Stories by Dan Verton

IT links to blackout investigated

Federal and private-sector officials this week said they still can't rule out cybersabotage or IT-based failures as the cause of the August 14 blackout.

White House appoints Evans to head e-gov initiatives

President Bush plans to appoint Karen Evans, CIO at US the Department of Energy, to become the new head of the administration's e-government initiatives, the White House announced this week.

First of perhaps many 9/11 viruses emerges

Antivirus researchers late Wednesday discovered what is being described as the first of potentially many "9/11" anniversary viruses spreading on the internet.

Karen Evans to become new e-gov czar

President George W Bush plans to appoint Karen Evans, CIO at the Department of Energy and an experienced government IT professional, to become the new head of the administration's e-government initiatives, the White House announced on Wednesday.

Ridge sees technology helping boost homeland security

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge Tuesday said the administration's layered security strategy, which combines new technologies with a restructured homeland security organisation and streamlined processes, has made the nation significantly more secure than at any other time since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Genoa II: Man and machine

Some of the technology shown in last year's blockbuster movie Minority Report may soon be a reality and a centrepiece of the intelligence community's war on terrorism. In the futuristic thriller, Tom Cruise played the head of a police unit that uses psychic technology to arrest and convict murderers before they commit their crimes.

Power industry unveils $100B upgrade plan

The electric power industry, under scrutiny since the August 14 blackout for allowing the nation's power grid to crumble into the worst state of disrepair in more than 30 years, Monday unveiled a $US100 billion campaign to modernise the grid.

EU cybercop: Europe battles insiders-turned-hackers

The security adviser for the European Electronic Crimes Task Force (EECTF) in Milan, Italy, warned this week that Europe is dealing with a growing problem that has already had ramifications for governments and businesses around the world: insiders who become hackers for profit.

Study: Many companies lack disaster, continuity plans

A US-led war in Iraq that could spawn new terrorist attacks in the US could be less than two weeks away, but that hasn’t prompted many companies in the US to invest adequately in disaster recovery, according to a new study by Dataquest .

Homeland Security quietly battles new vulnerability

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been working in secret for more than two weeks with the private sector to fix a major internet vulnerability that could have had disastrous consequences for millions of businesses and the US military.

Internet fraud expanding, security experts warn

Corporate computer security professionals should be aware that Internet fraud is not only growing in frequency but also expanding in scope, security experts warned at a cybercrime conference last week.

Wireless security highlighted in US

The inherent insecurity of wireless devices is now a matter of national security. John Stenbit, the Pentagon's CIO, said this week that he plans to issue new policy guidelines that will ban most if not all wireless devices within military installations.

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