Ooh� and who said the internet isn�t exciting? RBN (Russian Business Network), a notorious Russian online gang which has recently closed their St. Petersburg IP address (but has apparently established themselves elsewhere in cyberspace, yet continuously moving to avoid detection), is said to be linked to a November iFrame injection attack of Monster.com an online employment service company. The attack, caused by a NeoSplit or a malware tool, inserted code into pages that then caused systems to download a virus. Monster.com has reported that they�ve already cleaned all the affected Web pages and is now working with law enforcement on the matter.

Source: eweek.com

I remember how excited and at awe I was when I first had internet connection installed to my PC. Of course, it was still dial-up and was prone to a lot of disconnection (not to mention long downloading time). That was only years ago but major IT development later, many people, companies, and institutions now have broadband connection. It has almost become indispensable. Here enters the importance of interoperability so web applications are developed so that different platforms can interact and work together. By using web services to applications, its function can then be published to practically anywhere in the world.

What do web services actually do? One is for reusable application components. I�m sure that all of us, in one way or another, have used an application more than once. For example, since I transact business abroad, I often use currency converters to know how much money I need to deal with. My friend who�s learning Chinese turns to online translators when she needs a little help. Web services can offer application components that can be used over and over again. Web services also connect existing software by giving different applications a way to connect to their data despite using different applications and platforms.

The H.R. 404 bill which was passed July of last year is now pending before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee to clarify accountability language. The bill that was sponsored by Mr. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, focuses on customer service performance of different government service agencies. This includes Web interaction services. The bill, if approved, will eventually require the White House Office of Management and Budget to develop a system of performance metrics that would ensure citizen satisfaction. One incentive of H.R. 404 is that it would allow agency heads “to pay a cash award … to employees for demonstrated excellence in customer service.” Agencies will have to post customer-service guidelines and customer-service contact information on their public Websites.

Source: Government Executive

Web services are XML-based application components that communicate using open protocols. These application components are also self-contained and self-describing. The basic Web services platform is XML and HTTP. Perhaps HTTP is more familiar since it is the mostly used internet protocol. XML on the other hands provides a language that can be utilized between different platforms and programming languages. What is cool about a web services platform is that it is quite a simple and interoperable messaging framework. It’s not perfect though, as it still has missing components such as security and routing which are now being worked on.