People

FBI cyber boss gets bigger portfolio

Joseph Demarest, who took a leading role in pointing the finger at North Korea for the Sony hack, moves to the No. 2 position in the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.

People

White House digital strategist steps down

Nate Lubin also worked on the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns.

Digital Government

Delivering on the promise of big data

Agencies have moved beyond the buzzword and are making big data part of their everyday missions.

Cybersecurity

Thune seeks answers on White House cyber breach

The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee wants to know if any personal or policy information was stolen.

Cybersecurity

VA sees sharp uptick in cyberattacks

The top tech official at Veterans Affairs said the department risks being "overwhelmed" if the number of attacks continues to increase.

Digital Government

US CIO Tony Scott Says Federal IT is Now a ‘Contact Sport.’ Here’s the Rulebook.

New OMB guidance aims to break down barriers that have sprouted up between IT decision-makers and other agency officials.

Emerging Tech

Why People Who Put ‘Data Scientist’ on Their LinkedIn Profiles Earn More Money

As the White House’s first chief data scientist, DJ Patil explains the growing importance of his field during his speech at the National Science Foundation.

Digital Government

Senators Beg Techies To Bring Congress Into 21st Century

At Hack4Congress, developers attempted to write code that could improve campaign finance record keeping and facilitate cross-party dialogue.

Cybersecurity

Hackers Manipulated Ratings of Pro-Russian Videos

Entertainment // Social Media // Web Services

Emerging Tech

Long Live Secrets on the Internet

The app Secret may be dead, but people have been confessing things to strangers for centuries.

Digital Government

The Presidential Contender that Would Dismantle NSA Spying.

Hillary Clinton is reluctant to take a clear stance on mass surveillance. But Bernie Sanders has no problem knocking the spy agency’s “Orwellian” programs.

Digital Government

How the Pentagon Could Soon Share Americans’ Data With Foreign Militaries

The new cyber strategy could provide allies with Americans’ information gathered under proposed legislation.

Digital Government

Space Is Being Polluted with Junk Faster than We Can Dispose of It

There are thousands of satellites in Earth’s orbit, of varying age and usefulness. At some point they reach the end of their lives, at which point they become floating junk. What do we do with them then?

Emerging Tech

NASA Is Working on Super-Fast Spaceship Technology That Defies the Laws of Physics

The propulsion system, known as the EmDrive, was conceived around the turn of the millennium by a British engineer named Roger Shawyer.

People

Air Force setting up Silicon Valley office

The USAF will be joining the Department of Defense in Silicon Valley.

Modernization

Cloud SIN, space tech, fed data and transition planning

News and notes from around the federal IT community.

People

CIO Scott: Fed tech 'is a contact sport'

FITARA is about relationships more than CIO authority, says the CIO with the most authority.

Cybersecurity

'There's opportunity in FITARA'

For some agencies, the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act and accompanying guidance dovetail with initiatives already begun. For others, implementation will be a tougher row to hoe.