By
Patrick Svitek
WASHINGTON — Google is maintaining that a privacy policy implemented Thursday is not the dangerous change civil liberties experts are claiming it could become. The new approach combines the privacy policies of more than 60 Google products into a uniform code that emphasizes what the search giant considers a “more intuitive user experience.” In an official Google blog post Thursday, Alma Whitten, the company’s director of privacy, product and engineering, wrote that the policy adjustment … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Tatiana Kouskoulas
Due to its massive human rights violations, and its continuing threats against Israel, the American Jewish Council has worked for decades to preclude the Iranian threat. Earlier this week, the Obama Administration received praises from the AJC for announcing new sanctions against Iran. AJC Executive Director, David Harris, said “U.S. action is an essential reminder that the Iranian regime’s gross and systematic violation of human rights is being closely monitored and will not go unanswered.” … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Tatiana Kouskoulas
The Obama administration has heightened its campaign of targeted killings against suspected terrorists. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, this includes an increased use of unmanned drone strikes and “kill/capture missions” on al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership. While some experts claim victory on such missions- such as the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, others criticize the strategies as lacking proper legal boundaries, (as in the targeting of an American jihadist, Anwar al-Awlaki, … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Nida Tahir
Reports of data breaches at big companies such as Sony and Epsilon are regularly in the headlines these days; it makes one wonder how just safe are businesses against the threat of cyber attacks? An alarmingly large number, about 71 percent, of security professionals think their companies are “not equipped to protect itself against cyber attacks,” according to a study by Narus Inc., a firm which provides security and traffic management software solutions. “Decision makers … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Nida Tahir
The Pentagon is drafting a formal strategy that will categorize certain cyber attacks as acts of war – -allowing the U.S. to use military force in retaliation to such attacks, according to a Wall Street Journal article. Security experts, however, argue that clear origins of a cyber attack are next to impossible to find. The WSJ article quoted an unnamed military official saying, “If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Nida Tahir
Cloud computing is all the rage these days. It’s being hailed as a breakthrough technology that will revolutionize the IT landscape and the way we use the Internet: we won’t be restricted to one device or machine – all our data will be in off-site data centers and we can access it from just about anywhere. Sounds great but also risky! Concerns have been raised about data security in cloud computing. However, experts defend cloud … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Nida Tahir
Data mining can be a useful tool in tracking down cyber gangs, but its usefulness in proactively guarding against cyber threats is doubtful. “Where there is lots and lots of data, which you have to analyze and sift through, then you can use data mining to uncover patterns,” said Bhavani Thuraisingham, director of the Cyber Security Research Center at the University of Texas, Dallas. A new research shows that data mining could be used to … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Brad Stenger
Months ago, Matthew Hochstein, a project director with the Evanston-based emergency management consulting firm Hagerty Consulting, explained how the government prioritizes resources when it comes to preparing for, and then dealing with emergency events. “Prioritizing resources is a tough job,” he said. “It’s very complicated because you’re dealing with not just multiple states, but multiple regions. For example, the water/ice/MREs in the first 72 hours is probably the first and most important thing next to … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Brad Stenger
After you and thousands of others have run hundreds of miles to prepare for the big race, public safety officials are using that same big race to prepare for potential disasters. Be glad. It’s making both your race day and your community safer. Big races are a big opportunity for the city’s emergency management services (EMS). “They know this event happens. They know it’s every year on this day,” says George Chiampas, medical director for … (Continue reading . . .)
By
Brad Stenger
Urban search and rescue robot moving through rubble in 2007 government tests. (credit: NIST) Researchers at the University of Oklahoma and at Texas Tech are developing technologies to improve disaster prediction and response, but emergency managers are not as quick to move these advances out of the lab and into the field. Oklahoma mathematician Theodore Trefalis works on artificial intelligence methods that have been shown to improve the short-term prediction of tornadoes. His methods use … (Continue reading . . .)
