In-brief: President Obama will address technology leaders at a Summit at Stanford University on Friday. But technology industry leaders say that much hinges on Washington’s ability to pass needed legal reforms.
Congress
Trial Balloon: Will Obama’s Cyber Proposals Sink or Fly?
In-brief: President Obama is putting cyber security at the top of his agenda for the State of the Union Address on Tuesday. But security experts are warning that the proposed laws will complicate many aspects of their work in the name of fighting hackers. U.S. President Barack Obama will deliver his annual State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. A raft of new proposals to strengthen the nation’s cyber security are at the top of his agenda. As the address draws near, however, information security professionals are warning that many of the President’s proposals will have a chilling effect on their work, using the cause of fighting hackers criminalizing activities that are essential to investigating their crimes. The President’s proposals have been outlined in a series of releases and speeches by the President in recent weeks, including an address at the Federal Trade Commission on protecting consumers’ […]
White House Backs Raft of New Cyber Security Laws
President Obama used a speech at the Federal Trade Commission on Monday to call for a raft of new laws and reforms that would protect the privacy and online security of U.S. citizens and corporations. Speaking at the FTC, President Obama highlighted a number of policies that he will propose in his State of the Union address to Congress. They include new laws aimed at endemic problems like identity theft and online tracking of consumer behavior. The visit was notable for being the first time a sitting President has visited the FTC in 80 years, since 1937 and the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Obama, who has been highlighting issues and ideas he will unveil in his State of the Union Address, said the address is one of a series of talks he will give this week focused on computer and online privacy. The President said he will follow his speech aimed at […]
Congress To Probe the Internet of Things?
A bipartisan contingent of senators from the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has requested a hearing on the topic of the Internet of Things before the end of the year, according to published reports. Lawmakers Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote to the committee chairman, Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and ranking member,John Thune (R-S.D.), requesting “a general oversight and information-gathering hearing” on the IoT before the end of 2014, citing concerns about consumer privacy and security, as well as potential government applications of IoT technology. IoT technologies including wearables and connected health products represent an “expanding industry of connected products,” the congressmen and women wrote. “The proliferation of connected products is sparking a number of important policy questions,” the October 20th letter reads. “The number and the scope of these issues demands our prompt attention so we can better understand the technologies and explore how best to preserve America’s global leadership […]
Cyber Insurance Is Sexy
So bland is the insurance business perceived to be, that it’s the stuff of Hollywood comedy. In the 2004 film Along Came Polly, Ben Stiller played a skittish, risk averse insurance adjuster with actuarial data on bathroom hygiene at his fingertips (no pun). Woody Allen famously depicts his hapless criminal Virgil Starkwell locked in solitary confinement with an eager insurance salesman in the 1969 mocumentary Take the Money and Run. Cruel and unusual punishment, indeed. Boring though they may be, insurance markets are incredibly important in helping society manage risks of all sorts. Insurance markets also have a funny way of shaping behavior – both personal and commercial – in ways that serve the public interest. Take the response to Hurricane Sandy as just one example. Law makers in Washington D.C. may never agree on whether that storm was a product of a warming climate. In fact, they may debate the […]
