Inc.com reveals that, according to numbers provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA), “

[f]ollowing a record high in 2007, the number of government-backed loans  for small businesses fell by 30 percent this year as owners struggled with tighter credit and a shaky economy.  […]  This year, the agency guaranteed about 70,000 loans to small-business owners from commercial banks and lenders, down from 100,000 in 2007. The total value of loans fell 13 percent to $17.96 billion, while average loan size rose by $41,000 to $183,000.  Most of the loans were taken out under the agency's 7(a) and 504 loan programs, its two key lending initiatives.”

The Washington Post writes that “[i]n two recent speeches that have attracted little notice, Donald Kerr, principal deputy director of national intelligence, has called for a radical new relationship between government and the private sector to counter what he called the ‘malicious activity in cyberspace [that] is a growing threat to everyone.’  Kerr said the most serious challenge to the nation's economy and security is protecting the intellectual property of government and the private sector that is the basis for advancements in science and technology.”  

In more cyber security news, the Seattle Times reports that a new Microsoft report on cybercrime finds that “human errors, such as lost laptops, account for the biggest share of security vulnerabilities.  […]  The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, the fifth such study the company has undertaken, found that lost and stolen IT equipment resulted in 47.5 percent of reported data losses.  That should give IT professionals and security-conscious consumers some perspective, said George Stathakopoulos, general manager of Microsoft product security.  ‘It is more important for them to protect the physical access to the device that they have — and not leave their cellphone in a taxi — than anything else,’ he said.  Other human behavior, such as falling victim to ‘social engineering’ attacks, also remains a major problem, particularly for consumers.  Social engineering, in which the text of an e-mail, for example, persuades the reader to open an attachment that installs malicious code, is the top software deception, Stathakopoulos said. Some attacks ask people to enter a password to open the attachment, tricking them into thinking what they're doing is secure.”

CNetNews.com has an interesting article discussing when “tech [will] tech center stage in American politics.”  The article’s author, Don Reisinger, writes that “[t]he Internet is the lifeblood of the world. Without it, we would be thrown back into the Stone Age. Why? The world runs on it. In just a few short years, the Web has become as important to our lives as water. Can you imagine what would happen if the Internet suddenly disappeared? Almost every single company in the world would be crippled. The entire online industry would die in one day and the stock market would crash. We would be sent into financial turmoil and start fighting over scraps as supermarkets and stores became unable to communicate with vendors.” Given this, Reisinger says, politicians must “finally realize that caring about technology really does matter and they can't just set it aside like it's a fringe concern.” 

According to BBC News, “French plans to throw persistent pirates off the net have got closer to becoming law.  The French Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of the law, which aims to tackle ongoing piracy of music, movies, and games online.  Those caught illegally sharing digital media will get warnings e-mailed and posted to them before having their net connection terminated.  The proposed law now goes to the French National Assembly for final approval.”