Sean Gallagher

The White House has named Vivek Kundra to fill the position of chief information officer — the first time such a position has existed under a presidential administration. As federal chief information officer, Kundra, currently chief technology officer for Washington, D.C.’s city government, will be responsible for managing the government’s entire technology portfolio and budget, […]

IBM is using its relationship with universities around the world to help create a new generation of software developers and engineers ready to take on the challenges of cloud computing, as well as solve some of the vexing problems facing adoption of cloud computing by the enterprise. Through connections with over 200 schools worldwide, IBM […]

The “clickjacking” attack on the Twitter social networking service last week is part of a growing trend of social engineering attacks via social networks, say experts. “We’ve seen a lot of these social networking and peer to peer sites targeted in general for a bunch of different reasons,” said Sam Curry, the vice president of […]

Using the simplest of social engineering hacks — an enticing message with a link, labeled “don’t click” — a “clickjacking” exploit of the Twitter microblogging service flooded its network today, hijacking users’ status to spread itself before the link could be shut down. The exploit’s link — http://tinyurl.com/amgzs6 — relied on a URL hidden through […]

If Jenny wants her number back, she’s going to have to cough up some serious cash. A New Jersey disc jockey could be walking away with $186,853.09 after the conclusion of an auction on eBay for the telephone number immortalized in the 1980’s classic “867-5309/Jenny”. The winning buyer, an anonymous eBay user with a “Power […]

While the economy is hitting technology companies hard, a new report suggests that corporate information technology jobs may be a bit more recession-proof. Computer Economics’s 2009 IT Salary Report finds that while salary growth has slowed, IT worker pay is still projected to increase on average by 2 percent this year — and the salaries […]

With the backing of four major music labels and an existing user base that has already demonstrated an interest in listening to music online, MySpace has mounted the most credible threat yet to Apple’s dominance of the digital music business. The greatest impact of MySpace Music, however, may be on smaller competitors in the music […]

Despite concerns about a potentially weak 2008 for software companies, there’s one sector of the business that continues to draw startups and acquisitions at a brisk pace: business intelligence software. “Business intelligence is no longer a back-office, nice-to-have application,” said Forrester Research analyst Boris Evelson. “It’s the next business differentiator.” Variously called corporate performance management, […]

Analysis: The Federal Trade Commission’s decision to approve Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick without conditions runs counter to the warnings of a host of privacy and consumer advocates, as well as members of Congress. With a single dissenter, the FTC found that there was no cause to hold up the merger. At the outset of the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rivals debating a new intellectual property enforcement bill had their say before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee today, with labor and media figures supporting its counterfeit crackdown while consumer groups warned of a possible “chilling effect” on digital media and fair use. The Prioritizing Resources and Intellectual Property Act of 2007, […]

The U.S. House of Representatives is edging closer to laying out harsher penalties and stepping up enforcement for the illegal sharing of music and movies. Yesterday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) introduced a bill that would establish a permanent intellectual property enforcement division within the Department of Justice. The bill — the […]

Microsoft plans to eliminate the most controversial of its Windows Vista anti-piracy features in the OS’s upcoming Service Pack update. The company now plans to ax Vista’s “kill switch”, which disables features of the operating system when it appears to be counterfeit. “Although our overall strategy remains the same, with SP1 we’re adjusting the customer […]