Acquisition

Mobile app criteria, new Snowden revelations and more

News and notes from around the federal IT community.

Cybersecurity

4 million feds exposed in massive OPM breach

U.S. officials reportedly suspect China’s involvement in the hack.

Modernization

DISA redoing content delivery

The Defense Information Systems Agency is exploring the next version of its Global Content Delivery Service.

People

FDIC CIO on leave

Barry West also is leaving his post as president of the board at the Association for Federal Information Resources Management.

Cybersecurity

CJS funding bill would limit high-tech surveillance

Several provisions in the Commerce-Justice-Science bill would bar the use of funds for various surveillance activities.

Digital Government

Telecom Law Overhaul Hit by 'Atomic Bomb' of Net Neutrality

Hopes are dimming for the first major update of the Communications Act since 1996.

Digital Government

Obama Admin Seeks Revival of Lapsed NSA Spying Program

NSA halted its domestic phone surveillance program earlier this week, but the bulk collection is expected to soon be reinstalled, despite passage this week of the USA Freedom Act.

Emerging Tech

Brace Yourselves, Feds: NS2020 is Coming

Network Services 2020 includes traditional networking and telecommunications technologies as well as a larger inventory of emerging technologies.

Cybersecurity

Watchdog Says Pentagon Needs to Crank Up ‘Insider Threat’ Monitoring

Only half of military components GAO reviewed have logged system and user behaviors to develop "a baseline of normal activity patterns."

Digital Government

Hadron collider data tap open again

The facility shut down in 2012 for modifications that increased the volume and quality of data generated.

Acquisition

IARPA looks to the crowd

The intelligence R&D lab wants a platform for crowdsourcing the development and refining of arguments.

Digital Government

The War Over NSA Spying Is Just Beginning

Surveillance reformers notched a big victory this week with the USA Freedom Act, but they're just getting started. And so are the GOP presidential contenders who want to roll it all back.

Emerging Tech

This Robot Bat Drone Is the Stuff of Nightmares

It’s the drone the world deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

Cybersecurity

The NSA's Bulk Collection Is Over, but Google and Facebook Are Still in the Data Business

Private-sector data collection can reveal as much about a person as government surveillance, privacy advocates say.

Digital Government

State Department Needs a Science and Technology Tune Up, Report Says

Despite launching an office devoted to science and technology more than 15 years ago, these topics remain undervalued at the State Department.

Cybersecurity

Insider threats, dashboard light, drone traffic control and more

News and notes from around the federal IT community.

Digital Government

'More lapdog than watchdog'

A glut of acting inspectors general is a threat to effective agency oversight, watchdog groups told senators in a hearing that focused on speeding up the confirmation process.

Emerging Tech

IBM Has Been Awarded an Average of 21 Patents Per Day So Far in 2015

IBM is far and away the leader in patents in the U.S.