Marvin Ammori

SecurityWeek News has a story on a recent survey conducted by Unisys, which found 61% of Americans favor some form of an Internet “kill switch” for the President to use in the event of a “coordinated malicious cyber attack.”  Other interesting aspects of the survey include:

The overall score for the current Unisys Security Index for the United States was 136, indicating a moderate level of overall security concern. The overall score declined from 147 since the last survey taken in February 2010, reflecting a decrease in concern across all four areas of security.

(snip)

American’s fear surrounding Internet security continues to be on the decline with the number of Americans “not concerned” about computer security in relation to viruses or spam increasing to 34%, the greatest number since the Index’s inception. The most dramatic decline was reported in those “seriously concerned” about the security of shopping or banking online – from 43% in February 2010 to 34% in August 2010.

A Unisys press release with more details of the survey may be found here.

Laura O’Brien over at Silicon Republic reports that the FTC has decided to drop its investigation of the Google Wi-Fi snooping incidents.  But as Cecilia Kang from the Washington Post writes, this development highlights the “growing rift” between the US and Europe on privacy regulation.

Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing writes on the widespread effects of the ROK’s copyright infringement enforcement plan, which was in large part developed at the behest of the United States.  Doctorow notes:

Under the new rules, Korean ISPs are obliged to kick their customers (and their families) off the Internet after receiving three unsubstantiated copyright accusations.

Kelley Currie at the Weekly Standard Blog writes on the State Department’s failure to adequately support the Global Internet Freedom Consortium, despite having ample funding from Congress.  Currie suggests complications may be due in part to the Constortium’s connection to the Falun Gong movement.

The article also links to a must-read piece written by Ronald Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski in the Journal of Democracy entitled Liberation vs. Control: The Future of Cyberspace.  Check both out.

Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen have an interesting piece over at Foreign Affairs discussing the dynamic nature of information technology and its effects (both positive and negative) on global political affairs, as well implications for the future.  A brief excerpt:

In the decade that followed, technology helped achieve another significant step in reducing the power of intermediaries and in short-circuiting regimes bent on silencing opposition voices. Activists and human rights campaigners in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe used photocopiers and fax machines to spread their own messages and foment unrest. The technology of today holds even more promise: comparing the uncertain dial tone of the fax machine with the speed of today’s handheld devices is like comparing a ship’s compass to the power of global positioning systems.

Read the full piece here.

Josh Halliday of the Guardian reports on the arrest of Armenian national, for masterminding the distribution of a worm that has infected over 30 million computers worldwide.  The worm, Bredolab, is believed to have originated in Russia, according to one tech expert.

Marguerite Reardon at CNET discusses the FCC’s moves towards freeing up more spectrum for wireless usage, and the steps being taken to entice TV broadcasters to voluntarily cede unused spectrum.  To see the FCC Report mentioned in the article, click here.

Sam Churchill at DailyWireless reports on the ITU’s approval of two “official” technologies for 4G mobile wireless broadband technology – LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced.  Those two technologies were consolidated from the initial six that were presented to the ITU back in 2009.

At least from three major TV broadcasters.  Reuters has the story on Google TV’s troubles with NBC, Disney and CBS, which have blocked access to a number of their programs.  NewsCorp has yet to make a decision on the matter.

The final two videos from the Cyber Day of UNL’s Space & Telecom Conference in Washington DC:

1:20-2:50: Cyber Policy–Addressing the Problem

• James Lewis (Center for Strategic and International Studies), Greg Nojeim (Center for Democracy and Technology), Liesyl Franz (Tech America), with Rob Knake (Council on Foreign Relations) moderating
• Link — Windows Media / Quicktime

3:00-4:00: Cyber Policy–Keynote Legal Conversation

• Col. Gary Brown (U.S. Cyber Command: Judge Advocate General) and Marc Berejka (U.S. Department of Commerce: Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Secretary), with Daniel J. Ryan (National Defense University) moderating
• Link — Windows Media / Quicktime