Topic: Security

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Evan Ratliff, author of "SAFE: The Race to Protect Ourselves in a Newly Dangerous World." They talk about making America safe - or at least the issues which underlie it. (Tech Nation podcast on IT Conversations)

Dick Hardt is founder and CEO of Sxip Networks, developers of SXIP, the Simple eXtensible Identity Protocol. At Digital Identity World 2004, Scott Mace talked with Hardt about why SXIP decided to build its own federated identity system, rather than go with the SAML-based Liberty Allliance; why the mechanism of separating asserting ones' identity from the authentication mechanism is the path to true digital identities on the Web; how Slashdot karma could be an alternative currency; transferring reputations from one social network to another; where SXIP and Identity Commons complement each other, and where they compete; privacy considerations when using SAML and SXIP; and why technology such as SXIP may shape future privacy legislation.

From Digital Identity World 2004 on IT Conversations: a keynote presentation entitled The Next Challenge: Safety and Simplicity of Internet Identities by Art Coviello, president and CEO of RSA Security.

Pop!Tech was about much more than just technology, and the agenda didn't skirt controversy. Thomas Barnett calls globalization "this country's gift to history" and explains why its wide dissemination is critical to the security of not only America but the entire world. As a senior military analyst for the U.S. Naval War College, Barnett is intimately familiar with the culture of the Pentagon and the State Department (both of which he believes are due for significant overhauls). He explains how the Pentagon, still in shock at the rapid dissolution of the once evil empire, spent the 1990s grasping for a long-term strategy to replace containment. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Barnett argues, revealed the gap between an outdated Cold War-era military and a radically different one needed to deal with emerging threats.

The Gillmor Gang: Google Desktop Search is this week's hot topic even though Doc isn't happy that it's not available on either Mac or Linux. No doubt it's a powerful personal tool, but what does it mean for IT departments? If it sneaks in at the desktop level, what about security and privacy? For that matter, what does it mean that "the application sends non-personal information about things like the application's performance and reliability to Google?"

Does Microsoft continue to have a blindspot for search? There were rumors of a pending Google browser. Is this even better for the company and for us? What's the commercial value for Google, and will Yahoo! follow suit? Finally, is GDS just a platform for additional services?

All of this plus the podcasting phenomenon on another chock-full edition of The Gillmor Gang. This week's special guests are Scott MacGregor (Mozilla Thunderbird architect) and Brendan Eich (chief architect) of the Mozilla Foundation.

From Gnomedex 4.0: A panel of experts explores the future of IT security. Are hardware methods superior to software? How do memory-managed languages help? How can we make security management within the skill set of the average user? Is automation the answer? Should upgrades be mandated? Should there be a security tax for those who don't upgrade their systems. DRM: Does it increase security risks? And what attacks should we expect in the future?

RFID -- Radio Frequency Identification -- is transforming the way companies track inventory, artwork and even law briefs, but some fear it could be used for more "Orwellian" pursuits. A panel of leading technology developers and pioneer end-user corporations explores this promising and yet maligned emerging technology that both empowers consumers and raises privacy issues.

This presentation is part of a series of events produced by SofTECH.

John Robb talks with Valdis Krebs on how the terrorist network that attacked on 9/11 was organized and how we can use a similar network analysis to improve our ability to protect crtical infrastructure.

During the 1990s, Phil was the target of a three-year criminal investigation because the US Federal Government held that export restrictions for cryptographic software were violated when his invention, Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), spread all around the world following its publication as freeware. Despite a lack of funding, a staff, or even a company to stand behind him, and despite government persecution, PGP nonetheless, became the most widely used e-mail encryption software in the world.

This week, Phil Windley on SpamCop.net's blacklist and a new feature on his website called Ask Phil. Rich Miller has been blogging for Netcraft and covering the SCO v. Everybody_Who_Uses_Linux lawsuits. Robert Scoble reads 1,348 RSS feeds and produces The Scobleizer weblog, which is read by 2,000 people.