With "hacktivism" on the rise -- practiced by organisations and groups such as Anonymous -- and in face of the Sony saga to name just two examples, the White House proposed draft legislation on Thursday aimed at toughening the defenses of government and private industry against the growing danger from cyber-attack.The White House said in a statement, "Our nation is at risk... Cyber-security vulnerabilities in our government and critical infrastructure are a risk to national security, public safety, and ...

Journalists and bloggers around the world last week woke up to an email screaming in all caps: "Google quietly launches sweeping violation of user privacy!" Rightly so, this claim brought a lot of anger to those who ran the story. However, for some, there was something suspicious afoot...The email, originating from American public relations firm, Burson-Marsteller, claimed that a little known Gmail feature, Social Circle, tramples privacy of millions of Americans and is in violation of American fair trade rules. ...

InMobi, a large, global independent mobile ad network, has announced the launch of a performance-based global mobile payments solution it is calling SmartPay. The company says this offering is "a first" because it combines InMobi’s large global ad network of nearly 32-billion ads monthly in 200 countries with a mobile payments solution.The company says that tracking from ad to conversion is a "major leap forward" for developers and digital goods providers globally. The payment solution will enable app developers, game ...

On the 28 April 2011 Canonical officially released Ubuntu 11.04 codenamed Natty Narwhal. The controversial Unity Desktop became the standard interface, merging the desktop and netbook versions, creating a scalable client operating system which can be run on desktops, nettops, notebooks, netbooks and tablet devices.Large screen smart phones, in-vehicle infotainment systems and possibly even home appliances such as high-end refrigerators could potentially also run Ubuntu.Aside from the interface overhaul Canonical was determined to push a number of major updates through ...

In news certain to buoy South African online retailers, a new research report released this week by independent technology research and strategy organisation, World Wide Worx has found that retail in South Africa has entered a phase of sustained acceleration.'The Online Retail in SA 2011' study shows that the total spent on online retail goods in South Africa passed the R2 billion mark in 2010 for the first time. It reached R2,028 billion, a growth of over 30% with regard ...

The "World IT Show" is running in Seoul, South Korea this week. The show is an exhibit of the latest innovation in technology from around Asia and the world, and this year's show was no exception, showcasing 1313 booths with 440 exhibitors including Samsung, LG Electronics and Qualcomm.The aim of the show is to alert the global stage to South Korea's contribution to the world of technology. Big names, such as Samsung and LG, dominating a sizeable amount of ...

The African mobile developer community should be smiling right now, what with being ideally placed to take advantage of a number of factors that currently make the region one of the most exciting digital spaces on the planet.Mobile is massiveMobile take-up across Africa took a lot of people by surprise; in hindsight it was obvious. Infrastructure-lag left a gaping chasm of consumer demand wide enough for mobile technology to swoop in and satisfy the need for telecommunications. South Africa ...

China employs an army of censors to police the Internet, much to the chagrin of the US, and is strengthening their onslaught by deploying legions of "web commentators" to get the government's message out -- in a crafty but effective way.With nearly half a billion people surfing the net in China, more than half of them using microblogs, the internet has quickly become a vital forum for debate in the world's most populous country -- and a major sounding board.This ...

Angel investing came accidentally to UK-based Permjot Valia. As the sales and marketing director of Ernst & Young, he became involved in their entrepreneur programme, which in turn led to his new career of investing in startups.By his own admission, Valia’s success rate is a statistical anomaly: while an average of only 3% of investors successfully exit a startup via an IPO, the first company he invested in went public within just seven months.Visiting Cape Town this week ...

The technology space is particularly notable for the amount of entrepreneurial activity it attracts. The word "startup" has become almost synonymous with the tech and online space and there are thousands of entrepreneurs that run small and large companies that are carving out niches for themselves.The high amount of entrepreneurial activity in the tech sector may be explained by the fact that the costs of starting an online business are low. You don't need a factory or heavy-lifting equipment to ...