Web Headlines

Headlines from around the Web for Monday, Feb. 4, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

Feds Racing to Lock Down Windows XP, Vista PCs

NetworkWorld

Agencies are about to receive the National Institute of Standards and Technology's first list of tools based on the Security Content Automated Protocol that will enable federal agencies to configure, assess, monitor and report that their Microsoft XP and Vista desktop systems adhere to the "Federal Desktop Core Configuration" standard.

IT Will 'Take Head Out of Sand' and Embrace Web 2.0 in '08

ComputerWorld

Corporate IT managers who have long resisted implementing Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, blogs and social networks will likely start adding them to their priority lists this year, according to a report released last week by Forrester Research Inc.

Al-Qaeda Group's Encryption Software Stronger, Security Firm Confirms

NetworkWorld

Al-Qaeda support group Al-Ekhlaas has improved the encryption software it now provides to its online members with the ability to encrypt chat communications, according to one security researcher who examined the software, known as "Mujahideen Secrets 2."

Ventura to Charge Fee for 911 Service

Los Angeles Times

Strapped for money to hire additional police officers and firefighters, Ventura will soon charge a monthly fee for emergency calls to help pay for services. Residents in the seaside California community will pay $1.49 a month for emergency service access beginning May 1. If they choose to opt out of the plan, they will be charged $50 for each 911 call.

Calif. Senate Passes Bill Outlawing RFID Skimming

Government Technology

The California State Senate took action to outlaw "skimming," the surreptitious reading of personal information stored on RFID-enabled ID cards, State Senator Joe Simitian announced. "The problem is real," Simitian said. In a controlled experiment, "the card I use to access the State Capitol was skimmed and cloned by a hacker in a split second. Minutes later, using that clone of my card, he was able to walk right into the Capitol through a 'secure' and locked entrance."

GSA Officials to Trade Places

Federal Computer Week

Two top acquisition officials at the General Services Administration will trade jobs temporarily to look at the agency from a new vantage point. Mike Sade, assistant commissioner for acquisition management at the Federal Acquisition Service, will become senior adviser to John Johnson, assistant commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Services. In Sade’s place, Steve Kempf, Johnson’s deputy assistant commissioner for ITS, will become acting assistant commissioner for acquisition management.

SF-Area Subway Gets Fast Wi-Fi in Test

InfoWorld

Tests at stations and on a special stretch of track in the Bay Area Rapid Transit system around San Francisco showed that Wi-Fi Rail's patent-pending technology delivered more than 15Mbps of wireless throughput to riders and people waiting for trains, the company said. Wi-Fi Rail hopes to roll out such networks on rail systems around the world and charge commuters for access.

Some Florida Precincts Ran Out of Paper Ballots on Tuesday

The Tallahassee Democrat

While some people in Leon County had to cast their ballots on touch-screen machines, at least one woman lost her chance to vote because she was at the polling station during her lunch break and couldn't wait for extra ballots to be delivered. She said poll workers failed to tell her voting on the touch-screen machines was an option.