News Updates 4 U: cybersecurity

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Cybersecurity in Obama"s Situation Room

President Obama is meeting at the White House this morning with corporate CEO’s to talk about cybersecurity. The CEO’s and the administration will discuss sharing information about potential computer vulnerabliess and specific threats.

“There are sensitivities both ways because some of the information the government has comes from intelligence sources and that needs to be protected,” said Andrew Kaiser, who works with the National Cyber Security Alliance representing big names from the digital world, including Google and Facebook. “Going the other way, industry wants to be sure that when they give information to the government, that somehow won’t come back to haunt them.”

Some worry the government will impose technology that it wants on the private sector.

“It may force things to be deployed which are less than optimal,” said Michael Angelo with NetIQ Corporation. “There have been instances where proposed legislation actually recommended technology, and [that] causes issues for growth.”

Today’s White House meeting comes soon after U.S. officials said they’re looking into reports that Obama’s own family, including the First Lady, has been hit by hacking.

PODCAST: Retail sales grow, cybersecurity limbo

Retail sales ticked up by 1.1 percent last month according to the Commerce Department. The growth was better than expected, despite higher gas prices and the payroll tax increase that went into effect at the beginning of the year.

Shoppers around the world may have tightened their belts, but the world’s biggest clothing retailer is doing the opposite — it is expanding fast. The Spanish company Inditex, which owns Zara among other chain stores, has just unveiled an impressive set of figures: a 22 percent jump in profits. Large does not necessarily mean unwieldy, and Inditext is the proof. The world’s biggest clothing retailer is also one of the nimblest; it invented fast fashion. By manufacturing more than 50 percent of its products itself the Inditex chains can respond quickly to changing tastes.

President Obama is getting together with a group of CEO’s today to discuss cybersecurity. Obama will be talking with the CEO’s — such as JPMorgan head Jamie Dimon — about how the public and private sectors can work together to protect against cyber attacks.