FedEx CEO to lead industry security task force
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FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith was named today by the Business Roundtable to chair the group's security task force.
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Salesforce.com's CEO is due to talk up the analytics customization capabilities of the next release of the vendor's hosted CRM software.
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Major shipping ports on the West Coast, such as Seattle and Long Beach, California, will be the first targets of a new import surveillance program detailed on Monday by the top U.S. product safety regulator.
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CHICAGO, Sept. 13  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Jim Albaugh, Boeing  Integrated Defense Systems president and chief executive officer, will speak at the Morgan Stanley Global Industrial CEOs Unplugged Conference 2006 on Friday, Sept. 15, at 10:30 a.m. Central Time.
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Ziff Davis - FedEx's Ground division already uses wireless RFID for asset tracking, but officials are taking a wait-and-see approach to other RFID possibilities.
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Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told industry executives Tuesday he supports appointment of a senior cybersecurity chief higher in his department with broader authority and more control over spending. The department later pulled back from the idea.
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The Department of Homeland Security named an acting U.S. cybersecurity chief on Thursday as Congress weighed whether to give the position greater clout to fight hackers, viruses and other online threats.
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(InfoWorld) - Credit-card payments giant Visa is hoping to shed new light on problems like consumer data theft and identity fraud through a conference that will bring together leaders from the business, government, and technology communities to discuss security for the electronic payments industry. Hosted in partnership with the publishing arm of Harvard Business School, the day-long set of briefings is being held March 8 in Washington under the banner "Maintaining Trust in Payments Summit." In a series of panels, controversial topics like the amount of time companies should be allowed to wait before disclosing data breaches to card issuers and consumers will be up for debate, as will the role of the government in providing protection for consumers and industry. The list of scheduled speakers for the event includes Visa CEO John Philip Coghlan, business leaders like eBay CEO Meg Whitman, executives from retailer Nordstrom and Wells Fargo Bank, and a representative from ChoicePoint, the consumer data collection firm that was involved in one the most notorious electronic records mishaps ever reported. Public sector heavyweights will also take part, including Homeland Security cyber-czar Greg Garcia. Visa controls the world's largest payment system. Like other payment companies, Visa finds itself at the center of a rapidly-changing fraud landscape driven by the spread of Internet usage and malicious software. "The reality is that payment security is a complex issue, and the only way to reach a solution is to have an open and honest dialogue," said Rosetta Jones, vice president of corporate relations for Visa USA. "The goal for us was to bring together leaders from the technology, retail, law enforcement, and financial industries to raise the consciousness of data security among all the partners involved with payment systems." The emphasis will be on shared responsibility among the many players involved in combating the exposure of sensitive consumer records and related fraud, Jones said. Developers of payment systems applications used in point-of-sales devices will also participate in this year's summit in the name of expanding the debate. Visa considers application vendors crucial pieces of the payment security puzzle. Robert C. Cresanti, the chief privacy officer and undersecretary of Commerce for Technology, said that it's not useful to get caught up in the blame game or focus too much on single any aspect of improving security for records and payment systems. Cresanti said that the government's first objective in trying to improve the situation must be to "clean up its own house" in terms of reviewing the manners in which it gathers, stores, and protects data. There also needs to be a better understanding in both the private and public sectors of how the exposure of electronic records has truly affected the growth of identity fraud, according to the expert. "We're in an environment where these issues are forcing companies to make decisions between profits and losses every day, we see punishment in stock prices for those who have had incidents, and loss of consumer trust," Cresanti said. "We need to examine how we can put a fine edge on things to ensure that people are careful with the information they collect and hold while creating better public awareness of what is actually going on." But media attention to data breaches may be creating too much awareness of the threat of data loss and too little understanding of the underlying causes, said analyst James Van Dyke  of Javelin Strategy and Research. Van Dyke plans to devote part of his time speaking on a show panel about a recent report produced by his company that contends identity theft led to fewer related losses in 2006 ($49.3 billion) than in 2005 ($55.7 billion) despite a mounting number of consumer records that have been lost or stolen. "The biggest issue might be that too many people take simplistic view and assume that it's all about the Internet and data breaches, but it's really much more varied than that," said Van Dyke. "It's very much a shared problem, and merely handing out blame is unhelpful in terms of addressing the real issues." Avivah Litan, analyst with Gartner, said that businesses walk a thin line when deciding about the reporting of potential breaches to customers and partners, including credit card issuers like Visa. The business community is anxious to point out that every breach is different and that the exposure of credit card data has not proven as disastrous for consumers as some parties have predicted, she said. Litan will host a panel discussion at the summit that, among other topics, will discuss the media's approach to handling data breach stories and whether or not the press has become too sensational in reporting some of the incidents. "Companies have taken a lot of heat for not disclosing breaches faster, but they've been doing so in part because of their work with law enforcement -- they want to get that out and try to come to some consensus about how to handle these situations while catching the crooks," said Litan. "Issuers want to know immediately, but criminals will hide if they know they're being watched; there's a need for some system in place that better serves the needs of all parties."
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally named a leader for its cybersecurity efforts on Monday, fulfilling a promise made last July by an agency that has drawn poor marks for digital security.
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By Patrick Donohue, Destin Log, Fla.  Jun. 2--Key leaders of the state's most important industry are coming to Destin.
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Packages taken to airline ticket counters for shipment on passenger planes will have to go through the same security screening as checked baggage, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Thursday.
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The Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced that a technology industry lobbyist will become the nation's top cyber-security official, filling a key post that has been vacant since Congress created the position more than 14 months ago.
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Wall Street executives today outlined a number of security and business continuity efforts they have undertaken since Sept. 11, 2001, to withstand future terrorist attacks.
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US companies such as FedEx Corp. and New York Life Insurance Co. are pleading with President George W. Bush to start discussions on a Pacific Rim free-trade bloc as he heads to this weekend&#39;s regional economic summit.
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DAVOS, Switzerland  - The United States is likely to keep a high threat designation for the airline industry because militants still see air travel as a target, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally named a leader for its cybersecurity efforts on Monday, fulfilling a promise made last July by an agency that has drawn poor marks for digital security. Gregory Garcia has been named Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Telecommunications, according to a statement released late Monday from Michael Chertoff, secretary of homeland security. Chertoff announced plans to create the position in July 2005 but it had remained empty despite pressure from the IT industry to fill it. Some observers have slammed the DHS for a lack of readiness to deal with threats against the country's IT infrastructure. The DHS was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Garcia comes to the DHS from the Information Technology Association of America, where he was vice president for information security policy and programs. He has also been secretary for the IT Sector Coordinating Council, a group involved in collaboration between industry and the DHS. "He brings both industry and government experience to bear," said Shannon Kellogg, director of government and industry affairs with EMC Corp.'s RSA division. "He has a lot of IT experience, but he also has telecom experience, and he's worked on the Hill." Garcia's appointment is a "very positive sign" that DHS is going to finally give cybersecurity the attention it deserves, Kellogg added. Earlier, Garcia worked on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science for the majority Republican party and helped to draft and enact the Cyber Security Research and Development Act of 2002. Garcia has also worked with the Americans for Computer Privacy and the American Electronics Association. He has a bachelor of science degree from San Jose State University in California. Robert McMillan of the IDG News Service contributed to this story.
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The Department of Homeland Security  named an acting U.S. cybersecurity chief on Thursday as  Congress weighed whether to give the position greater clout to  fight hackers, viruses and other online threats.