ITworld Government

California may outlaw 3-D printed guns

IDGNS staff — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:48:24 +0000

Proposed legislation in California aims to ban guns made using 3-D printing, after an organization Defense Distributed fired a handgun made with the technology, and said it would distribute its drawings online.

San Francisco axes cellphone warning law in settlement with CTIA

IDGNS staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:01:24 +0000

San Francisco killed its cellphone radiation warning law on Tuesday by agreeing to settle a lawsuit by the mobile industry group CTIA.

Study: US military too reliant on foreign-made equipment

IDGNS staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:05:32 +0000

The U.S. military's reliance on foreign-made products, including telecommunications equipment and semiconductors, is putting the nation's security at risk by exposing agencies to faulty parts and to the possibility that producing nations will stop selling vital items, according to a new report from the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

Senators want sanctions against countries supporting cyberattacks

IDGNS staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:49:55 +0000

Two U.S. senators will push Congress or President Barack Obama's administration to pursue trade and immigration sanctions against China and other countries that allegedly support cyberattacks on U.S. government agencies and businesses, the lawmakers said Wednesday.

Chinese hackers master the art of lying in wait

IDGNS staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:57:17 +0000

The remarkable success that Chinese state-sponsored groups have had in infiltrating U.S. government, military and corporate networks in recent years should not be mistaken as a sign of growing technical superiority over the U.S. in cyberspace, security experts said.

An H-1B jobs database the tech industry may hate

IDGNS staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:15:17 +0000

The intent of the comprehensive immigration bill's H-1B database is to improve the odds that a U.S. worker will be hired over a foreign one. But its effectiveness may depend on fuzzy terms such as "good faith" hiring, and enforcement. This is where the real legislative battle may be fought.

Proposed U.S. law aims to counter cybertheft with import bans

IDGNS staff — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:19:06 +0000

A bill proposed in the U.S. Senate aims to block imports of products containing U.S. technology stolen online, a move that appears primarily directed at China.

Syria 'disappears' from the Internet, security firm says

IDGNS staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:49:03 +0000

Internet traffic to and from Syria, which is in the midst of a civil war, appears to have dried up.

Caesars Palace deals Google Glass out of its game

IDGNS staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:22:19 +0000

A year before Google's futuristic-looking, computerized eyeglasses are even expected to hit the market, they have been banned -- again.

FTC sends warning letters to 10 data brokers

IDGNS staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:42:41 +0000

More than 20 percent of data brokers checked by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission allegedly violated a U.S. privacy law when sharing personal data with agency workers posing as companies wanting to purchase information.

Don't freak out, but the government records and stores every phone call and email

IDGNS staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:43:51 +0000

Is the government recording and listening to your every phone call and probing every email for dangerous ideas? Probably--if certain insiders are to be believed. According to one former FBI agent, the US government may indeed keep a massive database where all domestic communications are recorded and stored.

United Nations report says no to killer robots

IDGNS staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:49:23 +0000

The Human Rights Watch isn't the only international organization with a vendetta against killer automatons. According to a recent United Nations report, the U.N. is already working to stem the development of killer robots.

HIPAA rules, outdated tech cost U.S. hospitals $8.3B a year

IDGNS staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:41:21 +0000

HIPAA, along with outmoded communications technology, reduces the time available for patient care, according to a new survey of healthcare professionals

US Senate approves Internet sales tax

IDGNS staff — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:14:35 +0000

The U.S. Senate has voted to allow states to collect sales tax from online retailers, making it more difficult to buy tax-free products online.

Don't call it a 'hackathon' in Germany

Phil Johnson — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:17:36 +0000

A German company has trademarked the term 'hackathon'