Commentary & Opinion

Nobody can argue that cyber security and data privacy have become hot topics this year. The buzz has been felt world-wide, as people strategize on both offensive and defensive aspects. When cyber security is mentioned, many reflexively jump to thoughts of firewalls, complex passwords and malware protection.

The disastrous results of the Boston Marathon bombings are testimony to the ineffectiveness of current security systems to predict and help avert devastating attacks. Although Boston’s security infrastructure was quite effective at post-disaster forensics, enabling the identification and neutralization of two suspects only days after the bombings, the community still had to suffer hundreds of injuries, loss of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars in collateral damage. 

The Boston Marathon incident is an unfortunate, tragic reminder that, as citizens, we must always remain aware, alert and diligent! Individuals must hone a “sixth sense” that helps them detect, anticipate and plan for danger in advance of it happening. People innately know when something is wrong, dangerous, or just “off,” and in those situations it is imperative to take action rather than just brushing it off. 

By Todd Musselman and Al Kinney

The value of a robust identity management system has long been recognized; however, the actual development and implementation of an effective identity management system have proven to be more difficult tasks. This challenge has grown more complex as various solutions have emerged and matured, and has become more urgent as threats continue to grow in sophistication.

Setting the stage for LTE in Mobile County 

Mobile County, Alabama, was looking for ways to expand its public safety communications footprint. At the same time, it wanted to tap into the power of LTE broadband to ensure the highest levels of interoperability and connectivity for its senior leadership, regardless of their physical location. 

The time has come to re-think embassy security. The Department of State recently called for a “more serious and sustained commitment from Congress” to address security deficiencies at high-risk posts around the world, in the wake of last year's attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the death of four people, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.   

The cost of healthcare in the U.S. continues to soar year after year. The problem is not a result of idleness or the lack of technology, but of not addressing the core problem of patient identity.

In early February, a U.S. Federal Trade Commission report recommended tougher provisions over mobile app privacy, which caused some big technology companies to raise objections, according to recent news coverage. 

Many industry experts believe that the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), any group or foreign government that persistently and effectively targets a specific victim, is the primary enemy of the U.S. Government when it comes to cyber attacks. 

Over the past few years, the president of the United States has worked to remediate issues within the cyber infrastructure. The most recent executive order is yet another attempt to preempt potential disaster by mitigating underlying critical infrastructure issues.