This week the New York Times and CNET ran a story by John Markoff titled "Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries" It reads in part: "A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded. In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being … [Read more...]
Widespread Cyber Espionage: More evidence and what to do about it
March 30, 2009 By BobGourley
Filed Under: CTO, Cyber Security, Open Source Tagged With: CCSA, cyber, Linux, Open Solaris, Open Source Software, social media, Sun, Tech/Internet
Responding Strategically to Cyber Attacks
March 23, 2009 By BobGourley
The last 12 months has seen a significant amount of progress in our nation's awareness of cyber threats and in our collective actions to address the security of our IT systems. However, a huge amount of work remains to be done. In a cyber context, the situation is a little like the one Winston Churchill described when he said: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." We in … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Cyber Security Tagged With: Barack Obama, CCSA, cyber, information technology, Melissa Hathaway, Network Security
A Proposal Regarding High Tech Immigrants to the US
March 20, 2009 By BobGourley
The topic of H-1B visa's has always been a hot one. In the current economic climate there are plenty of American tech workers looking for work and therefore this special visa program is under increasing scrutiny. I have many friends and associates and family members who have either lost jobs or found themselves in positions they would not prefer due to the current economic meltdown and my bias is to side with them on this. We need to rethink the … [Read more...]
Filed Under: CTO Tagged With: CTO, innovation, LinkedIn, The Future of Technology
You Really Have to See This: From MIT Media Lab
March 13, 2009 By BobGourley
Words can hardly describe how neat this technology is. I'm excited and enthused for many reasons, including the potential power of this technology to help us all make better decisions and of course to bring even more fun to our lives. Watch and let your imagine go... Think of the wonderful ways we can interact with data to do good things in the world. Think of how much powerful this will get as cloud computing capabilities and advanced wireless … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Cloud Computing, Gadgets, The Future, Web2.0 Tagged With: Cloud Computing, CTO, cyber, Disruptive IT, Enterprise, Tech/Internet, Technology Leadership, The Future of Technology, Thin Client
Video for the Enterprise CTO
March 9, 2009 By BobGourley
I enjoy learning from and interacting with great CTO teachers face to face, which is why direct meetings are an incredibly important part of life. But that model does not scale well. There is no way any human can begin to schedule enough time/meetings/conferences/interactions to tap into all the great teachers there. Social media can help in a couple ways. For example, when used properly, it can help you connect with and learn from others in a … [Read more...]
Filed Under: CTO, Web2.0 Tagged With: Cloud Computing, CTO, cyber, Disruptive IT, Enterprise, Facebook, Google, information technology, social media, Tech/Internet, Twitter, vmware, YouTube
Vivek Kundra: Still the Alpha CTO and now the First Fed CIO
March 5, 2009 By BobGourley
Today's news on Vivek Kundra's role in the federal space made me think of another CTO, Yuvi Kochar. Yuvi, the CTO of the Washington Post, is a great connector of CTOs who leads the informal collective of the Washington Area CTO Roundtable. Although I had heard Vivek speak a time or two, the first really deep interactions I had with Vivek were through Yuvi's work in service to the tech community and I much appreciate that. For a quick update on … [Read more...]
Filed Under: CTO Tagged With: apps, Cloud Computing, collaboration, CTO, CTO Principles, cyber, Disruptive IT, Enterprise, Great CTOs, Mashup, Tech/Internet, Technology Leadership, Vivek Kundra
Open Source Databases
March 5, 2009 By BobGourley
All indications are the next significant growth segment for open source software will be in databases. This follows the trend of open source operating systems (Open Solaris and Linux). Two open source databases of note are Hadoop and MySQL. Hadoop is not for everyone. It is a very powerful open source software focused on highly scalable distributed computing. It implements the MapReduce distributing computing metaphor in use at some very large … [Read more...]
Filed Under: CTO, Open Source Tagged With: Cloud Computing, CTO, cyber, Disruptive IT, Enterprise, IBM, Linux, MySQL, Open Solaris, Open Source Software, operating system, Tech/Internet
John Stewart Examines and Explains Twitter
March 3, 2009 By BobGourley
Note: This is an update of the now famous John Stewart Twitter explanation that links to the Comedy Central version. The YouTube version was pulled in order to better serve you. This video clip from the Daily Show just made my day. The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c Twitter Frenzy Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things With Demetri Martin Political Humor Joke of the Day This video reminds me of discussions I've been in with … [Read more...]
Filed Under: CTO, Web2.0 Tagged With: CTO, social media, Tech/Internet, Twitter, vmware, YouTube
White House Conducting Review of Cyber
March 3, 2009 By BobGourley
Followers of the cyber initiative and its related work have been strongly encouraged by the kickoff of a 60 day study tasked by the White House and led by Melissa Hathaway. Melissa was named by President Obama to conduct this review. As has been reported here in previous posts Melissa is one of the most effective, efficient senior executives in public service, and I have no doubt she will execute this task in a way that benefits the nation. As an … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Cyber Security Tagged With: Barack Obama, CCSA, cyber, Cyberspace, Melissa Hathaway, Network Security, Politics, Security, terrorism, White House, William Gibson