FCW Insider: May 30
Top stories, quick hits and other updates from FCW's reporters and editors.
Federal law enforcement officials insist that placing the blame on countries or groups who engage in destructive cyberattacks is a critical prelude to imposing more meaningful consequences. Derek B. Johnson examines why attribution is a means to an end.
The American Federation of Government Employees is crying foul over a plan by the Department of Defense over the planned transfer of tech workers between defense agencies. Adam Mazmanian reports.
Thrift Savings Plan users are adopting two-factor authentication, with few opt-outs, officials said. Chase Gunter looks this innovation and more from the board that administers federal retirement plans.
Robotics Process Automation is "exploding" across government, a top procurement official said. Mark Rockwell has more.
Top Stories
*** The General Services Administration got a rare bit of good news from an internal watchdog. The agency's Office of Inspector General gave GSA a pat on the back for the successful implementation of a plan to rein in price variation across IT resellers on the GSA general schedules and to improve management of acquisition staff workload. The problems were first identified in a 2016 IG report.
*** President Donald Trump will nominate James E. Hutton to serve as assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs for public and intergovernmental affairs. The Department of Veterans Affairs. Hutton is currently the deputy assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs and previously served as the agency's executive director of public affairs and media relations.
*** The CIA's response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Emma Best at MuckRock yielded an internal history of cartography at the agency, including a push to use technology to integrate maps, images and data. The heavily redacted report includes a 1967 map – the first "constructed almost wholly from by automatic data processing equipment, presaging a cartographic revolution still in the making." According to the publication dated 1972, the ability to generate maps with computers was then exclusive to CIA.