In The News

Pakistan to Ban Encryption Software

Josh Halliday, Saeed Shah September 1, 2011
Protecting privacy is good for business. Yet the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has ordered internet providers in the world’s sixth largest nation to report any customers using virtual private networks to browse the web. The directive could disrupt the work of investors, entrepreneurs and researchers who routinely rely on virtual private networks, including encrypted emails, for secure...

Top Indian Technology Firms TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Aegis and Others in US Are Going for Local Hiring

Shruti Sabharwal August 22, 2011
Indian IT firms are seeking to employ more Americans as a result of the high US unemployment rate and criticism of outsourcing. “In response, IT firms are now pulling out all the stops to be seen as job creators with a stake in local economies,” writes Shruti Sabharwal for the Economic Times. Sensitive to charges of stealing jobs, the Indian firms have joined a number of US initiatives: Wipro...

Resist the Temptations of the Cloud!

Richard Stallman July 21, 2011
Because of ready internet access, personal computing increasingly depends on outside sources for software tools and data storage and analysis. However, companies that provide remote-computing or so-called “cloud” services can ultimately limit or track individual users’ access, allowing law-enforcement agencies or more nefarious parties to snoop around. “The abusiveness of proprietary software has...

China's Cyberassault on America

Richard Clarke June 15, 2011
China and the US differ over rules for the internet: China supports tight security to counter sites that question one-party rule; the US urges free speech in China and other nations. Freewheeling ways in the US, particularly the lack of concern over security, could result in dangerous disruptions. “Beijing is successfully stealing research and development, software source code, manufacturing know...

Kissinger, Huntsman – US and China Need Cyber Detente

Paul Eckert, Daniel Magnowski June 15, 2011
The US and China would both benefit from a treaty designating some areas as off limits from cyber-attacks, pointed out former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, who is also planning to run for the US presidency. In recent weeks, the International Monetary Fund, the US Senate and major corporations have been victims of hacking, and according to...

The Social Era of the Web Starts Now

John Rennie, Glenn Zorpette June 3, 2011
Computers and the internet have evolved as social tools, and software developers compete to win an increasing number of supporters. “We are about to witness the next great conflict of the information age, a rich and complicated match on the scale of mainframes vs. micros, RISC vs. CISC, Windows vs. Unix,” write John Rennie and Glenn Zorpette for Spectrum of IEEE. “Like those battles, Google-...

No Need for Speed

Charles Kenny May 27, 2011
Communication technologies, including cell phones and social media, increase awareness and connections to resources. A UN panel addressing broadband inclusion concluded that the technology is an essential infrastructure that could reduce poverty. Funding fiber-optic cable for broadband in developing nations may speed connections, but not be the fastest route to eliminating poverty, contends...