Privacy
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced its appointment of former DoubleClick executive Nuala OConner Kelly as its new Privacy Officer, in charge of making sure that the technologies used by the department do not erode citizens privacy. OConner Kelly previously held the post of privacy officer at the U.S. Department of Commerce and was vice president of data protection and chief privacy officer at online marketing company DoubleClick.
Browser Security
Because IE has numerous security problems not addressed by antivirus software and firewalls, Winferno Software has announced Secure IE, a utility that blocks dangerous scripts, cookies, and other malicious content. It also claims to improve performance by increasing the number of TCP connections used in browsing, blocks popups, adds a tabbed interface to IE and numerous other enhancements.
Enterprise
Computer Associates International and three other vendors today announced the formation of Open Security Exchange, a collaborative group that will work to define vendor-neutral specifications for integrating the management of physical and IT security policies. The Open Security Exchange will initially focus on developing specifications for the common management of IT and physical security devices such as access control cards and readers, said Russell Artzt, a vice president with CAs eTrust security group. Early specifications and best practices are available at the Open Security Exchange Web site and address three specific areas: common administration of users, privileges and credentials; common authentication to physical facilities and computer systems; and centralized management and auditing of physical and IT security.
The U.S. Army is using Web filtering software from Secure Computing to replace older technology for 200,000 personnel, Secure Computing said Wednesday. The software will be used for filtering and Web access reporting at more than 100 Army facilities worldwide, including bases in the United States, the Pacific Rim, and Europe.