Is FISMA a “Showstopper” for Health IT?

As the “meaningful use” criteria is being written for the adoption of health IT for healthcare providers, government officials are beginning to worry about the implications of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) regulations on such a new industry. Many organizations are struggling to meet the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations and other state laws on security.  Some officials believe that forcing them to comply…

Kundra’s Cloud Computing Interview With InformationWeek

Late Breaking News: Vivek Kundra, the nations first Chief Information Officer, in an interview with Information Week acknowledged the White House’s move towards cloud computing and discussed the pros and cons of his virtual vision. Kundra believes cloud computing will save tax payers money, is efficient and the White House should lead by example so that the private sector will adopt the innovation. Kundra used the tool during his position of Chief Technology Officer for the District of…

Gartner and Forrester IT Spending Predictions

Gartner released its revised predictions for the global downturn in IT spending; its worse than expected. Gartner updated its research findings to predict a 6% decrease in global IT spending compared with an early 3% prediction. Gartner says the sharper decline is because of an overall economic lag, changes in exchange rates and a global decrease in Gross Domestic Product. 

Ammunition in the Digital Age

The Sunday Times reports the director of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would allow Israeli jets to fly over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites, based on secret talks with Saudi officials in 2002 to discuss the possibility.

“The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission…

Cloud Computing Expo Announces Unisys Keynote Speaker

The 4th annual SYS-CON Cloud Computing Conference & Expo has announced Unisys’ President of Systems & Technology  Richard Marcello as keynote speaker and Unisys as the primary sponsor for the event. The conference and expo will be held November 2-4, 2009 in the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California. 

Richard Marcello believes, “that cloud computing will revolutionize the way enterprises obtain business and IT services and change the kind of…

African Cyber Crime On The Rise

South Africa has seen a steady rise in online phishing crimes with the increase of online services, most notably online banking. Internet attacks have become more common than direct, mobile attacks because of South Africa’s move towards a technology based society. It is also much easier to reserve anonymity online. In less developed areas of Africa, classic crime is still the biggest threat.

According…

Jay Leno Wins Rights to Domain Name

The United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ruled that Jay Leno has common trademark rights to his name after a 30-year career in show business. The domain name thejaylenoshow.com had previously been used by Texas real-estate agent Guadalupe Zambrano since 2004 to promote his business. WIPO argued that Zambrano registered the site in “bad faith” and now has 10 days to surrender the domain name. 

The…

NSA $2 Billion Utah Data Center

The National Security Agency has confirmed a $2 billion project for a new data center at Camp Williams, Utah. The 1 million square-foot facility is part of an overall initiative to decentralize the agency; a similar facility is scheduled for construction in Texas. The Utah center is NSA’s the third major data center, including its new Texas facility and the UK’s North Yorkshire center. $181 million has already been set aside for Utah construction.

Obama Cyber Monitoring Plan To Use NSA Technology

President Obama plans to build upon the Bush Administration’s Einstein 3 cyber security plan using National Security Agency (NSA) technology, according to Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reports. The telephone company AT&T Inc. will most likely be used for the Einstein pilot test site, according to government officials. 

The Einstein program began in 2003 through the…

IBM Invests In Cloud Computing

Since IBM’s partnership with Google to introduce ‘cloud computing’ to universities over two years ago, IBM has started to invest in computing outside the realm of academia. Stating on its website “Cloud computing focuses on the user, and offers highly efficient acquisition and delivery of IT and information services. Cloud computing is defined and characterized by massive scalability, superior user experience,…