Nextgov

Phone hacking problems? Defense, intel agencies have an app for that

11:00 AM ET Several military and intelligence agencies are downloading an anti-hacking app to thwart call interceptions on smartphones, according to providers of the tool. The software application, Cellcrypt Mobile, runs on commercial mobile devices, including Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Nokia models. Unlike the hacks associated with Rupert Murdoch's news empire, the concern ...

Tricky to win U.S.-China cyber blame game

8:30 AM ET The Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on China’s military prowess, unshockingly, raised concerns about the country’s cyber raids that are similar to those aired last year. Over the weekend, the Chinese government, in typical fashion, immediately disputed the allegations through state news media. What’s different is that this year’s report ...

Customs and border agency tries new twist on industry days

May 18, 2012 Customs and Border Protection has scheduled an all-day, atypical workshop Tuesday with prospective vendors to steer commercial funding toward technologies that could meet its future needs, CBP officials said. The Obama administration has proposed cutting border tech financing by $73 million in fiscal 2013. During the past couple of years, ...

Tough times make shared services a necessity

May 17, 2012 Financial conditions have made it essential for federal agencies to downsize information technology equipment and support by sharing those resources internally, White House officials said Thursday. Some agencies, however, have inadequate consolidation plans, they added. By March 1, agencies were supposed to inform the Office of Management and Budget of ...

from govexec

Bye-Bye BlackBerry?

May 16, 2012 iPhone touch-screens are commandeering BlackBerry thumbs across government, according to new studies. But replacing the only government-certified smartphone with consumer electronics is forcing federal chief information officers to rethink mobile security and contracting. The Government Business Council, Government Executive’s research arm, identified huge shifts in BlackBerry use among federal managers ...

U.S. must strut cyber might to stop attacks, Cartwright says

May 15, 2012 The United States must frighten adversaries by displaying an arsenal of operational hacking weapons to fight cyber threats, said retired Gen. James E. Cartwright, who crafted the Pentagon’s current cyber policy before retiring last summer. Some war hawks say the Defense Department should assault opponents publicly to stop hackers, but ...

An ambiguous FBI cyber alert raises more questions than it answers

May 14, 2012 A vague FBI warning about bad actors infecting U.S. computers in foreign hotels is raising questions about whether authorities are withholding information to avoid rattling relations with a foreign country, possibly China. The bureau’s Internet Crime Complaint Center on May 8 issued an alert about pop-up messages “targeting travelers abroad” ...

Pentagon opens classified cyber program to all defense contractors, ISPs

May 11, 2012 The Obama administration is expanding to all military contractors a computer security program that shares classified threat information, Defense Department officials announced Friday. After a year of trials with select vendors, the Defense Industrial Base, or DIB, cybersecurity pilot program will invite all military vendors and their Internet service providers ...

Customs and Border Protection wants to e-cycle sensitive electronics

May 11, 2012 Customs and Border Protection is looking for a company to recycle used Border Patrol radios and other old electronic equipment. There’s a caveat however. According to a market survey CBP distributed this week, the government doesn’t want to pay for the disposal and the vendor is prohibited from redistributing the ...

Treasury: Uncloak true business owners to disrupt terror-financing

May 10, 2012 The federal government is pushing firms that register in the United States to reveal the identities of their controlling owners, as al Qaeda affiliates increasingly turn to shell companies for money, the Treasury Department’s intelligence chief said Thursday. Successful sanctions largely pulled terrorist financing underground toward the end of the ...