Author: Brian

By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Wanted: Computer hackers.

Buffeted by millions of digital scans and attacks each day, federal authorities are looking for hackers — not to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation’s networks.

General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could “think like the bad guy.” Applicants, it said, must understand hackers’ tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.

And in the Pentagon’s budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates hung out his own help-wanted sign, saying the Pentagon will increase the number of cyber experts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.

Amid dire warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyber attack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the nation’s electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.

President Obama appointed former Bush administration aide Melissa Hathaway to head the effort, and her report was delivered Friday, the White House said.

April 30, 2009

Panel Advises Clarifying U.S. Plans on Cyberwar

By JOHN MARKOFF and THOM SHANKER

The United States has no clear military policy about how the nation might respond to a cyberattack on its communications, financial or power networks, a panel of scientists and policy advisers warned Wednesday, and the country needs to clarify both its offensive capabilities and how it would respond to such attacks.

The report, based on a three-year study by a panel assembled by the National Academy of Sciences, is the first major effort to look at the military use of computer technologies as weapons. The potential use of such technologies offensively has been widely discussed in recent years, and disruptions of communications systems and Web sites have become a standard occurrence in both political and military conflicts since 2000.

The report, titled “Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities,” concludes that the veil of secrecy that has surrounded cyberwar planning is detrimental to the country’s military policy.

The report’s authors include Adm. William A. Owens, a former vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; William O. Studeman, former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Walter B. Slocombe, former under secretary of defense for policy. Scientists and cyberspecialists on the panel included Richard L. Garwin, an I.B.M. physicist.

Admiral Owens said at a news conference Wednesday in Washington that the notion of “enduring unilateral dominance in cyberspace” by the United States was not realistic in part because of the low cost of the technologies required to mount attacks. He also said the idea that offensive attacks were “nonrisky” military options was not correct.

In the United States, the offensive use of cyberweapons is a highly classified military secret. There have been reports going back to the 1990s that American intelligence agencies have mounted operations in which electronic gear was systematically modified to disrupt the activities of an opponent or for surveillance purposes. But these activities have not been publicly acknowledged by the government.

The report concludes that the United States should create a public national policy regarding cyberattacks based on an open debate on the issues. The authors also call on the United States to find common ground with other nations on cyberattacks to avoid future military crises.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/business/media/18wired.html?_r=1&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD

Chris Anderson, the editor in chief of Wired, believes in logic the way Tina Brown believes in buzz. He rarely approves a story idea unless the writer backs up the thesis with data. The basis of his best-selling book “The Long Tail” was a statistical phenomenon called the Pareto distribution; in his coming book, “Free,” he expresses arguments in profit-loss charts. The walls in his San Francisco office are whiteboards, covered with scrawled formulas.

“Everything I do is expressed in equations,” he said, looking at his work.

But Mr. Anderson has yet to solve the equation for Wired. Under his editorship, the magazine is an editorial success, winning three National Magazine Awards last month, which tied it for the most honored magazine. And Mr. Anderson’s own profile is higher than ever, thanks to his books, which roll messy business trends into neat canapés that executives pass around. He gives 50 speeches a year for an estimated $35,000 to $50,000 apiece.

But that has not equaled success for Wired in the downturn. The magazine has lost 50 percent of its ad pages so far this year, ranking among the worst off of the more than 150 monthly magazines measured by Media Industry Newsletter. Only Portfolio, which Condé Nast shut down last month, and Power and Motoryacht fared worse.

That leaves Mr. Anderson, who makes his living promoting big ideas, trying to come up with one big enough to reinvigorate Wired’s business.

The magazine was started in 1993 to herald the digital revolution, and, caught up in dot-com frenzy, Condé Nast bought it in 1998 (though, perhaps missing the point, the company neglected to buy the Web site for another eight years). Mr. Anderson, who took over in 2001, expanded Wired’s coverage from fringe technology to daily-life technology.

Hello Beautiful People!!!! What a week it has been I must say this one goes down in the history books for me as a makeup artist. I was booked to work on various clients for some of the Inaugural Balls in DC. I was so excited to go to DC and be a part of what was happening there even if it was indirectly I was still ecstatic.

I flew in the morning of the 19th and DC was bubbling with tons of traffic, out-of-towners and more police than the eyes could see. My makeup kit and I for sure felt very safe. I was filled with thoughts of patriotism which I haven’t felt in a long time honestly. I was proud to be an American and even more proud that my career of being a makeup artist brought me around the world and back to my old stomping ground where I attended Howard University for this historical event.

I packed light because in events like award shows I usually know in advance who I’m booked for. My regular makeup kit usually weighs in at 55-60 pounds, but I knew carrying that much product may not be wise if any breech of security took place. I know you’re all thinking to yourselves that could never happen. However after experiencing 9/11 firsthand I feel its just better to be prepared we live in a new era and preparation is key. I knew there would be some major product essentials because more than likely my clients would be outside or attending the various events and Balls. I am always asked by people what are my essential products. Well it all depends on what the client is doing and where will it be taking place.

Posted: Mon., Dec. 8, 2008, 5:40pm PT

Bravo renews reality quartet

‘Flipping,’ ‘Million Dollar Listing’ get 3rd seasons

By DANIEL FRANKEL