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AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Buyer beware: Mobile payments might not be protected
June 29, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Some current financial rules may not be fully up to the task of regulating the growing number of mobile payment systems, government officials told a House subcomittee on Friday. Stephanie Martin, associate general counsel for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, warned members of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on ...
Health IT's small, but significant role in health reform
June 28, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Proponents of government health IT programs may be breathing a little easier after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld almost all of President Obama's landmark healthcare reform law. Most efforts to give hospitals and doctors the latest IT tools are rooted in 2009 stimulus laws that predate Obama's Affordable Care Act, ...
Bill would close ‘floodgates’ to counterfeit microchips
June 22, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
A flawed Department of Homeland Security policy has opened the "floodgates" to counterfeit microchips from other countries, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, said on Thursday as he announced a bill designed to stem the tide. "This is a tremendous national security risk to our military and our intelligence networks," McCaul, who ...
Committee votes to prevent U.N. Internet regulation
June 20, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
As expected, the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution aimed at preventing any efforts to hand the United Nations more power to oversee the Internet. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., championed the resolution, which was sparked by concerns that some countries may try to use ...
House intel chair: Cyber bill may lack mandatory standards
June 18, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The White House and Senate Democrats may be forced to settle for cybersecurity legislation that doesn’t include mandatory standards for critical computer networks, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said on Monday. Rogers successfully shepherded a controversial cybersecurity information-sharing bill through the House in April, but White House officials ...
Report: Tech companies must stand up against repressive regimes
June 15, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Companies that want to operate in countries with repressive regimes need to minimize the way their technologies can be abused by the government, according to a new report commissioned by an Internet-freedom coalition. Technology companies have often faced dilemmas in countries like China, where government can abuse the same technology ...
Lieberman: Cybersecurity bill could wilt over summer
June 13, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
“Legislative pessimism” is threatening to sink comprehensive cybersecurity legislation even as Senate leaders vow action, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said on Tuesday. There was talk that the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which Lieberman cosponsored with other Homeland Security panel members and leaders of the Intelligence and ...
State sees progress against international Internet regulation plans
May 31, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
American diplomats are making progress in heading off possible international proposals to increase Internet regulation by the United Nations, a top State Department official told a House subcommittee on Thursday. A range of American lawmakers, businesses, and nonprofit organizations fear that some countries will try to use negotiations over international ...
Cybersecurity bill signing still being delayed
May 30, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
After years of work, backers of the sweeping Cybersecurity Act of 2012 say they’re eager for Senate debate on the bill, but divisions over privacy and regulation show little sign of abating. This was supposed to be the bill that got everyone on board. But its sponsors are back at ...
New partnership aims to combat zombie computer networks
May 30, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Government officials and communications companies announced a partnership on Wednesday to crack down on hackers who harness hundreds to computers to steal information, send spam, or launch cyberattacks. The campaign is aimed at "botnets," which are created when hackers surreptitiously use a network of other people's computers. Computer owners rarely ...
