

Staff Writer

We are living in the age of the technocrats. In business, Big Data, and the Big Brains who can parse it, rule. In government, the technocrats are on top, too. From Washington to Frankfurt to Rome, technocrats have stepped in where politicians feared to tread, rescuing economies, or at least propping them up, in the process Technocrats are in vogue within the intelligentsia, too. It is well nigh impossible to pick up a book about any social or political issue nowadays (including, I hasten to acknowledge, my own) without coming…

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