Vice President Biden today (August 18) announced 94 Recovery Act investments in broadband projects that will create jobs and expand economic opportunities within 37 states. These investments in high-speed Internet infrastructure will help bridge the technological divide in communities that are being left in the 20th century economy and support improvements in education, healthcare, and public safety. Today’s announcement, an investment totaling $1.8 billion, is part of a nearly $7 billion Recovery Act initiative.
“Today's (August 18) investment in broadband technology will create jobs across the country and expand opportunities for millions of Americans and American companies. In addition to bringing 21st century infrastructure to underserved communities and rural areas, these investments will begin to harness the power of broadband to improve education, health care, and public safety,” said Vice President Biden. “The awards are another great example of how the Recovery Act is creating jobs upfront, while also building a foundation for sustainable job creation and global competitiveness.”
The projects receiving funds today are part of a program – administered by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) – to expand broadband access and adoption across the country.
“The broadband investments announced today(August 18) are going to put people to work in the near term, but they also will lay the groundwork for sustainable economic growth down the road,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “These projects will connect Americans who have for too long been without the full economic, educational and social benefits of high-speed Internet access – access central to success in the 21st Century.”
“The broadband projects announced today(August 18) will give rural Americans access to the tools they need to attract new businesses, jobs, health care and educational opportunities,” Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack said. “The Obama Administration understands that bringing broadband to rural America provides a gateway for businesses and key anchor institutions – such as libraries, schools, public safety and community centers – to provide services to thousands of Americans. These projects will create jobs building these networks, and the completed systems will provide a platform for rural economic growth for years to come.”
Today’s(August 18) announcement includes 66 grants awarded by the Commerce Department for projects to deploy broadband infrastructure and connect community anchor institutions to broadband, create and upgrade public computer centers, and encourage the sustainable adoption of broadband service. It also includes 28 awards from USDA for broadband infrastructure and satellite projects that will provide rural residents in 16 states and Native American tribal areas access to improved service.
The Department of Commerce awards also contain grants for public safety broadband networks that will improve response times and communication at the scene of emergencies. These projects constitute a critical set of demonstration projects and a head start on President Obama’s commitment to support the development of a nationwide, interoperable public safety wireless broadband network.
According to an analysis released by the National Economic Council last year, overall Recovery Act investments in broadband are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in the near term and expand economic development and job opportunities in communities that are being left behind in the new knowledge-based economy. Recovery Act broadband projects help bring down the cost of private investment, attract Internet service providers to new areas, improve digital literacy among students and workers, and help create new opportunities in employment, education, and entrepreneurship by wiring homes and businesses. With new or increased broadband access, communities can compete on a level playing field to attract new businesses, schools can create distance learning opportunities, medical professionals can provide cost-efficient remote diagnoses and care, and business owners can expand the market for their products beyond their neighborhoods to better compete in the global economy.
Funding is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the loan, grant or loan/grant agreement. A complete list of projects receiving Recovery Act broadband grant awards today(August 18) can be viewed in full.
President Obama signed The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law on February 17, 2009. It is designed to jumpstart the nation’s economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so that the country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act includes measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.
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Showing posts with label infrastructure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label infrastructure. Show all posts
Friday, August 20, 2010
Monday, June 1, 2009
Jim Harper discusses Obama's cyber infrastructure plan on CNBC
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Monday, January 26, 2009
Survey: Despite Increasing Sophistication in Web Threats and Cybercrime, Most SharePoint(TM) Users Are Inadequately Protected
/PRNewswire/ -- There appears to be a void in security around companies' Microsoft SharePoint infrastructure even though SharePoint usage is on the rise. This puts SharePoint servers and employee PCs at risk for data-stealing malware; outside customers, clients, partners, and remote employees who share the same collaboration platform also become vulnerable to the growing complexity of Web threats that can spread silently, but destructively.
A survey conducted by Osterman Research and commissioned by Trend Micro of 269 IT managers involved in overseeing the messaging and collaboration infrastructure of their organizations found that only 60 percent have currently deployed security, leaving 40 percent unprotected. Of those with security, many organizations are still vulnerable -- they are relying upon file server antivirus products, which fail to adequately protect SharePoint content and users.
The survey, which involved companies from North America, France, Germany, Sweden and the U.K., also found that many of these organizations allow external users to access their SharePoint systems: 48 percent of these outside users are contractors, 38 percent are business partners, 30 percent are affiliates, and 20 percent are customers. This leaves endpoint security outside a company's control and increases the potential impact of data loss and compromise.
The survey showed that approximately seventy-two percent of SharePoint users surveyed cite protecting business-sensitive information as the biggest need for SharePoint security, and 43 percent cite preventing malware as their top concern.
Web threats have increased by nearly 2000 percent since 2005 and collaboration systems like SharePoint that enable real-time interaction and information sharing are more vulnerable than ever to cybercriminals who target business-critical information. The sophistication of these threats, many of which are executed through social engineering tactics, demand security that keeps SharePoint repositories free of viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware, as well as protect against data loss.
"While real-time collaboration enables efficient day-to-day business operations, these tools can also increase security risk by opening new pathways for cybercriminals to enter into a corporate network," said Dave Lieberman, director of messaging security for Trend Micro. "Trend Micro encourages all companies to consider solutions that have SharePoint-specific security capabilities such as Trend Micro's PortalProtect(TM), and not rely solely upon general server antivirus products that do not provide complete and adequate protection."
"For many organizations, [we] found that SharePoint security is considered a "nice to have", but that security capabilities deployed at the gateway, server and endpoint level are perceived to be sufficient to protect SharePoint servers from malware and related threats," said Michael Osterman, founder and president of Osterman Research. "However, deploying anti-malware software at the endpoint or on a server does not fully secure the SharePoint environment (the underlying database, Web pages, etc.) Organizations should understand that deploying SharePoint at all layers of the network and on all systems is key to providing complete protection from all threats."
Trend Micro's PortalProtect was the first security solution integrated with Microsoft SharePoint and is built on proven enterprise security technology for reliability and interoperability. It provides a centrally managed solution to effectively secure SharePoint Portal systems and their users. PortalProtect is part of the Trend Micro(TM) Communication & Collaboration Security family, which is powered by the Trend Micro(TM) Smart Protection Network. With the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, a cloud-client content security architecture delivering correlated, up-to-the-minute threat intelligence, customers get immediate protection across their Microsoft(TM) Exchange, SharePoint and Office Communications Server (OCS) environments.
Other notable findings from the survey:
-- Deployment of SharePoint security is more prevalent in Europe. Among North American respondents, 58 percent of respondent organizations have deployed security on their SharePoint servers and another 27 percent plan to do so in the next 12 months. Among European respondents, 62 percent have done so and 24 percent plan to deploy security in the next 12 months. Globally, there are a variety of reasons cited by organizations for using SharePoint, including improvement of remote or regional communication (74 percent), improvement in the speed of decision making (56 percent), reducing in-person meetings and travel expenses (55 percent) and improving communication with external partners or vendors (34 percent).
-- Where they are deployed, the focus of SharePoint security concerns appears to be much more on protecting sensitive information than on traditional malware and similar threats. There was somewhat more concern about security for SharePoint from an information-protection perspective in Europe which may be related to the stricter information privacy regulations in Europe.
-- Organizations who use SharePoint often allow access to their SharePoint systems to outside partners and vendors, making it difficult for organizations to control security. Among such organizations, 31 percent allow access to affiliates, 38 percent allow business partners, 48 percent allow contractors or consultants and 19 percent allow customers.
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A survey conducted by Osterman Research and commissioned by Trend Micro of 269 IT managers involved in overseeing the messaging and collaboration infrastructure of their organizations found that only 60 percent have currently deployed security, leaving 40 percent unprotected. Of those with security, many organizations are still vulnerable -- they are relying upon file server antivirus products, which fail to adequately protect SharePoint content and users.
The survey, which involved companies from North America, France, Germany, Sweden and the U.K., also found that many of these organizations allow external users to access their SharePoint systems: 48 percent of these outside users are contractors, 38 percent are business partners, 30 percent are affiliates, and 20 percent are customers. This leaves endpoint security outside a company's control and increases the potential impact of data loss and compromise.
The survey showed that approximately seventy-two percent of SharePoint users surveyed cite protecting business-sensitive information as the biggest need for SharePoint security, and 43 percent cite preventing malware as their top concern.
Web threats have increased by nearly 2000 percent since 2005 and collaboration systems like SharePoint that enable real-time interaction and information sharing are more vulnerable than ever to cybercriminals who target business-critical information. The sophistication of these threats, many of which are executed through social engineering tactics, demand security that keeps SharePoint repositories free of viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware, as well as protect against data loss.
"While real-time collaboration enables efficient day-to-day business operations, these tools can also increase security risk by opening new pathways for cybercriminals to enter into a corporate network," said Dave Lieberman, director of messaging security for Trend Micro. "Trend Micro encourages all companies to consider solutions that have SharePoint-specific security capabilities such as Trend Micro's PortalProtect(TM), and not rely solely upon general server antivirus products that do not provide complete and adequate protection."
"For many organizations, [we] found that SharePoint security is considered a "nice to have", but that security capabilities deployed at the gateway, server and endpoint level are perceived to be sufficient to protect SharePoint servers from malware and related threats," said Michael Osterman, founder and president of Osterman Research. "However, deploying anti-malware software at the endpoint or on a server does not fully secure the SharePoint environment (the underlying database, Web pages, etc.) Organizations should understand that deploying SharePoint at all layers of the network and on all systems is key to providing complete protection from all threats."
Trend Micro's PortalProtect was the first security solution integrated with Microsoft SharePoint and is built on proven enterprise security technology for reliability and interoperability. It provides a centrally managed solution to effectively secure SharePoint Portal systems and their users. PortalProtect is part of the Trend Micro(TM) Communication & Collaboration Security family, which is powered by the Trend Micro(TM) Smart Protection Network. With the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, a cloud-client content security architecture delivering correlated, up-to-the-minute threat intelligence, customers get immediate protection across their Microsoft(TM) Exchange, SharePoint and Office Communications Server (OCS) environments.
Other notable findings from the survey:
-- Deployment of SharePoint security is more prevalent in Europe. Among North American respondents, 58 percent of respondent organizations have deployed security on their SharePoint servers and another 27 percent plan to do so in the next 12 months. Among European respondents, 62 percent have done so and 24 percent plan to deploy security in the next 12 months. Globally, there are a variety of reasons cited by organizations for using SharePoint, including improvement of remote or regional communication (74 percent), improvement in the speed of decision making (56 percent), reducing in-person meetings and travel expenses (55 percent) and improving communication with external partners or vendors (34 percent).
-- Where they are deployed, the focus of SharePoint security concerns appears to be much more on protecting sensitive information than on traditional malware and similar threats. There was somewhat more concern about security for SharePoint from an information-protection perspective in Europe which may be related to the stricter information privacy regulations in Europe.
-- Organizations who use SharePoint often allow access to their SharePoint systems to outside partners and vendors, making it difficult for organizations to control security. Among such organizations, 31 percent allow access to affiliates, 38 percent allow business partners, 48 percent allow contractors or consultants and 19 percent allow customers.
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