Jaikumar Vijayan

Federal agencies have until Sept. 8 to provide an update on their readiness to comply with a presidential directive on issuing Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart cards to all employees and contractors by the end of October.

A joint U.S. and Canadian organization that certifies encryption tools for use by federal government agencies has suspended its validation of OpenSSL cryptographic technology for the second time in less than six months.

The move by a joint U.S. and Canadian

Organizations considering the use of Asynchronous Javascript and XML (AJAX) technologies to create more dynamic Web sites need to ensure they are not inadvertently opening doors into otherwise secure applications, analysts have warned.

A bill introduced Monday by Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) both of whom serve on the Senate Banking Committee, joins a growing list of data security measures now pending before Congress. n

The Food Allergen and Consumer Protection Act, known as FALCPA, was signed into law in August 2003. The measure requires food companies to identify the presence of eight major allergens in plain language on their product labels. Complying with the law requires companies to have an organized process for collecting, maintaining and tracking allergen information, from the raw-material stage to the production of finished goods.

The possibility that U.S. lawmakers might restrict the widespread use of Social Security numbers in commerce because of consumer privacy issues is prompting concern in the financial services industry. n

Broward County, Fla. Maricopa County, Ariz. and Fort Bend County, Tex. Three counties, separated by hundreds of miles, with something in common.