Headlines from around the Web for Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender
Tech Companies Feel Skilled Labor Shortage
NetworkWorld
The National Foundation for American Policy released Monday its findings that U.S. technology and defense companies average 470 and 1,265 high-skilled job openings, respectively. Research was conducted between December 2007 and February 2008.
Senator Describes Black Market in H-1B Visas
ComputerWorld
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said yesterday that the White House isn't enforcing the H-1B program, and he cited a number of abuses in a letter to Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff asking him to detail what the department is doing to enforce the program.
Security Must Evolve, CERT Official Says
ComputerWorld
Security has to evolve into something that supports business, rather than the other way around, according to Lisa Young, senior member of the technical staff at Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team. She explains the tendency is to want to start locking things down, so security is something that disables, not enables, business.
Should You Hire a Convicted Hacker?
InformationWeek
The very skills that can land hackers behind bars are skills they share with high-achieving, law-abiding IT security professionals. However, convicted hackers looking for legitimate employment are not necessarily finding it in the enterprise after they complete their sentences. Some high-profile hackers have become teachers, lecturers and journalists.
Coast Guard Tests Fingerprinting at Borders
USA Today
In an ongoing test program, the Coast Guard has been taking digital fingerprints of people picked up on boats headed to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic. The fingerprints are then checked against a government database that shows deportation orders and criminal records; this practice has led to more than 100 prosecutions in the past year.
Ohio Supreme Court Refuses to Interfere with Secretary of State's Directive for Paper Ballots
Government Technology
The Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously denied the Union County Commissioners' request for an order that would have prevented Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner from implementing a recent directive she issued to require county boards of elections using touch screen machines to have backup paper ballots available for voters who want them.
Candidates Use Predictive Analytics to Seek Votes
eWeek
With only so much money to go around, candidates are trying to court voters in smart ways. One emerging method is microtargeting, a means of helping campaigns target their funds toward the right voters â€" those who haven't decided to vote for another candidate achieved by analyzing combinations of demographic, marketing and other forms of data.
Federal Computer Week
Players from nine states, four foreign governments, 18 federal agencies and 40 private companies that work in information technology, telecommunications, chemicals, and pipe and rail transportation infrastructure have begum the weeklong exercise sponsored by the Homeland Security Department.
NSA Extends Access Control to Network Storage
Government Computer News
The National Security Agency is leading an effort to extend its access control work into the arena of network file storage. Their approach calls for deploying the NSA's security architecture so organizations can ensure that machine intruders don't hijack programs to execute malicious tasks.
Fed Networks Increasingly Under Siege
Federal Times
Last year, federal agencies reported more than 5,600 cases of computer attacks, intrusions, probes and plantings of malicious code from unseen enemies around the world. That’s up 56 percent from the previous year and up 80 percent from two years ago, according to a new report by the Office of Management and Budget.
NEXT STORY: Feds Forget the "I" and "A" in Security's C-I-A