The website's controversial listing service remains blocked to users ahead of House hearing next week on sex trafficking. 

The Department of Homeland Security team tasked with protecting the government's computers must resolve hundreds of security vulnerabilities in its own networks, according to a report from the department's inspector general.

An audit of the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, found more than 600 vulnerabilities that could compromise the agency's cybersecurity data, including 202 that were classified as high-risk. The majority related to systems in Virginia that hadn't been updated with the latest software and operating system security patches.

"Adequate security controls have not been implemented on the [Mission Operating Environment] to protect the data processed from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction," states the report.

Researchers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which does R&D for the military, are researching technologies that could keep wireless connections operating and sounding clear amid strong interference.

The agency will host a closed-door conference on Sept. 20 to gather more information for its "Communications Ex" program, which examines how to maintain connectivity in extreme situations.

CommEx research aims to enable wireless communications amid interference ranging from familiar communications foibles such as a dropped call to military threats from attackers who take aim at the military networks.

The upcoming event is a "proposer's day" that will allow researchers to gain more information from people working on wireless tech projects.

Good morning!

Google-designed curriculum heading to classrooms worldwide; company instructs children to use Google if they want to stay safe

The company said Wednesday that it plans to fund a new push to get an Internet-use curriculum that it designed into classrooms around the globe. Google is teaming up with an organization for military families to spread the curriculum. Lessons are taught on YouTube and in handouts, with pointers for teachers, instructing kids to use Google search to check up on online offers and companies that seem suspicious.

Lesson one? Be careful what you post online because inappropriate photos will resurface, the guide says: "Whatever you do online sticks with you like a tattoo," it says. "Do you really want to have to explain those photos to a future employer?"

Lesson two: "Keep your private stuff private. Don't post personal information." Personal information, the guide goes on, includes "your name." The company's chief executive was criticized for issuing a similar word of caution last month, when he predicted, the Wall Street Journal reported, that "that every young person one day will be entitled automatically to change his or her name on reaching adulthood in order to disown youthful hijinks stored on their friends' social media sites."

The theme is a strong part of Google's curriculum: Students should "think before you post or share information ... even with your friends. You never know how it can be used against you, especially when a friend becomes an ex."

In advice on how to avoid cyberscams, the company tells students to perform a Google search to check up on companies who offer deals or prizes. "Sometimes, websites just want to steal your private information and use it for themselves," the company warns. "Most legitimate businesses will not ask for personal information … Period."

House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee to take up Craigslist issue.

After indicating for days that it would look at the problem, the committee made it official on Wednesday. The hearing is titled "domestic minor sex trafficking" and will be held next week. http://bit.ly/bBJQuq

Network for conservative entertainment launches with Tea Party series

"RightNetwork, whose first series, 'Running,' follows the fortunes of a couple of Tea Party-backed candidates for public office, is … trying a new model to establish itself," the AP reports. "Investors hope that the support of a conservative audience that has made Fox News Channel and radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh successful could also work for entertainment programming, said Kevin McFeeley, RightNetwork's president." http://bit.ly/9ACiMD

The nation's worst Internet laws? NetChoice, a coalition that opposes barriers to e-commerce, made a list it will announce this morning. Online privacy legislation and hotel taxes on online companies are among the top picks. The list "sends a shot across the bow of legislators who are simply going too far,” said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice.

Sunlight: Federal spending data is "broken." The majority of data published online on federal spending is inaccurate and unreliable, according to a new analysis from the Sunlight Foundation. More than $1.3 trillion, or 70 percent, of the data on spending reported by federal agencies in 2009 is broken and inaccurate, according to a website launched Tuesday by Sunlight. The nonprofit transparency advocate accused the Obama administration of failing to comply with the law by not providing the public with accurate, timely and detailed information on government spending. http://bit.ly/cS36BQ

Today: Business groups will hold a call to urge caution on net-neutrality regs. Hosts are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Telecommunications Industry Association. The focus will be on why, as they maintain, broadband regulations hurt investment and innovation.

Today: Cybersecurity conference in D.C. "Thursday’s keynote is a conversation between Bruce Schneier, world-renowned security expert, and Stewart Baker, formerly NSA’s top lawyer and DHS’s head of policy analysis," reports Marvin Ammori of Free Press and the University of Nebraska. http://bit.ly/da7iwP

Executive notes

R&D credit welcomed by disgruntled tech sector. After a term spent alienating many in the technology sector with what they view as burdensome policies, President Obama's proposal to renew a research and development tax credit could act as a balm — but only a limited one, industry leaders said Wednesday.  http://bit.ly/arboO9

Palin's tweet raises endorsement speculation. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has issued what may be a tacit endorsement of Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party-backed outsider running against Delaware Rep. Mike Castle in the state's Republican Senate primary. Palin, a frequent Twitter user who has been known to discuss endorsements on her feed, retweeted a message Wednesday from conservative radio host Tammy Bruce in which Bruce called O'Donnell "great." "Her election must [be] a major focus for us all," Bruce wrote of O'Donnell. After Palin's retweet, that same message was distributed to her 244,000-plus followers. http://bit.ly/bEiwjD

Technology companies are welcoming the tax proposal after recoiling at policy after policy from Washington this year.

The Obama administration unveiled a crowdsourcing website on Tuesday that allows agencies to post contests aimed at increasing the public's participation in the government.

Challenge.gov will allow agencies to post contests that attempt to solve challenges the government cannot tackle alone. Citizens can enter the contests via the site and become eligible to win millions of dollars in prize money if they propose an innovative solution to a challenge.

Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra unveiled the site at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington on Tuesday, where they were joined by Bev Godwin, co-director of the General Services Administration's Center for New Media and Citizen Engagement.

Godwin said agencies can now post challenges within minutes to the website, free of charge. The Obama administration issued guidance earlier this year on how agencies can legally distribute prize money using grants and other funding methods.

There are currently 36 challenges from 21 agencies, with millions of dollars in prize money available for winning entries. A Department of Energy contest challenges teams to build a super-efficient vehicle that will "help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change," while a contest from the Department of Labor seeks videos that explain the duties of one of 15 high-growth occupations.

NASA is the most active agency on the site, with 10 contests currently under way. The agency has held contests in the past that use lucrative research grants to reward teams from universities that come up with innovative technologies or applications in fields such as transportation, robotics and alternative energy research.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has issued what may be a tacit endorsement of Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party-backed outsider running against Delaware Rep. Mike Castle (R) in the state's Republican Senate primary.

Palin, a frequent Twitter user who has been known to discuss endorsements on her feed, retweeted a message Wednesday from conservative radio host Tammy Bruce in which Bruce called O'Donnell "great."

"Her election must [be] a major focus for us all," Bruce wrote of O'Donnell. 

After Palin's retweet, that same message was distributed to her 244,000-plus followers.

The move has observers scratching their heads; while a retweet may not amount to an official endorsement, Palin's mention of O'Donnell comes pretty close.

O'Donnell staffers, unsure how to interpret the tweet, are still not treating it like one.

"We would be honored and humbled by Sarah Palin’s endorsement," O’Donnell spokesman Matt Moran told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

The primary is Sept. 14.

With the Beltway buzzing over the possibility of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel leaving to run for mayor of Chicago, it shouldn't come as a shock that at least one Chicago resident is preparing to leverage that possibility to make a quick buck.

Chicago native Shannon Kenny purchased the domain EmanuelForMayor.com on Tuesday, shortly after incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he wouldn't be seeking reelection in 2011. Emanuel has long been mentioned as a potential successor to Daley, the Second City's second-longest tenured mayor after his father, Richard J. Daley.

When contacted by The Hill, Kenny said she isn't affiliated with Emanuel and plans to sell the domain in the near future, a practice some refer to as "cybersquatting."

"I bought the domain on a whim hoping he runs for Mayor. I planning on auctioning off the domain soon," Kenny said via e-mail.

Update: Kenny said via e-mail that while she initially bought the domain name with the intent to sell it, she would support Emanuel if he decides to run and would happily gift him the domain.

"I initially bought the domain to sell it, but I would support Rahm if he indeed ended up running. I would be more than happy to gift him the domain if he asked for it," Kenny said. "I am from Chicago and I love the city, and I think Mayor Daley left some big shoes to fill. I believe Rahm is one of the very few that would be able to do it."

The majority of data published online on federal spending is inaccurate and unreliable, according to analysis from the Sunlight Foundation.

More than $1.3 trillion, or 70 percent, of the data on spending reported by federal agencies in 2009 is broken and inaccurate, according to a website launched Tuesday by Sunlight. The nonprofit transparency advocate accused the Obama administration of failing to comply with the law by not providing the public with accurate, timely and detailed information on government spending.

"The rise of Gov2.0 brought much excitement for new technologies within government, including a call to arms for more and better public data. But as Clearspending proves, first we need to fix how the data we already have is collected and reported," said Ellen Miller, executive director and co-founder of Sunlight.

"The proper reporting of government spending is not only critical for curbing fraud and abuse, but it allows state and municipal officials, and also the public, to see where the money is going and how it is benefiting their communities."