Entries with tag us government.

The US Federal Trade Commission announced the winners of its Robocall Challenge, designed to find ways to stop the growing number of automated, unsolicited prerecorded telemarketing calls to consumers. The FTC awarded prizes for a solution that an individual or small group proposed and prizes for one that groups of 10 or more developed. Serdar Danis, a computer engineer, and freelance software developer Aaron Foss shared the $50,000 individual prize. Google engineers received the large-group prize, which did not include a monetary award. All these solutions use a whitelist/blacklist approach to filter unwanted calls. Both of the individual proposals use a CAPTCHA test to block robocalls. Danis’ approach is reportedly software based, while Foss’ is cloud-based. The Google approach relies on a crowdsourced list of offenders. The agency said its challenge, launched in October 2012, is a part of its “ongoing campaign against illegal, prerecorded telemarketing calls.” The winners were chosen from almost 800 submissions. (Forbes)(Ars Technica)(United States Federal Trade Commission)

The US government has said Iran is behind recent cyberattacks targeting US banks and Middle East oil operations, according to news reports. CNN reports that government officials say various attacks were carried out by individuals working with the Iranian government. US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta mentioned the attacks in a speech last week but did not say Iran was behind them. Charles Cooper, an editor with the tech site CNET, contends the government claims are fear-mongering by the Obama administration to gain support for controversial cybersecurity legislation. Tech writer John Dvorak agreed but said, “Maybe the good news is that people will get virus protection, check for Trojans, and learn how to secure systems better.”
(CNN)(CNET)(Dark Reading)(PC Mag)

The US government has funded a new Android-based smartphone application that helps the blind and visually impaired count their cash. Users scan paper currency with their phone’s camera and the application recognizes the denomination and reads it aloud. The US Departments of Education and Treasury, along with Apps4Android—a nonprofit group that promotes software for helping the disabled access technology—developed the free IDEAL Currency Identifier. The application is available online at http://www.moneyfactory.gov .
(PhysOrg)(The Associated Press @ Myrtle Beach Online)(U.S. Department of the Treasury)(Bureau of Engraving and Printing)