As I've previously noted I'm on the advisory board for Trimufant (I'm at this page).  I'm hoping all CTO types will check out this company (and I'm also hoping you don't mind me blogging about a company I'm advising.  After all, I'm associated with them because I believe they are a world-class outfit with a great capability). In this post I want to bring your attention to a Triumfant press release .  It is an announcement that Triumfant now provi... Read Full Story

I just read an article that seems designed to keep spreading FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) about the US government and the NSA.   The article is titled "Control of Cybersecurity Becomes Divisive Issue ".  It starts with an assertion stated as if it were a fact that says "The National Security Agency has been campaigning to lead the government's rapidly growing cybersecurity programs".  I bump into all sorts of people in the beltway, and there is a ... Read Full Story

I'm very pleased with the pick of Aneesh Chopra as the Federal Government's CTO.  I wish I could add more context than that, and was thinking of a quick biographical sketch of Aneesh and some ideas on why this is great news.  Then I read Tim O'Reilly's post at OReilly Radar, and frankly I just totally agree with everything Tim said.  Please check out his post at:http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/04/aneesh-chopra-great-federal-cto.htmlHere is an excerpt that particul... Read Full Story

I just read Bill Vass's latest blog entry titled:  "The No. 1 Reason to Move to Open Source is to IMPROVE Security"Bill opens this article with:If you are like me, and you have been involved in cryptography and Cyber Security for a long time, it's obvious to you that commercial open source code is more secure. As a matter of fact, in the late 90s, many of the Intelligence agencies mission systems and the DoD tactical systems moved to open source ONLY to improve security... Read Full Story

If all goes well I'll get a speaking part at the next DoDIIS Worldwide Conference at Orlando 17-21 May 2009.  I love this conference.  It is attended by great folks, many of whom are technologists with a love of a favorite mission area. The greatest defense integrators come to the conference.  And the technology companies that exhibit at the conference are also great, with many demonstrating cutting edge, disruptive technologies that make for a fun conference.  I submi... Read Full Story

Google has recently provided some unprecedented views into their data center operations and have even revealed current details of their server board.  In the past they have only released information on old designs (like the 80 PC rack given to the computer history museum). It seems like every time photos would pop up of server parts it would end up being of a previous generation of equipment.  For the most part, folks like me have only dreamed of being able to see inside a real Goog... Read Full Story

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 controlled from computers based almos... Read Full Story

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 th... Read Full Story

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 nation's objectives r... Read Full Story

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.  Other thoughts:  Look for the dynamic, moving newspaper.  Yet again there is more evidence that Hollywood is dr... Read Full Story