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Bob Brewin

Editor at Large

Bob Brewin joined Government Executive in April 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience as a journalist focusing on defense issues and technology. Bob covers the world of defense and information technology for Nextgov, and is the author of the “What’s Brewin” blog.

Results 2361-2370 of 2577

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From Nextgov.com: FBI partially blames procurement rules for fake IT products

May 12, 2008 The government's entrenched policies for buying information technology is a major primary cause for many agencies installing fake Cisco network gear into their networks, which leads to the possibility of systems failing or the loss of sensitive data, according to the FBI. Read the full story from Nextgov.com.

What's Brewin: The Amazing, Disappearing Navy Policy

May 9, 2008 On May 8, I wrote about the release of theNaval Networking Environment Strategy -- 2016. Among other things the document called for returning management and control of networks to the Navy rather than outsourcing nearly the whole shebang, as the department did when it awarded its $10 billion Navy Marine ...

Navy changes course on IT outsourcing

May 8, 2008 The Navy, which had outsourced the management and defense of its most crucial network to industry, plans to bring that function back in-house, saying it now views such information technology functions as a "warfighting imperative," requiring the service's managers to supervise the systems. Comment on this article in The Forum.The ...

from govexec

From NextGov.com: Navy changes course on IT outsourcing

May 8, 2008 The Navy, which had outsourced the management and defense of its most crucial network to industry, plans to bring that function back in-house, saying it now views such information technology functions as a "warfighting imperative," requiring the service's managers to supervise the systems. Read the full story from Nextgov.com.

from govexec

Suicides of Iraq veterans could top combat deaths

May 6, 2008 Suicides by veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could well top the combat deaths in the two conflicts, according to the top official of National Institute of Mental Health. On Monday, Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, told reporters at an annual meeting of ...

Defense, intelligence could take major role in cyber defense

May 5, 2008 The Bush administration this week could release its ambitious plan to defend government networks from cyberattacks, but recent news reports and a February 2008 budget supplement indicates that the Defense Department and intelligence agencies could lead the effort. Comment on this article in The Forum.The National Coordination Office for Networking ...

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VA official says veterans' suicides not reflection of agency negligence

May 5, 2008 Suicides among veterans of wars overseas occur "just like cancer occurs," and are not an indication of negligence by Veterans Affairs Department mental health care providers, a top VA official has argued in a lawsuit filed by two veterans groups. The official said he does not know how well VA ...

DISA gets ready for next-generation Internet

May 1, 2008 The Defense Information Systems Agency has made significant progress readying its networks for the next-generation Internet, top agency officials said on Wednesday. Comment on this article in The Forum.Agencies have until June 30 to meet an Office of Management and Budget deadline to have their network backbones capable of communicating ...

Nuclear agency debuts highly secure network

May 1, 2008 The National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday turned on a $60 million network linking its nuclear production facilities, site offices at national laboratories and the agency's headquarters. Comment on this article in The Forum.The network will provide both enhanced security and a dramatic increase in bandwidth, according to Linda Wilbanks, ...

What's Brewin: A suicide tracking system for VA?

April 25, 2008 That would seem like a really good idea after news broke last week that nearly 1,000 troops a month have attempted suicide after returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to internal VA e-mails, even though the department publicly acknowledged only 790 suicide attempts in all of 2007. Comment ...