Congress has passed a bill that could make it easier for you to access public data released by the government. The House approved the OPEN Government Data Act on Saturday, while all eyes were on the shutdown, as part of a larger bill to support evidence-based policymaking.. It requires that federal agencies must publish any "non-sensitive" info in a "machine-readable" format (essentially in a way that's legible on your smartphone or laptop). The act also insists that agencies appoint a chief data officer to oversee all open data efforts. Having passed the Senate last Wednesday, the bill is next headed to the President's desk. The link for this article located at Engadget is no longer available. . It requires that federal agencies must publish any 'non-sensitive' info in a 'machine-readable' form. congress, passed, easier, public, released. . Brittany Day
President Obama has issued an executive order aimed at better securing data stored by federal agencies. Some industry watchers believe the move is a response to the whistle-blower organization WikiLeaks, which has published information provided by Bradley Manning , a relatively low-level Army intelligence officer who last year downloaded thousands of documents from secure networks and handed them over to WikiLeaks. . Obama's order focuses on creating committees and task forces to oversee access to classified networks and government data. The link for this article located at Network World is no longer available. . Biden's directive emphasizes the establishment of panels and working groups to monitor access to secure information systems.. Federal Data Protection, Executive Order, Data Access Security. . Anthony Pell
A state-owned Chinese telecommunications firm "hijacked" Internet traffic in April, affecting traffic from U.S. government domains and raising serious implications for Internet safety, according to a report by a Congressional commission.. For about 18 minutes on April 8, 2010, China Telecom diverted U.S. and other foreign Internet traffic through servers in China, according to an annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (PDF) released Wednesday. Affected was traffic going to and from U.S. .gov and .mil sites, including sites for the Senate, the four main armed services branches, the office of the Secretary of Defense, NASA, the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others, according to the report. Commercial websites for large technology companies -- including Dell, Yahoo, Microsoft and IBM -- also were re-routed during the diversion period. The link for this article located at Information Week is no longer available. . China Telecom rerouted online traffic from the U.S. government and businesses, sparking issues over security. Uncover the specifics here.. China Telecom, Internet Traffic Hijack, Security Concerns, U.S. Government. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
As the Linux operating system makes ever-deeper inroads into government data centers, agencies need to feel comfortable that the open-source computing infrastructures they're rolling out are indeed secure. In general, firewalls protect enterprise networks from intruders. But enterprises also require other types of protection in case a hacker gets past the firewall. Traditional Unix vendors have always provided added security at the operating-system level, including so-called "trusted" versions designed to provide data centers and security operations with machine-level security. These trusted versions defend against unauthorized access to data and applications. . The link for this article located at Government Computer News is no longer available. . Secure Linux plays a vital role in protecting government systems from increasing cyber threats, ensuring sensitive data remains safe from attacks and unauthorized access. Secure Linux, Enterprise Security, Trusted Systems. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
The government should examine its own privacy practices before pointing a finger at the commercial sector, a report published Monday said. "The Federal government is the largest collector and user of citizens' personal and private information," said Jim Harper, operator . . . . The government should examine its own privacy practices before pointing a finger at the commercial sector, a report published Monday said. "The Federal government is the largest collector and user of citizens' personal and private information," said Jim Harper, operator of Privacilla.org. "It's hard enough to control your personal information in the commercial world -- it's impossible to protect it in the governmental world." While legislators debate information-privacy guidelines on Capitol Hill, few have criticized information sharing by government, Harper said. The link for this article located at Wired is no longer available. . Authorities should evaluate their own data protection measures prior to condemning private sector data management approaches.. Citizens' Privacy, Data Usage, Information Protection. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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