Cybersecurity
A career as a secrecy watchdog
Steven Aftergood condemns the abuses of overclassification, excessive secrecy.
Cybersecurity
Agencies need to get creative to save money, meet security requirements
Although agencies will have to spend money to meet OMB security directives, officials say they can and should find ways to reduce the costs.
Digital Government
Justice task force looks into privacy
Its report recommends that agencies use the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language Data Model to help protect data.
Digital Government
EU needs RFID privacy regs, study finds
Consumers worry that someone could track them after they buy something equipped with a tag.
Cybersecurity
Theft causes most data losses, report finds
Agencies should use physical security to protect sensitive information, according to a new House Government Reform Committee report.
Cybersecurity
IRS' modernization needs better tracking, IG says
The IRS is not checking audit trails on the Customer Account Data Engine because only a limited number of users have permission to access the system, a report states.
Digital Government
IG: IRS not doing enough to safeguard taxpayers' privacy
The Treasury IG says that the IRS has not conducted impact assessments on all of its computer systems, and that it does not pay enough attention to applying privacy laws.
Cybersecurity
GAO seeks to protect identities and security info
Watchdog agency proposes keeping secrets without prior approval
Cybersecurity
Commerce loses more than 1,100 laptops
An internal review determined that 249 of the missing computers contained personally identifiable information.
People
OMB: Prepare now for data breaches
Each agency should assemble a core management team to plan and oversee the response to any data breach that could result in identity theft, according to an OMB memo.
Cybersecurity
NIST releases revision of draft biometrics publication
The guidelines are acquisition and formatting specifications regarding personal identity verification card biometrics.
People
FBI recovers stolen computer with VA data
The computer contained insurance claim data, including names, addresses and personal identifiers, for about 16,000 veterans and their families.
Digital Government
NIST releases draft on cell phone forensics
The draft covers phones with features that are “beyond simple voice communication and text messaging and their technical and operating characteristics.”
Cybersecurity
DHS issues final critical-infrastructure rule
It dictates how the department will handle information it receives from the private sector and state, local and tribal governments.
Modernization
Education data at risk again
Two laptop computers stolen Aug. 11 from a contractor's Washington, D.C., office may have exposed Social Security numbers.
People
Education will alert borrowers to Web glitch
The department plans to contact all 21,000 borrowers who might have been affected by a security breach on its student loan site.
Cybersecurity
UPDATED: Stolen DOT laptop PC contains personal info on 133,000 Floridians
The computer was stolen July 27 from a government-owned vehicle in the Miami area.
Cybersecurity
Alliance: E-passports secure
The Smart Card Alliance has refuted claims of techniques that can make it easier to copy data contained in e-passports.
Cybersecurity