Cybersecurity
IRS deficient in tracking contractor employees, IG concludes
The Internal Revenue Service's processes for checking contractors are defective in identifying all the contractors who work with taxpayer data and are subject to required security reviews, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
Cybersecurity
Breaking the Chains
Chief information security officers like the State Department's John Streufert are seeking new ways to manage and prevent cyber threats in real time.
Cybersecurity
Senators Send Letter to Obama
Senate leadership sent <a href=http://www.govexec.com/pdfs/070210cr1.pdf>a letter</a> to President Obama Thursday asking for his help in passing comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, though there was no specific mention of the bills currently moving through Congress.
Cybersecurity
Most major DHS acquisitions are over budget, behind schedule: GAO
Audit by the Government Accountability Office finds that 12 of 15 large procurements at the Homeland Security Department suffer from cost overruns, planning obstacles that include staffing shortages and lack of sustainment planning, as well as execution challenges related to technical capability and dependence on contractor partners.
Cybersecurity
Auditors urge more testing for RFID travel documents
The process that the State Department uses to develop radio-frequency identification enhanced travel documents needs to be improved to better assess security features, according to the Government Accountabiliity Office.
Cybersecurity
Democrats seek Obama's help on cybersecurity
Plan would protect critical information technology systems from attacks.
Cybersecurity
No Quick Fix
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's financial management system is in trouble, but the solution to its problems could be several years away. That's a lifetime in the cyber world.
Cybersecurity
Spymasters in search of forecasting software to enhance intell analysis
The research organization for intelligence agencies wants organizations to propose research to develop methods that provide more accurate, precise and timely intelligence forecasts.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Bill's Partnership
It was good to see the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously pass <a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s3480is.txt.pdf">Senate bill 3480</a> out of committee on Tuesday. There were some <a href="http://cybersecurityreport.nextgov.com/2010/06/mccains_dirty_cyber_politics.php">concerns</a> raised at the initial hearing by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Roland Burris, D-Ill., about creating a National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications within the <a href="http://topics.nextgov.com/Homeland+Security+Department/">Homeland Security Department</a> (DHS) to implement cybersecurity policies. However, the provision remained in the bill.
Cybersecurity
Australia taps ISPs to fight 'zombies'
Australia's Internet Industry Code is aimed at reducing threats posed by computers that have been hijacked to act as zombies and participate in botnet attacks.
Cybersecurity
Security and Russian Spies
The FBI arrested 10 people this week <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062901057.html?hpid=topnews">accused</a> of being Russian spies, an investigation that stretches back to the Clinton White House. According to the FBI, the operation was aimed at placing spies in nongovernmental jobs where they could get insider information without being easily identified. Interestingly enough, the FBI's arrest was aided by its ability to infiltrate the group's computers. Turns out these alleged spies weren't as careful about their cybersecurity as they should have been. So what did they do wrong?
Cybersecurity
Now You See It
From transparency to the cloud, CIOs weigh the costs and consequences of sharing more data.
Cybersecurity
Paying for Classified Security
You'd probably think that since Sept. 11, the federal government's costs for securing classified information would have increased at a steady rate year after year. That wouldn't be quite right. According to the Information Security Oversight Office's <a href=http://www.archives.gov/isoo/reports/2009-cost-report.pdf>2009 Cost Report</a>, which was just released, the amount the federal government spent on information security for classified data was$4.26 billion in 2009, down slightly from $4.34 billion in 2008. In fact, the amount of spending on securing networks storing classified data hasn't increased at quick clip since 2004, when the amount spent on security was $3.9 billion. Of course, spending shot up right after Sept. 11. In 2001, the cost of securing classified networks was just $2.5 billion.
Cybersecurity
Obama rockets to space with new policy
The Obama administration released a new policy for space exploration that calls for maintaining and enhancing space-based positioning, navigation, and timing systems, as well as protecting access to the radio-frequency spectrum.
Cybersecurity
Interior catches flak for breach disclosure
Critics say the Interior Department was overly cautious when it disclosed the loss of an encrypted CD containing personally identifiable information of about 7,500 federal employees.
Cybersecurity
DHS front and center in Congress' cybersecurity debate--again
A proposed expansion of the Homeland Security Department's authority to protect networks and systems is central to one comprehensive Senate proposal but absent from another.
Cybersecurity
Editor's note: Improving FISMA
To complement the Federal Information Security Management Act, some agencies are adopting a strategy that depends, in part, on a package of 20 security practices, named the Consensus Audit Guidelines.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity credential could make hiring even harder
An influential advisory body is expected to recommend that federal information technology security workers be formally certified for their cybersecurity skills.
Cybersecurity
National ID management plan draft short on details
Online users and a former top IT official question how security and privacy will be addressed in the proposed strategy to verify identities online.
Cybersecurity