Rock Creek Roundup (May 6 Edition)

Posted by: Meagen Ryan, Director of Strategy May 06, 2011 0 Comments

News about Osama bin Laden’s death breaks Twitter records, Immigrations and Customs uses seized domains for an anti-piracy video, the U.S. forges cyber-security relationship with Estonia, the Department of Homeland Security steps in to help with Sony’s security breach, and an innovative GovLooper talks about how online games can increase government accessibility, all in this week’s version of the Rock Creek Roundup.

—In the two and a half hours surrounding news of Osama bin Laden’s death, Twitter users sent out 27,900,000 tweets, making it one of the most tweeted-about events ever. Users also broke the record for highest sustained rate of tweeting. In the minutes before President Obama’s speech, 5,106 tweets per second were being generated, breaking all previous records including the Super Bowl and World Cup. These statistics highlight the shift in how the world is changing the way it delivers, receives and finds news, and when you consider the fact that Twitter didn’t even exist on September 11, 2001, also shows just how quickly the social media medium has grown.

—In an effort to discourage illegal movie downloading, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau promoted an anti-piracy video on 65 domains that had been seized for movie copyright violations. The 76-second public service announcement focuses on the impact illegal downloading has on American jobs and businesses. Hoping to illicit feelings of guilt from viewers, the video shows a peddler selling free movies in exchange for a woman losing her job. Check out the video to see if you feel it’s effective.

—U.S. Intelligence has forged a relationship with Estonia in hopes of learning more about cyber security. After falling victim to a crippling online attack in 2007, Estonia has become skilled in fighting and preventing them and is happy to share its cyber defense knowledge. Recently, the FBI decided to send a cyber investigator to Estonia’s capital Tallinn to foster collaborative efforts and work full time with the Estonia National Crime Police. Tallinn is also home to NATO’s Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence which helps defend and promote global Internet safety.

—In the wake of Sony’s recent cyber attack, the Department of Homeland Security has stepped in to help. Since 77 million customers’ personal, financial and account information was stolen, DHS decided the situation demanded federal attention in case the hackers used the data to infiltrate other systems. While no one has been definitively identified as the architect behind the breach, Sony suspects it was a political move rather than financial since there have been no reports of fraud.

—In hopes of educating and engaging a younger generation, one GovLoop member suggests creating online games that allow users to navigate through the government and its various roles and decision-making processes. Through these games, users can learn about the government and democracy in a more interactive way than textbooks. The result may be greater government accessibility and transparency and possibly inspiration to become more involved in the political discussion and community.

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Meagen Ryan

Director of Strategy

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