Cybersecurity
Federal Officials: Tackling the ‘Most Insidious’ Cyber Threat Takes Looking After Workers
Insider threat is seen as the primary attack vector for intellectual property theft and was reportedly on the rise last year.
Cybersecurity
President’s Budget Would Axe NIST Program Meant to Help Small Businesses with Cybersecurity
Other agencies and departments would receive significant funding increases for cyber.
Ideas
Encryption and a New Paradigm for Security’s Data-Centric Future
ITAR’s new encryption carve-out paves the way for secure and private collaboration.
Ideas
Britain and America Have a China Problem
London’s and Washington’s differing assessments of Beijing’s rise point to deeper issues between the two countries.
Modernization
State Department CIO’s Plan to Reengineer Agency’s IT Process
The shift to cloud computing and agile development hit the State Department’s “sweet spot,” says CIO Stuart McGuigan.
Cybersecurity
Another Poor Cybersecurity Audit at State Department Draws Scrutiny
Auditors have been reporting weaknesses in IT security controls for over a decade.
Digital Government
Industry Association Calls on Government to Better Protect U.S. Contractors Working Overseas
Letter to Defense and State departments follows recent U.S. contractor deaths in Kenya and Iraq.
Modernization
State Wants to Recruit More Young, Diverse IT Pros
The Foreign Affairs IT Fellowship Program would offer 15 students mentoring, financial aid and guaranteed employment.
Emerging Tech
Agencies Work to Embrace—and Secure—the Internet of Things
Inside officials shared their lessons learned and concerns around the evolving connectivity.
Cybersecurity
Lawmakers Urge State Department to Warn American Travelers about Chinese Surveillance
Sens. Marco Rubio and Ron Wyden want travelers to know of tracking threats abroad.
Digital Government
Immigration Officials Use Secretive Gang Databases to Deny Migrant Asylum Claims
Legal experts and human rights advocates say they were not told about the databases and question their reliability.
Cybersecurity
Top Cyber Diplomat Says U.S. Needs Allies’ Help to Punish Cyberattacks
Creating a unified international response around online attacks will help “establish the legitimacy” of norms for cyberspace, says Rob Strayer.
Digital Government
Diplomats Aren’t Following the State Department’s Social Media Rules, Watchdog Says
At least 20 ambassadors have used their personal Twitter accounts for diplomatic activities.
Cybersecurity
Lawmakers Push for the State Department to Help Secure Foreign Elections
Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Dan Sullivan resurrected a bill that would allow the agency to share information on election threat with foreign countries.
Cybersecurity
More Than 25 Million Passport Numbers Stolen in Marriott Breach
About 5 million of those were unencrypted.
Cybersecurity
State Department Is Buying Phone Hacking Tools for Ghanaian Police
The department issued a solicitation for specific hacking tools, which it plans to give to partners in Ghana to stem international crime.
Cybersecurity
Russian Hackers Allegedly Attacked Germany and the U.S. on the Same Day
It’s unclear whether any data was stolen in either attack.
Cybersecurity
State Department Confirms Email Data Breach
The breach may have compromised employee personal information in less than 1 percent of email inboxes.
Cybersecurity
State Department Visa Analysis System Wasn’t Patched or Scanned for Viruses, Audit Finds
Department officials also weren’t tracking who used the system or if they were sharing passwords.
Emerging Tech