vincent mosco is the author. thank you sir. >> thank you very much, peter. >> c-span created by america's cable companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service ly your local cable or satellite provider. today the new america foundation hosts a discussion on u.s. hostage policy. panelists will discuss the challenges of rescuing americans taken hostage abroad and the debate over whether the u.s. should negotiate with hostage takers or pay ransoms. live at noon eastern on c-span2. >>> now house homeland security chair michael mccaul addresses cybersecurity threats, recent attacks on u.s. companies and the role of the federal government in securing cyberspace. he also outlines new cybersecurity ledge shun which

mosco, you mentioned the nsa and talk about the data center in utah. what is that and how is it being used? >> guest: it is still under construction. it is nearing completion. it being the nsa we don't know a great deal about it. it is enormous. it will store the bulk of the nsa's files on individuals and manage a data stored elsewhere. so in a sense it will be the information capital of the nsa. and as i mentioned, it is built in a mountain. it is a very secure facility. and only a few people have reported on what will likely go on there. but suffice it to say it will likely be the center of the nsa's data storage, processing and information management. >> host: if someone is using an ipad or tablet are they using a cloud? can you give an example of how that works. >> guest: sure. example of g-mail comes immediately to mind. many people have decided not to store their e-mail on their own computers and subscribe to an online service like g-mail so that when you check your e-mail, you would be communicating with a google data center that actually stores

the author is professor vincent mosco. where did the term cloud come from? vincent: there is debate about the origins of the term. it mainly derives from the network diagrams that telecommunication engineers drew . they tended to identify the nodes in the network, in the form of a cloud. the diagram would interconnect a group of clouds with telephones. that is where cloud comes from. there is some debate. more importantly, what is the cloud? there are many different definitions. when you boil it down a cloud is a system for storing processing, and distributing data information e-mails, apps and software. companies that operate cloud systems provide individuals and organizations with access to the data on an on-demand basis for a fee. the customer receives storage space and has access to data from anywhere, any device, and companies make money by providing that data and services derived from it. peter: is there a physical location of the cloud? vincent: there are many physical locations. the cloud tends to be located in non-cloudlike looking structures . data

vincent mosco is the author. thank you, sir. >> guest: thank you very much peter. >> c-span created 35 years ago and brought to you as a local service by your cable or satellite provider. coming up tonight, booktv looks at books on isis. first, david phillips and the shifting alliance in the fight against isis. and then we discuss isis inside the army of terror. looking at the group's rise and leadership. and later the group's appeal in the middle east and the threat to the united states. you are watching booktv in prim time. david phillips director of the peace program at columbia university institute of the study of human rights talks about the shifting alliances in the fight against isis and talks about the government's relationship with the kurds and the relationship with syria. this was held at columbia in new york city. >> good afternoon. and welcome on this snowy day to the book round table with david phillips. i am a professor of political science science at barnard and deputy director for social sciences

the book is called "to the cloud: big data in a turbulent world" and the author is professor vincent mosco who is joining us from boston. professor, where did the term cloud come from? and what exactly is the cloud? >> guest: well there is debate about the origins of the term but it mainly derives from the network diagrams that telecommunication engineers drew and they tended to identify the nodes in the network, generally locations/cities/towns in the form of a cloud. the diagram would connect the clouds with telephone lines. that is where cloud comes from. but there is debate. more importantly you ask what is the cloud and again there are many different definitions but when you boil it down the cloud is a system for storing, processing and distributing data information, e-mails, apps and software. companies that operate cloud sy

vincent mosco is the author. thank you sir. >> thank you very much, peter. >> c-span created by america's cable companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service ly your local cable or satellite provider. today the new america foundation hosts a discussion on u.s. hostage policy. panelists will discuss the challenges of rescuing americans taken hostage abroad and the debate over whether the u.s. should negotiate with hostage takers or pay ransoms. live at noon eastern on c-span2. >>> now house homeland security chair michael mccaul addresses cybersecurity threats, recent attacks on u.s. companies and the role of the federal government in securing cyberspace. he also outlines new cybersecurity ledge shun which names to enhance the role of the homeland security department in sharing cyber threat information with the private sector. from the center for strategic and international studies in washington this is just under an hour. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning. will come to csis. i'm james lewi

. >> tonight on the communicators author vincent mosco on the development of cloud storage and big data and how the government is using it. vincent: the national security agency is building one of the world's largest cloud data centers in a secure mountain facility in utah. it is doing so because it's surveillance needs require that degree of storage and security. the u.s. government's chief information officer three or four years ago ordered u.s. government agencies to move to the cloud, and as a result even civilian agencies are turning to cloud services. ask and i edit :00 eastern on the communicators on c-span2. each night this week and 9:00 p.m. eastern, conversations with a few new members of congress. >> when you raise your hand and took the oath of office? -- oath of office, what were your mom and dad thinking? >> i knew my mom would be crying and my dad proud. my dad is 82 years old and he showed up to the capital. usually walks with a cane and he showed up and did not have his cane. i said, dad, do i need to send someone to the hotel to get your cane? and he strains up and sai

." ♪ >> tonight on the communicators, author vincent mosco on the development of cloud storage and beginand how the government is using it. vincent: the national security agency is building one of the world's largest cloud data centers in a secure mountain facility in utah. it is doing so because it surveillance needs require that degree of storage and security. the u.s. government's chief information officer three or four years ago ordered u.s. government agencies to move to the cloud. and as a result, even civilian agencies are turning to cloud services. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on the committee caters on c-span2. -- the communicators on c-span2. >> is not this week, conversations with members of congress. correct my mom was crying -- >> my mom was crying and my dad was proud. my dad was 82 years old. he usually walks with a cane and he showed up and did not have his. and i said, dad, do i need to send someone to the hotel to get your cane? and he straightened up and said, i'm in the capital. i'm walking tall today. >> five newest members of congress talk about their careers and pers

the author is professor vincent mosco. where did the term cloud come from? vincent: there is debate about the origins of the term. it mainly