Riviera Beach, a city of 6 million on Florida's eastern coast, recently found itself in the grip of hackers who brought down its 911 and email system.  Their attack started with a simple email to the police department in May, whose attachment contained a virus that quickly infected computers on the network.  However, what the city did next is what's newsworthy - they paid the $600,000 ransom to the hackers to get their system back.  At this time, it's unknown if the hackers held up their end of the deal.  The city is also in the process of replacing computers and working with security exper

Ask any American about their last trip to a government office and it's nearly guaranteed that you'd hear about long waits, inefficient processes, slow computers, and unpleasant staff.  These issues are so prevalent that they're often satirized in our media.  While some individual states have made strides by investing in better training and moving some services online, the problem is far from solved.  Now, California senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris wants to improve government tech system-wide with her new Digital Service Act bill.  This bill is aimed to provide funding for s

Car crashes at intersections account for 20% of annual traffic deaths, and automakers Honda and Volkswagen are working to lower that number.  Though the two companies aren't working together, they're approaching the problem in similar ways with the use of connected technology at smart intersections.

Many cities, perhaps your own, are taking steps to implement "smart" measures - measures that include intelligent traffic control, streetlight management, and even tracking bicycle use.  However, a new report from IBM Security reveals concerns about how secure these measures are from hacking and malicious takeover.

Police have long been relied on to stop crime - either by their presence discouraging would-be criminals, or by putting their efforts into solving crimes and handing the responsible parties over to the courts.  With an endless to do list of police work, it'd seem that departments around the world would embrace as much technology as they could to help fight and solve crime.  However, that doesn't seem to be the case, especially in the UK.  Why?  Policing is a "human business" that relies heavily on face to face work, and technology hasn't been so easy to utilize out on the beat.