It’s just been a few short months since a proposed bill called for the creation of a National Cybersecurity Advisor, but it looks like there’s now not one but two new positions in the offing, with both the Pentagon and President Obama himself announcing plans for some newly elevated offices charged with keeping the nation’s networks secure. While a specific “Cybersecurity Czar” hasn’t yet been named, the White House position will apparently be a member of both the National Security Council and National Economic Council and, in addition to coordinating U.S. response in the event of a major attack, the office will also be tasked with protecting privacy and civil liberties. Details on the new Pentagon office, on the other hand, are expectedly even less specific although, according to The New York Times, it’ll be a military command that will work to coordinate efforts now scattered across the four armed services, and will apparently serve as complement to the civilian office in the White House.

Read – Reuters, “Obama to name White House cybersecurity czar”
Read – The New York Times, “Pentagon Plans New Arm to Wage Cyberspace Wars”

[Thanks, Ryan]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Networking

White House, Pentagon announce plans for new cybersecurity positions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Macworld.com – One of the most popular games series of all time gets its long awaited sequel. Arguably the most anticipated title released by Electronic Arts this year, The Sims 3 will come to a cyber neighborhood near you on June 2nd.

Originally posted here:
Hands on with The Sims 3
(Macworld.com)

PC World – Few companies innovate with the intensity and frequency of those working in mobile, and today’s present is a future that only a handful of people would have predicted just a few short years ago.

Originally posted here:
Considering the Future of Mobile Phones
(PC World)

An incredible way to start the weekend, Storm owners: Verizon is finally pulling the trigger on a firmware update, which will be available to all comers starting on Sunday at 3PM Eastern time. If that’s too much trouble, you’ll alternatively be able to sit back, chill, and wait for the over-the-air version to hit, which should follow on at 10PM. Verizon tells us that it’ll be releasing 4.7.0.148, as rumored — just a tiny bump from the failed build 141 that had been rumored before that, but all told, far, far too long since the last official update was rolled out. We can only assume this has been tested better than a NASA launch at this point, so you’re on notice, guys.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Verizon finally releasing BlackBerry Storm update this weekend originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read

Oh look, it’s nearly time for Computex, which means it’s finally time for ECS to come out to play again. For whatever reason, it seems the aforesaid PC maker only pulls out the stakes for Taiwan’s biggest consumer electronics show, and with the doors opening early next week, we’re getting a sneak peek at what it’ll be bringing to the mix. Not surprisingly, three of the five new machines are said to be of the netbook variety, with the other two being all-in-one desktops. ‘Course, the whole lot will be humming along on Intel’s all-too-modest Atom, though we are led to believe that at least one rig will get equipped with NVIDIA’s promising Ion technology. The T10IL (shown left) is apt to steal most of the attention, boasting a thin-and-light frame that’ll look awfully similar to ASUS’ Eee PC 1008HA. The V10IL (shown right) is expected to be more of a vanilla type machine in terms of both design and specification, and the other guys are slated to be revealed at the show. You’re tense with anticipation, aren’t you?

Filed under: Laptops

ECS plans a trio of netbooks, duo of all-in-one PCs for Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read