The White House will meet with tech execs for advice on giving the government a digital upgrade (Re/Code, May 19, 2017)
The White House plans to huddle with top executives from Apple, Facebook, Google and other tech giants next month to brainstorm ways that the U.S. government can put more of its “citizen services” online and tackle thorny policy issues like high-skilled immigration. Both items are part of a lengthy agenda that awaits the inaugural gathering of the American Technology Council, an effort by President Donald Trump to modernize the inner-workings of Washington that’s being spearheaded by his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
 

Apple Pay Violates Patents Held by Security Technology Inventor, Lawsuit Alleges (The New York Times, May 21, 2017)
A small Boston company, founded by the inventor of a popular corporate encryption technology called RSA SecurID, sued Apple and Visa on Sunday, arguing that the Apple Pay digital payment technology violates its patents. The lawsuit, filed by Universal Secure Registry in Federal District Court in Delaware, says that its chief executive, Kenneth P. Weiss, received 13 patents for authentication systems that use a smartphone, biometric identification such as a fingerprint and the generation of secure one-time tokens to conduct financial transactions.
 

The Clock Is Ticking for the EU to Fix the Digital Single Market (Center for Data Innovation, May 19, 2017)
The raison d’etre for the Digital Single Market (DSM) was to incorporate the digital economy into European integration. But from its very launch, the EU’s five-year DSM strategy always went far beyond that important task, imposing too many restrictions on new technologies. The European Commission’s mid-term review of the DSM strategy, published last Wednesday (10 May), nevertheless shows that much can be accomplished in two-and-a-half years.
 

'The Internet Is Broken': @ev Is Trying to Salvage It (The New York Times, May 20, 2017)
Evan Williams is the guy who opened up Pandora’s box. Until he came along, people had few places to go with their overflowing emotions and wild opinions, other than writing a letter to the newspaper or haranguing the neighbors. Mr. Williams — a Twitter founder, a co-creator of Blogger — set everyone free, providing tools to address the world. In the history of communications technology, it was a development with echoes of Gutenberg. And so here we are in 2017. How’s it going, Mr. Williams? “I think the internet is broken,” he says.
 

Appeals court strikes down FAA drone registration rule (LA Times, May 19, 2017)
An appeals court on Friday struck down a Federal Aviation Administration rule that required owners of drones used for recreation to register their craft. An appeals court on Friday struck down a Federal Aviation Administration rule that required owners of drones used for recreation to register their craft. The FAA decided in 2015 to require hobbyists to register their drones, or model aircraft. Violators could be sentenced to prison.
 

All IT Jobs Are Cybersecurity Jobs Now (The Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2017)
The global “WannaCry” ransomware attack that peaked last week, and has affected at least 200,000 computers in 150 countries, as well as the growing threat of Adylkuzz, another new piece of malware, illustrate a basic problem that will only become more pressing as ever more of our systems become connected: The internet wasn’t designed with security in mind, and dealing with that reality isn’t cheap or easy.
 

Push for 'Unit Records' Revived (Inside Higher Ed, May 16, 2017)
A bipartisan group of senators Monday introduced legislation to overturn a ban on a federal data system that would track employment and graduation outcomes of college students. The ban written into the 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act has meant that while colleges report data at the institutional level, efforts to evaluate outcomes at a more targeted level have been stymied.
 

Joint Statement by the European Commission and DHS on Aviation Security Cooperation (DHS, May 17, 2017)
European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, and European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, hosted a delegation from the United States in Brussels, led by Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, to discuss issues related to aviation security and safety. At the meeting, both sides exchanged information on the serious evolving threats to aviation security and approaches to confronting such threats.
 

Homeland Security Committee Members Honor Police Week (House Homeland Security Committee, May 19, 2017)
Last week, Members of the House Homeland Security Committee spoke on the House Floor and met with police officers in honor of National Police Week. Chairman McCaul: "Police officers across the country wake up every morning unaware of the challenges they may face, the threats they must overcome, and the lives they will affect and protect in the process...For their service, their sacrifice, and their selflessness, we are eternally thankful."
 

NJSP & MCPO Offers Help to Locate Missing Persons (American Security Today, May 19, 2017)
Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said today that the public is invited to a forum aimed at helping people find missing relatives and friends. The forum, “Missing in New Jersey,” will be held on May 20, 2017 between 1 and 5 p.m. at the Rutgers University Student Center at 126 College Avenue in New Brunswick. Families, friends, communities and organizations working to locate New Jersey’s missing are welcome to attend and are advised to pre-register for the free event.

 

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