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White House Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair says the U.S. is severely under the threat of greater cyberattacks but believes we can rise to the challenge.

Blair appeared before a Senate panel on Tuesday to deliver the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community (PDF). A statement of Blair's remarks to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was released for the record. While he focused mostly on non-cyberterrorism and similar threats, he led off with a stark report on the growing dangers and challenges of cyberwarfare.

Seeing the recent attacks against Google as a "… Read more

Someone defaced the Web pages of nearly 50 members of the U.S. House of Representatives with an explicit insult to President Obama after he gave his State of the Union address on Wednesday night.

The 49 House Web sites, representing both Democrats and Republicans, were managed by a company called GovTrends, The Associated Press reported on Thursday.

The hacking occurred while GovTrends was performing an update, Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the House chief administrative officer, told the AP.

Last August, 18 House sites managed by GovTrends were also defaced, according to Ventura, who added that the House is reconsidering … Read more

President Obama used his State of the Union address on Wednesday evening to reiterate his administration's commitment to taxpayer-subsidized solar cells, clean coal, and biofuel technology.

The comments were not as much a call for new initiatives as they were a summary of what his administration has already announced, including a $2.3 billion tax credit unveiled earlier this month, and the proposals the president outlined last fall in a speech at MIT.

One surprise that few people would have anticipated only a few years ago: a mention of biofuels and clean coal received moderate applause. What drew the … Read more

I'm only moderately familiar with vacation rental exchange HomeAway.com because a few of my longtime friends use it to book the house for our annual ski weekend (outdoor hot tub absolutely mandatory!) But it looks like this online service is going to get a big boost in publicity: Not only will it be running a TV commercial during the Super Bowl, but the commercial will feature actors Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo in their roles as Clark and Ellen Griswold from "National Lampoon's Vacation," the 1983 comedy about a holiday gone horribly awry.

A … Read more

If you can't catch the president's next speech on TV, no problem--you can watch it on your iPhone.

The White House has hit the iTunes market with its very own app designed to keep all good U.S. citizens updated on the latest goings-on of government. In addition to offering news, blogs, photos, and videos, the app can tap into a live news feed, letting you watch such events as the president's annual State of the Union speech set for next Wednesday.

Washington is also promising more for the portable market. A mobile version of the WhiteHouse.… Read more

Here's another reason why your government isn't working to its optimum capacity: antiquated computer technology.

That's what Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, says.

In conjunction with the opening of a summit meeting between President Obama and business CEOs, Orszag complained that federal workers own better computers for their personal use than the ones the government equips them with during their work days. (Among the executives scheduled to attend were Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe Systems, Dan Hesse of Sprint Nextel, and Craig Newmark of Craigslist.) … Read more

Representatives from some of the post-transaction marketing firms now under government scrutiny for allegedly duping consumers into signing up for membership programs are trying to whip up support on Capitol Hill.

According to my sources in Washington, D.C., some of the marketers have sent representatives to meet with individual lawmakers about taking up their side as the U.S. Senate commerce committee continues to investigate the practices of three firms: Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue.

These companies, all based in Connecticut, are accused by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.), the committee's chairman, of misleading as many as 30 million … Read more

Chances are, right now you have something on your computer that you would rather other people not see. Financial information, a diary, photographic evidence of a night of debauchery--you know what we're talking about. Fortunately for you, SafeHouse Explorer USB Flash Drive Encryption makes it easy to keep your private stuff private, on a flash drive or on your computer.

In our adventures as software reviewers, we see a lot of amateurish software, so it was a breath of fresh air when we opened SafeHouse Explorer and found a well-designed and well-explained program. The application walks first-time users through … Read more

The White House's new cybersecurity chief faces a tough agenda, but will be able to draw on the lessons of a 40-year career, including stints at Microsoft and eBay.

Former security adviser Howard Schmidt is returning to the White House as President Obama's new cybersecurity coordinator, the White House announced Tuesday.

In his new role, Schmidt will report to the National Security Council. Schmidt will also "have regular access to the president," said an official who spoke to The New York Times.

Earlier this year, President Obama initiated a review of the government's cybersecurity policies … Read more