Cybersecurity
Soundbytes: Immigration, hiring and the VA claims system
A weekly roundup of comments from Nextgov.com. All comments are presented in their original, unedited form.
Cybersecurity
Fed's cybersecurity watchdog found to have security issues
The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team had 540 vulnerabilities that put its systems at risk, IG says.
Digital Government
Social Security data center project encounters delays
Settling on a location for the facility has proved difficult, with some lawmakers concerned the administration isn't shopping for the best deal.
Digital Government
Despite a rocky start, sales on GSA's Alliant contract top $1.2 billion
Defense accounts for most of the task orders filled, with Air Force leading all the services.
Digital Government
Protest filed against massive VA tech contract
Vetrepreneur says the Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology procurement will not distribute awards to veteran-owned businesses as required by law.
Digital Government
DOD needs geeky data lovers
The federal government could use more “geeky” types of folks who can define data standards that can facilitate the aggregation of pertinent information agencies need to perform their missions.
Digital Government
VA's FLITE Crashes Again
In July, the Veterans Affairs Department <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100713_9998.php>shutdown</a> most of its grand scheme to update its asset-and-bean-counting systems, the $400 million Financial and Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise program, due to a high risk of failure.
Ideas
One of the Silliest Things
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen is a big proponent of open source voting machines, which developers say are more secure and less buggy than the proprietary devices made by various manufacturers and in use nationwide. (Here's a helpful <a href=http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/opensource-voting>article</a> published in IEEE Spectrum magazine explaining open source vs. closed source voting machines.) Bowen got another chance on Wednesday to plug open source voting when she spoke at the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington, saying it reduces time and costs.
Digital Government
Techies Want Flexible Work Options
Technology jobs continue to be in high demand, which has fueled an increase in higher salaries and signing bonuses, according to <a href=http://www.dice.com/>Dice.com</a>, a website that posts technology and engineering jobs. But in its September jobs report, it notes another (surprising) demand from technology job seekers that the federal government may want to take note of: a request for more flexible work schedules, including telework.
People
Gov 2.0 applications carry legal risks
Agencies trying to use social media face legal hazards, but GSA attorney Elizabeth Hochberg says most can be overcome.
Digital Government
Pushing the Paper Envelope
One of the country's most technologically advanced hospitals is outsourcing part of its health IT function to a technology-support consultancy.
People
Collaboration project will share code for government apps
The District of Columbia and nonprofit groups debut the Civic Commons organization to enable federal, state and local government to share open-source code.
Cybersecurity
Beware the Fake Interview
As Internet attacks become more sophisticated, beware the fake interview. At the <a href="http://www.defcon.org/">DEF CON</a> conference in August, organizers held a social engineering contest revealing just how creative hackers have become. One of the tricks used was to call up an employee of a rival company and claim you have a better a job for them. A mock interview would then be set up where the intruder would have questions with the sole intent of extracting information about their employer.
People
FCC to preserve all blog comments on regulatory actions
The Federal Communications Commission will now include blog comments from the public as part of the commission's official record for regulatory actions.
Digital Government
TSA may have a solution for virtual-striptease body scans
Privacy concerns regarding full-body scanners in airports may be put to rest, if a new technology now being tested proves effective.
People
USASpending.gov numbers off by $1.3 trillion, report says
Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation watchdog group, slammed the numbers in USASpending.gov as "useless" in a talk at the Gov 2.0 Summit.
Digital Government
Who goes there? Contractors now required to identify themselves
Federal officials want the difference between government employees and private-sector employees to be obvious.
Digital Government