Roy Mark

Symantec said today it has fixed a vulnerability in its antivirus software suite that potentially could open a backdoor to hackers. Left unpatched, the vulnerability, which was first reported late last week by eEye Digital Security, could affect users of Symantec’s AntiVirus Corporate Edition 10.0 and Symantec Client Security 3. “First and foremost, Symantec customers […]

The U.S. Senate Friday confirmed telecom attorney Robert M. McDowell to fill the fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), restoring a 3-2 Republican majority on the panel. McDowell replaces Republican Kathleen Abernathy, who resigned last year. President Bush nominated McDowell in February, but Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) put a block on all non-judicial […]

Reporter’s Notebook: Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson endured a day-long grilling Thursday by oversight committees in both the Senate and the House. It’s the sort of thing that happens when your agency loses personal data of 26.5 million veterans. Nicholson’s testimony revealed he wasn’t even informed of the breach until more than two weeks […]

The next time lawmakers promise that a tax is only temporary, remember the federal excise tax. Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow announced that the IRS would issue refunds of excise taxes on long-distance service for the past three years. Short on cash to finance the Spanish-American War in 1898, Congress targeted the then new […]

WASHINGTON — Net Neutrality finally won a vote today. The House Judiciary Committee voted 20-13 to turn the issue into an antitrust matter after months of it being dismissed as a matter for further Federal Communications Commission (FCC) study. In doing so, broadband network operators such as AT&T and Verizon would be barred from charging […]

Call it the network neutrality comeback. Call it net neutrality Thursday on Capitol Hill. Do not call it a done deal. Both the House and Senate will take up legislation today on the increasingly contentious issue of just what is — or is not — network neutrality. “This is an important day for the future […]

Congress took another stab today at data security legislation just as data breaches have risen to the top of the news cycle. The House Commerce Committee approved legislation requiring data brokers to notify consumers when there is a “reasonable” risk the breach could result in identity theft. Encrypted data, according to the legislation, would establish […]

AT&T is getting it from all sides now. In addition to allegations that it handed over customer calling records and e-mail data, it’s now facing media reports that it is monitoring Internet traffic. But the phone giant said it is within the law. “There has been a lot of speculation in the news media, Walt […]

Somewhere out there is a thief with the names and Social Security numbers of every veteran discharged after 1975. In the second-largest data breach on record — and the biggest Social Security numbers breach ever — the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disclosed Monday approximately 26.5 million veterans are at risk of identity theft. According […]

The Department of Justice (DoJ) tightened the noose around warez dealers Friday with the first sentencing of individuals for their Internet music piracy activities. George S. Hayes, 31, of Danville, Va., was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Hayes pleaded guilty to one count of criminal copyright infringement related to his involvement with the pre-release […]

Personal data on more than 26 million veterans is at risk of identity theft after a Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) employee’s home was burglarized and the data stolen. The data contained names, social security numbers and dates of birth, as well as some disability ratings. According to the VA, the data did not include […]

Network neutrality stayed at the top of Washington’s legislative stack today. A day after a measure calling for non-discrimination in handling network traffic by broadband providers was introduced in the U.S. House, similar legislation hit the Senate today. Called the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2006 (S. 2917), the measure would prohibit telephone and cable […]