Nearly 30 percent of all cyberattacks that target individuals' private data and companies' internal systems originate in China, a new report finds.

Those hackers typically rely on U.S.-based e-mail servers to dispatch their malware to computers around the globe, creating the impression that more than one-third of the world's malicious code originates in the United States, according to Symantec's study, released on Thursday.

But a closer look at the source IP address behind the e-mails -- which best pinpoints the message's starting point -- reveals about 28.2 percent of global malware attacks actually arrive by way of China.

"When considering the true location of the sender rather than the location of the email server, fewer attacks are actually sent from North America than it would at first seem," said Paul Wood, a top analyst for Symantec's MessageLabs Intelligence.

"A large proportion of targeted attacks are sent from legitimate webmail accounts which are located in the United States and therefore, the IP address of the sending mail server is not a useful indicator of the true origin of the attack," he added.

Symantec's findings this week are sure to bolster congressional lawmakers and tech insiders' recent criticisms of China, which many seem to pinpoint as the source of an increasing number of cyberattacks on businesses and governments.

One such alleged Chinese breach in January targeted Google, human rights activists on its Gmail network and 20 other U.S. businesses. While Google insisted the Chinese military working with two schools piloted the attacks, officials in Beijing have routinely denied any involvement.

The spat has grown so virulent that Google has since ceased censoring its search services -- a violation of Chinese law that could result in the company's expulsion from the search market.

Citing that incident, a number of U.S. lawmakers have consequently called for comprehensive cybersecurity legislation to protect essential government or private networks from a crippling security breach.

At least three proposals of varying size and scope are awaiting further congressional action, with one bill -- authored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) -- soon to head to the Senate floor.

Privacy concerns shouldn’t hinder the deployment of full-body scanners at American airports, Secretary Napolitano said Thursday.

Read more...

Here's a breakdown of the money the FCC spent on the National Broadband Plan. The final pricetag came out to $20.62 million, according to the FCC's response to questions asked by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).

$7.34 million was funded through FCC Appropriations. Another $13.28 was funded through the Recovery Act.

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) submitted its first-ever National Broadband Plan to Congress. It’s a big step toward bringing the United States up to speed with other advanced nations in broadband adoption and use. Recognizing the growing role of high-speed Internet access in the United States’ communications infrastructure, the plan outlines a new and ambitious vision for broadband over the next 10 years.

In this Q&A, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski explains why the United States needs a new, comprehensive approach to broadband, as the Senate Commerce Committee convenes to review the plan his organization has submitted.

Kemper: What do you hope to accomplish with the National Broadband Plan? 

Genachowski: Broadband is the indispensable infrastructure of the digital age — the 21st century equivalent of what canals, railroads, highways, the telephone, and electricity were for previous generations. Through broadband, the United States can begin to lay the foundation for long-term economic growth, investment, and enduring job creation by ensuring that this nation has a robust and world-class infrastructure.  

Multiple studies all tell us the same thing — even modest increases in broadband adoption can yield hundreds of thousands of new jobs. The title of one recent op-ed written by the CEO of a major American technology company said it well: “Fix the bridges, but don’t forget broadband.” We hope the plan will serve as a call to action and roadmap for creating world-leading broadband networks.

Read Kemper's full interview with Genachowski at The Hill's Pundits Blog.

THURSDAY BLOG ROUNDUP:
Sticking points in broadband plan - Tech Daily Dose
Air Force enforces Blackberry crackdown - Nathan Hodge, Wired
What happens as Google uncensors search results? - Jonathan Stray, Bits
Choice architecture, the Web and healthcare - Nancy Scola, techPresident
Draft of ACTA leaks - Rob Pegoaro, Faster Forward
Sweden rocks in productivity study - Stacey Higginbotham, Giga OM
Wishful thinking for saving the news business - Marcus Carab, Tech Dirt
On Apple's board, fewer independent voices - Wall St. Journal
Motorola drops Google from China phone amid fallout - Bloomberg

OTHER STORIES FROM THE HILL:
AT&T joins Verizon in calling for FCC reform - The Hill
Broadband plan's price tag: $20 million - The Hill
Proposed copyright treaty calls on ISPs to sever pirates' Web connections - The Hill
Google's China portal now featuring Twitter posts - The Hill

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, wants to implement robust spectrum management policy to promote more efficient use of wireless airwaves.

She opposes exclusively relying on spectrum reallocation--i.e., taking spectrum away from broadcasters or government agencies. Instead, she wants to explore the use of femtocells, smart antennas, cognitive radios and more investment in fiber backhaul to strengthen wireless capacity.

She outlined her plans for legislation in an op-ed in today's paper.

Here's an excerpt:

"While the FCC’s National Broadband Plan makes several recommendations related to spectrum, the first step that is necessary is a thorough inventory to provide federal decision-makers with a clear, detailed and up-to-date understanding of how spectrum is currently being used and by whom — such data is essential to sound policy decisions.... Read more...

Facebook's Washington office is expanding next week. The company has hired Corey Owens to join its government affairs team.

Owens is leaving his position as spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union to become a policy associate for Facebook. He will bring the company's Washington operation to 4 people.

Owens previously worked in the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. Tim Sparapani, who joined the company last year to become its top lobbyist, also worked at ACLU.

Appropriately, Owens announced his departure on Facebook.

The White House refused to comment on a hacker who gained access to President Barack Obama's official Twitter account.

Asked about the incident on CNBC, White House Chief Technology Office Aneesh Chopra said "No, I can't comment on that."

Obama's official feed is maintained by the Democratic National Committee while the White House has it's own feed which is maintained by communications staff.

"We have a team that works with the president to make sure his message is communicated in all forms that can hear him," Chopra said.

The chief technology officer added that the White House does take cybersecurity very seriously.

"In all seriousness, we do think of cybersecurity as a key priority of our economic engine," he said.

The account was allegedly hacked by a 25-year-old unemployed Frenchman who was arrested then released from jail this week. 

Cross-posted to the Twitter Room

The United States fell from third to fifth in the World Economic Forum's 2009-2010 information technology rankings, released on Thursday.

It currently trails Sweden, Singapore, Denmark and Switzerland in the group's annual comparison of states' IT venture capital, technology rules and standards and broadband availability, among other factors (view the full report in .pdf here).

Broken down, the study confirms much of what President Barack Obama and his tech experts at the White House have long emphasized: U.S. math and science education are lagging, while government services have yet to adopt the most current and effective information technology practices.

The United States ranked somewhat dismally in both areas, typically falling into the double digits behind countries in Europe. But it did perform strongly in other measures of IT use and penetration, including the "extent of business Internet use" (2nd), online political participation (6th), "quality of scientific research institutions" (2nd) and "university-industry collaboration" in research and development projects (1st).