News

SPOTLIGHT: Should Obama outsource the space program?

Judi Hasson — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:05:26 -0500

The proposed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) budget seeks to end aspects of the current manned space flight program, with the prospect that private companies will design and operate rockets for orbital missions. The idea is to save money that is now in short supply, and to encourage entrepreneurs to come up with innovative technologies for more ambitious, longer-term voyages. The proposal ran into some skeptical questioning from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who questioned the idea of killing the current program without specific plans for substitute commercial programs. Article

Air Force contract with IBM to design cloud

Judi Hasson — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:57:30 -0500

The Air Force has tapped IBM for a big job--to create a cloud computing environment that will protect military and national security data. The 10-month contract will cover work involving the Air Force's network of nine command centers, 100 military bases and 700,000 personnel around the world using advanced security technologies.

IBM said in a press release that the project will push the technology boundaries of cloud computing with an infrastructure design that not only supports large-scale networks, but meets rigorous security standards.

"Our goal is to demonstrate how cloud computing can be a tool to enable our Air Force to manage, monitor and secure the information flowing through our network," Lieutenant General William Lord, Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Air Force, said. "We examined the expertise of IBM's commercial performance in cloud computing and asked them to develop an architecture that could lead to improved performance within the Air Force environment to improve all operational, analytical and security capabilities."

IBM said that its researchers, software architects, analytics specialists and cybersecurity experts will work with military personnel and other federal agencies. It said a key to the design will be advanced "stream computing" analytics coupled with sensors, monitors and other detection devices.

Big Blue said this approach will enable the Air Force to "perpetually analyze the massive amounts of data flowing through its network and get fast, accurate, and actionable insights about possible threats, such as cyber attacks and network, system or application failures, while automatically preventing disruptions."

The Obama administration has called for more extensive use of cloud computing to improve information technology efficiency, reduce costs and provide a standard platform for delivering government services.

For more on the Air Force and Big Blue:
- check out this cnet.com article
- read this InformationWeek article
- here's the IBM press release

DHS plans cybersecurity, data center investments

Judi Hasson — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:42:19 -0500

The proposed federal budget released by the Obama administration last week calls for $900 billion in technology-related investment at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It includes $192.2 million for work on a data center consolidation project that is already in progress. The aim is to shift applications and systems from 24 data centers to two enterprise-wide data centers.

DHS also wants additional money for its E-verify program, with $103.4 million for planned improvements. E-verify is an online system that can be used by employers to check a potential employee's legal-work-status through records in the Social Security and immigration databases.

In addition, DHS plans to spend $214.7 million to procure and install 500 advanced imaging machines at airport checkpoints to detect dangerous materials, and it requested $379 million for its National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) to develop capabilities for preventing and responding to cyber attacks.

The department plans to use the NCSD money to identify and reduce vulnerabilities within both its .gov and .com Internet domains. NCSD is a division within DHS that was created to work with public, private and international organizations to secure cyberspace and the U.S. government's cyber infrastructure.

Most of the cybersecurity funding in the 2011 federal budget is believed to be in the military and intelligence communities, although the specific funding recommendations were kept secret.

The Defense Department budget identified technologies such as cybersecurity and electronic warfare as "key components in the ongoing task of re-balancing the military to focus on current and emerging threats."

For more on DHS plans:
- check out this InformationWeek article
- read this nextgov.com article

NSF, Microsoft join forces in the cloud

Judi Hasson — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:03:35 -0500

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Microsoft have joined together in a partnership to allow some government-funded scientists to make use of the technology giant's cloud computing platform. The joint effort is designed to provide scientists with a big space for data intensive uses that hopefully will lead to scientific and engineering breakthroughs.

The NSF will choose among applicants, and said it is looking for researchers studying new programming models for the cloud, massively parallel algorithms, and scientific and computational science applications.

Under the terms of the project, Microsoft will provide NSF grant recipients with access to Windows Azure for three years along with a support team to help researchers integrate cloud technology into their research. Microsoft said its researchers and developers will work with grant recipients to equip them with a set of common tools, applications and data collections that can be shared with the broad academic community, and also provide its expertise in research, science, and cloud computing.

"Cloud computing can transform how research is conducted, accelerating scientific exploration, discovery and results," Dan Reed, a corporate vice president, said in a press release. "These grants will also help researchers explore rich and diverse multidisciplinary data on a large scale."

To read more on this collaboration:
- check out this InformationWeek article

Cybersecurity R&D bill gets traction

Judi Hasson — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:50:41 -0500

There has been a great deal of talk about the grave cybersecurity threat facing the government and the nation, but there has been little attention from Congress, considering it has been tied up with the now-derailed healthcare legislation, the economic crisis and other issues.

Last week, the House of Representatives finally acted on a bill that would authorize hundreds of millions of dollars in spending on cybersecurity research and education. The Senate, unfortunately, is on a different track and has not taken action on any cyber legislation, so the prospects for concrete results remain up in the air.

Nonetheless, the House bill is a start. Known as the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, the measure was approved by a 422 to 5 vote and would authorize $639 million through 2014, including $395 to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund cybersecurity research projects. The NSF also would receive $108 million over five years to fund its existing Scholarship for Service program, which provides tuition and other assistance to cybersecurity graduate and undergraduate students in return for a commitment to government service.

The bill requires the White House Office of Science and Technology to convene a task force on how to collaborate with colleges and private business on cybersecurity research and development, and on ways to improve the transfer of cybersecurity technologies to the marketplace.

In addition, the bill would strengthen the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in setting government technical standards, and require the Obama administration to conduct an assessment of cybersecurity workforce needs across the federal government.

For more on the House cyber legislation:
- check out this PCWorld article
- see this govinfosecurity.com article

Google gets help from superspy agency

Judi Hasson — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:29:32 -0500

Facing serious threats to its computer networks from Chinese cyber attacks, Google has turned to the super secret National Security Agency (NSA) for help.

There is probably is no better expert on the planet than the electronic spy agency, and Google is hoping that the arrangement with NSA will help it to better defend itself and its users from future attack. The Washington Post reported that the agreement will allow the two organizations to share critical information without violating Google's policies or the laws that protect the privacy of its users.

The newspaper said NSA will not be viewing searches or email accounts, and Google will not share its proprietary data with the government agency.

There is growing consensus about the serious cyber threat coming from foreign nations, and the need for collaboration between the government and the private sector. At the same time, such partnerships raise a variety of privacy issues, and raise the possibility of inappropriate intrusion into the lives of Americans by the government.

Ellen McCarthy, president of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, told the Washington Post that the critical question is, "At what level will the American public be comfortable with Google sharing information with NSA?"

Google announced last month that its systems had been hacked in a series of intrusions beginning in December. There were reports that the attacks came from China, and that the target was Google's source code, the programming language underlying Google applications. In addition, Gmail accounts of human rights activists in Europe, China and the United States were compromised.

Google threatened to close operations in China if the government did not agree to let the firm operate an uncensored search engine there. These issues remain unresolved.

For more on Google and NSA:
- check out this Washington Post article

Government uses social media for public health

Judi Hasson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:20:41 -0500

The government has begun to apply Web 2.0 technology to public health, providing information and advice about everything from AIDS and the H1N1 influenza to cholesterol levels and childhood immunizations.

OhMyGov.com has identified a number of sites, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's efforts on YouTube that have given attention this winter to flu and swine flu prevention, as well as on HIV/AIDS, cancer, and childhood vaccines. One video on childhood immunizations places strong emphasis on the point that there are no studies that have shown connections between vaccines and autism.

The Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with a nonprofit called HealthySocial to produce a Facebook application. The user picks a cartoon character, says whether they have gotten the vaccine yet, and if so, what the experience was like. This information can then be posted on the Facebook wall belonging to the user and friends.

There also is a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on YouTube and a Twitter feed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture with nutrition advice, including reminders to eat whole grains and to avoid using vitamin tablets as a substitute for a well-balanced diet.

For more on Web 2.0 and health:
- see this OhMyGov.com article

SPOTLIGHT: Melissa Hathaway gets a new job

Judi Hasson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:57:37 -0500

Melissa Hathaway, the former White House acting senior director for cybersecurity, is joining Cisco to work on cybersecurity policy and on tightening partnerships between the private and public sectors. Article

NIH to require tracking of radiation exposure

Judi Hasson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:45:52 -0500

The National Institutes of Health is turning to electronic medical records to keep track of radiation exposure. It will require CT makers and other radiation-producing imaging systems used at NIH clinics to include capabilities that will track radiation doses and then enter that information on patients' electronic medical records.

"All vendors who sell imaging equipment to Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the NIH Clinical Center will be required to provide a routine means for radiation dose exposure to be recorded in the electronic medical record," said David A. Bluemke, MD, director of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the NIH Clinical Center. "This requirement will allow cataloging of radiation exposures from these medical tests."

The move comes in the wake of reports that repeated CTs have been exposing patients to unacceptable doses of radiation. CT scanners are much stronger than X-rays and have been in increasing use in the past 30 years.

"The cancer risk from low-dose medical radiation tests is largely unknown. Yet it is clear that the U.S. population is increasingly being exposed to more diagnostic-test-derived ionizing radiation than in the past," said Bluemke.

It may be premature to add more record-keeping requirements to EMRs even before the systems get off the ground.

For more on the NIH plan:
- see this Healthcare IT News article

Secret agency goes public with budget request

Judi Hasson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:20:26 -0500

There's a new wave of transparency in government, and one super-secret agency just went public as a result.

The Obama administration released its $3.8 trillion budget request for 2011 on Monday, which includes $3.6 billion for the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, an agency with a classified budget. It's the first time that a bright light has been shined into a dark corner of the intelligence world. And you can expect more details to come about this agency and others.

The CNCI is involved in running a number of cybersecurity programs, mostly overseen by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency. It runs the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) with the goal of reducing to fewer than 100 connections between federal IT networks and the Internet.

And it is also involved in running parts of the Einstein intrusion detection and prevention programs.

For more on CNCI:
- see this govinfosecurity.com article

Related Articles:
Transparency order tough of intel agencies

Obama's IT Budget: Uncharted waters

Judi Hasson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:59:24 -0500

President Obama's 2011 budget proposal for federal IT would make some big changes for federal information technology if Congress goes along with it. It requires federal IT departments to consolidate and centralize IT operations, and agencies to deliver productivity and performance gains, according to CIO.com.

The White House also is looking to social media tools to be help government become more efficient.

"The rise in social media and Web 2.0 technologies has proven that no single organization has a monopoly on good ideas," the budget narrative said.

The 2011 federal budget proposal by the White House increases federal IT spending to $79.4 billion, just over 1.2 percent. It wants a cut in the number of government data centers, now at 1,100. It wants IT services to be delivered across agencies instead of the drill-down silo policies of the past.

"There won't be a lot of wiggle room for new technologies," said Deniece Peterson, manager of industry analysis at government market research firm Input Inc. She says 70 percent of the money spent on IT now is essentially just "to keep the lights on."

The budget has to be approved by Congress, and any effort at changing the way IT is run in government is months away from coming to fruition.

There are several dramatic proposals. The IT budget at the Department of Veterans Affairs is frozen, although total funding for the veterans' agency has increased 20 percent since 2009.

The movement of government IT services to the cloud also is expected to save millions of dollars.

For more on the Obama IT budget:
- see this CIO.com article
- check out this InformationWeek article

Related Article:
Obama seeks tiny IT budget increase

Sober intel warning about terrorist attacks

Judi Hasson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:28:11 -0500

The U.S. is hardly out of the woods as far as escaping a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, and an attack could be around the corner in the next six months, according to Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence.

Blair testified Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, raising the issue about whether the U.S. is prepared to prevent an attack that could be imminent. His testimony also underscores the need for better U.S. intelligence, using tech tools to ferret out a plot before it becomes a catastrophe.

Blair told the Senate panel that Al Qaeda has adjusted its tactics to more effectively strike American targets domestically and abroad.

"The biggest threat is not so much that we face an attack like 9/11," said Leon E. Panetta, the CIA director, who also testified before the panel. "It is that Al Qaeda is adapting its methods in ways that oftentimes make it difficult to detect."

Blair added that the threat of a crippling attack on telecommunications and other computer networks is growing. "Malicious cyberactivity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication," he said.

This sober assessment only underscores the importance of technology for the national intelligence agencies that are plowing through critical information on a daily basis to find the source of any potential attack. The near-Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. flight en route to Detroit was a reminder for U.S. intelligence officials that more work is needed to find and detour potential threats.

Blair left no stone unturned in his dismal assessment for Congress this week. And it will be up to the national intelligence agencies to ratchet up their surveillance work to prevent a potential disaster.

For more on terrorist threats:
- see this New York Times article

IT cuts SSA disability wait

Judi Hasson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:12:09 -0500

The Social Security Administration is finally turning to technology to cut the backlog of applicants applying for SSA disability benefits. In the last few years, it has been taking as long as two years from the time a potential beneficiary applies for disability benefits to actually receive them. The culprit has been paper, but that is about to end.

SSA awarded contracts to 15 health information networks to use electronic medical records instead of paper forms. The process could take days to complete instead of the current lengthy process.

The agency began testing the process three years ago, pulling health records of disability applicants from local health providers and get them rapidly into the hands of SSA adjudicators. The new funds--$17.4 million--were made available through the stimulus package and piggyback on plans to develop an electronic record system for medical records. It is a goal of the Obama administration, but many EMR plans are still in their infancy at hospitals and doctor's offices.

Nevertheless, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

"The use of health IT will dramatically improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of this process, reducing the cost of making a disability decision for both the medical community and the American taxpayer," said Michael Astrue, SSA's commissioner.

For more on SSA's disability backlog:
- see this Government Health IT article

Fed survey: Are you happy?

Judi Hasson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:20:24 -0500

President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget has a whimsical plan to survey government workers about their job satisfaction. It also wants to evaluate the well-being of enrollees in the federal health insurance program.

It's hard to believe that this item is in a most-serious budget proposal, the biggest in history and the one that would drive the deficit to new heights. But Government Executive reports the Obama administration will administer the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey annually, instead of every other year, and will increase the number of employees who receive the questionnaire.

"Results will be reported so they can be used by agency leadership to inform management decisions," the budget document said.

The Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management will study the results to "identify promising practices to promote more broadly for government-wide improvement."

That's not all. To help make the data more useful for managers, the administration plans to create an online database of workforce statistics similar to the Federal IT Dashboard that keeps track of government technology projects.

We'd like to give the Obama administration a nod right now for thinking about government employees, but in this critical time it seems to us that this is an issue that could be left at the starting gate until far more serious issues are solved, such as the nation's high unemployment rate and the vulnerability of federal IT systems to be hacked and the future.

What do you think? Let us know.

For more on the worker happiness survey:
- see this Government Executive article

SPOTLIGHT: Labor Department jumps on the cloud

Judi Hasson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:55:12 -0500

The Labor Department has moved its financial system to a cloud-based application, according to a report in nextgov.com. The move was made with the help of the project's coordinator, Global Computer Enterprises. Other agencies are expected to follow this path. The White House has been prodding agencies to shift their in-house hardware and software to a shared, on-demand online environment, known as the cloud, to save money and increase efficiency. And in this austere age, it seems prudent to look for ways to cut IT costs. Article

GAO: Body scanners need more testing

Judi Hasson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:30:47 -0500

There's plenty of work to be done before body scanners become part of an airport's security routine in the U.S., according to a Government Accountability Office report.

Last week, the GAO recommended that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) fully test scanners before they are used as a security device. That includes testing their day-to-day use and making sure they are not vulnerable to terrorist countermeasures. The GAO's report was prepared for the House Committee on Homeland Security in the aftermath of the failed Dec. 25 bombing attempt of a U.S. airline. And it's a warning signal at a time when the U.S. is under growing pressure to make airport security failsafe.

It noted that TSA plans to put in place about 200 whole body images by the end of 2010. By 2014, it expects to install nearly 900 bodyscanners. Similar scanners are already in place in other parts of the world, such as in the U.K. A passenger who declines to undergo a scan cannot get on a flight, according to reports. They also are now being used in Nigeria, where the would-be Christmas bomber first boarded his flight, and in Amsterdam, where he transferred to a U.S. bound jetliner.

The public appears to support for body scanners in the U.S. Polls taken in the wake of the attempted bombing attempt show growing support for the use of the technology.

For more on body scanners:
- see this Computerworld article

Obama backs net neutrality

Judi Hasson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:56:29 -0500

President Obama tapped into a new way to communicate to voice his strong commitment to an open and neutral Internet. He took questions from the public this week submitted via YouTube, and answered them on a video on the White House website, bypassing the traditional media and using a 21^st century communication tool.

"I'm a big believer in net neutrality," said Obama, who has made the principle of Network Neutrality a centerpiece of his technology agenda.

He went on to say: "We're getting pushback, obviously, from some of the bigger carriers who would like to be able to charge more fees and extract more money from wealthier customers. But we think that runs counter to the whole spirit of openness that has made the Internet such a powerful engine for not only economic growth, but also for the generation of ideas and creativity."

Obama's support of net neutrality comes at a time when the Federal Communications Commission is writing new rules that will shape the future of the Internet for a generation.

For more on Obama and net neutrality:
- watch the video here
- also see this New York Times article

Obama seeks tiny IT budget increase

Judi Hasson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:19:07 -0500

President Obama's proposed fiscal 2011 budget was delivered to Congress on Monday, and it includes $79.4 billion for information technology, InformationWeek reports.

The proposal would hardly be a raise for federal IT. It's a 1.2 percent bump from 2010--in line with Obama's pledge to freeze discretionary spending for three years.

The request, a slice of Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal, must be approved by Congress, and will take many months of hearings, debate and compromise before anything is settled over how much money is available to run the federal government in 2011. Nevertheless, IT has become embedded in government, and is clearly essential to run the government as well as its biggest programs, not to mention the nation's security.

It includes funds to make private and public sector cyber infrastructure more secure. It tightens border security and provides more money for airport security. There are funds to help make electronic medical records a reality and modernize the nation's air traffic control system.

The biggest and smallest IT requests will be hammered out in the coming months. Critical issues such as airline security will be at the top at the list. However, the best guidance on the budget sweepstakes is this: Don't count on anything yet. Keep plugging away with your current budget and expect there will be changes for 2011. We just don't know exactly what they are yet.

For more on the 2011 budget request:
- see this InformationWeek article

Navy CIO's advice to bloggers

Judi Hasson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:02:44 -0500

Navy CIO Robert Carey was the first federal CIO to host a public blog beginning in January 2008. His cutting edge use of social media has become a primer for what federal CIOs could be doing with social media.

He sat down recently for an interview with ExecutiveGov.com to talk about what he's learned and how he thinks every federal agency should balance security with accessibility.

"I found that Web 2.0 allows us to accelerate things," Carey said. "So I like to feel like at the end of every day that I have made a difference, however, small at times, to the lives and the information management and technology associated with the warfighters. I find that Web 2.0 becomes one of the vehicles to accelerate that because everyone can now be a user of the Internet and more of a content manager and content generator."

Carey also talked about the importance of cybersecurity, as well as educating users about basic iSecurity precautions in dealing with phishing, email security and web browsing. He discussed how he has exchanged ideas with commercial Internet companies such as Google, Facebook and Craigslist about what security metrics they are using and how to strengthen the Navy's own cybersecurity initiatives.

"We've found that they've done some things that we haven't done because their business model is a little different than ours," Carey said. "We've done some things that they haven't done because again we are a little bit different from them."

For more on the Navy CIO and his blog:
- see this ExecutiveGov.com article

SPOTLIGHT: Agencies tap tech to cut energy use

Judi Hasson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:09:37 -0500

President Obama has announced plans to move ahead with major cuts in energy use in 2010, and the federal government is working hard to tap into innovative ideas to make it work. Here's one unusual idea: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., will rely on fans rather than air conditioners to cool its computer data center and cut the number of servers from 250 to 50 without a loss of computing power, thanks to a more efficient setup. Article

OPM backs off Fed SSN ban

Judi Hasson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:47:06 -0500

The Office of Personnel Management thought it had a good idea for one brief moment when it announced plans last month to abandon the use of Social Security numbers in the federal systems in a move to help fight ID theft.

However last week, OPM Director John Berry said he's withdrawing the plan because the federal government would have had to come up with another identifier to use, a process likely to be time consuming to put into effect, not to mention expensive.

Under the proposal, agencies would have been barred from using SSNs as the primary identification for employees in internal or external data processing systems. But Berry received plenty of criticism about his proposal.

"Comments centered on the numerous systems and business practices, both internal and external to government systems, which use the SSN as a primary identifier," Berry said. "Systems and processes cited included electronic recruitment systems, payment of various federal benefits [health related, Social Security, worker's compensation, etc.], determinations for security clearances, taxpayer identification and union dues withholding through payroll deduction, among others."

What's the solution? No one is sure, yet. It could be that an SSN, in conjunction with a password, might do the trick. Or, it may take better security to keep SSNs from getting hacked in the first place.

Don't worry about it now. It's looking like SSNs will be used by the federal government for the foreseeable future.

For more on SSNs and the federal government:
- see this nextgov.com article

When a tweet becomes a lifeline

Judi Hasson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:16:06 -0500

The lifesaving power of social media was dramatically underscored in the wake of the Haitian earthquake. And it's a lesson that first responders and the federal government should pay attention to as they study this natural disaster and its implications for future rescue work.

An astonishing emergency response network was built from scratch after Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that likely took the lives of more than 150,000 people. It started when a 24-year-old Washington, D.C., resident sent out a tweet that he was looking to establish contact with people on the ground in Haiti and set up a gateway where people could get information.

He made a connection in Haiti and social media was the link that helped save lives. It was linked with U.S. Google and other companies, and the emergency network was up and running on Jan. 16.

The network began receiving emergency tweets from people on the ground, which helped direct rescuers to the injured. The Office of Innovation at the State Department got involved, too, helping to locate callers with GPS. When a person now texts 4636, his or her message and location are passed along to the Red Cross and the U.S. Coast Guard.

This tiny kernel of an idea that began saving lives came without a lot of government fanfare, a lengthy evaluation process or expensive consultants to make it happen. It is an idea that should be nurtured and developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others that has a direct role in saving lives in an emergency.

For more on Twitter and Haiti:
- see this AolNews.com article

Recovery.gov goes into high gear

Judi Hasson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:28:30 -0500

Recovery.gov has posted new data from recipients of contracts, grants and loans for the quarter ending Dec. 31, showing the public exactly where stimulus money is going. The data includes about 160,000 prime and sub-recipient award reports. It is part of President Obama's continuing pledge of transparency.

Recovery.gov has added a job search feature, giving job seekers ways to find available jobs in the public and private sectors.

On the left-hand side of the site's homepage, users will be able to enter the type of job and location in a search box under a heading "Find Recovery Jobs." They'll be directed to links of recipient websites that have information on Recovery jobs.

The site includes a number of new features as well, including an advanced search function to enable a more specific analysis of recipient data. There will be new funding charts and a "Map Central" landing page that will give visitors data as it relates to funding, unemployment and diversity.

For more on the Recovery.gov site:
- read this press release
- check out the website for yourself

A hack attack on Congress

Judi Hasson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:41:54 -0500

Hackers recently walked into the lion's den and snared a big win by defacing 49 House websites in the hours after the State of the Union address last week. It's clear this was more than a random incident, and now House investigators are trying to figure out who was responsible, how they did it and whether they could do it again.

It's not the first time House websites have been hacked. In August, 19 sites met the same fate. Does this mean that it's all of a sudden open season on congressional websites?

Security experts are pointing to hackers from Brazil--the Red Eye Crew--has claimed responsibility for defacing thousands of websites since 2002. The same hackers previously broke into sites for the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and NASA, according to Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In the latest case, the hacked web pages are managed by GovTrends, an Alexandra, Va.-based Web services vendor.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) jointly sent a letter last week to House Chief Administrative Officer Daniel P. Beard calling for "an immediate and comprehensive assessment" of how it happened.

"We also request that you take immediate action to protect against breaches of the House firewalls and to ensure website security of all House offices," they wrote.

Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the House chief administrative officer, said that the working theory is that the infiltration happened during an upgrade that GovTrends was making to its system.

For more on this hack attack:
- see this Politico article

Federal Register goes online

Judi Hasson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:04:53 -0500

It's about to get easier to find a federal regulation. The federal government is putting the complete body of federal rules online dating back to 2007, making it easier for the public to find and read the often arcane rules that govern how government works.

It will be easier to read and more flexible to search, according to Federal Register director Ray Mosley.

"As creative entrepreneurs mine this data, exciting applications are going to be made available to the public that will open government and create new ways for the public to participate in government policy-making," he tells nextgov.com.

The Federal Register site is called GovPulse. It says in its introduction: "For much of its existence the Federal Register has had no easily accessible form. GovPulse seeks to change this and enable you to respond to your government. We give you a way to browse the Register (from 1994 on) and use filters to decide what is important to you. And then act on it."

For more on the Federal Register:
- see this nextgov.com article

Related Articles:
The Federal Register becomes 'web-friendly'

Air Force tightens computer security

Judi Hasson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:58:32 -0500

The Air Force is making its computer systems more secure. It is requiring remote users of the Air Force Portal website to use their military ID cards to log in--the CAC card system.

The card is already used at military instillations, and it is likely to have the biggest impact of reservists who work at home before a drill weekend, according to Kevin Johnson, an Air Force spokesman. Johnson said the Air Force Reserve Command has purchased 19,000 of the card readers, which cost about $15 apiece, for its airmen.

Other users will have to pay for it themselves

For more on Air Force cybersecurity:
- see this Air Force Times article

FBI probes cyberattacks on oil firms

Judi Hasson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:34:06 -0500

The FBI is investigating cyberattacks on three major oil companies in 2008 that involved the theft of proprietary information, according to an article in The Christian Science Monitor.

The companies were identified as Marathon Oil, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips.

Officials say the attacks may have originated in China, but no one knows for sure. These breaches strike at the very heart of energy resources worldwide, and underscore the difficulty the U.S. and other nations have in investigating and preventing these crimes.

Information targeted in these attacks is known as "bid data," which details the quantity, value, and location of oil discoveries worldwide, according to the Monitor. Sources told the newspaper that the purloined data included email passwords, messages and other information tied to executives with access to proprietary exploration and discovery information.

The case is one more example of the threat of data breaches inside and outside the federal government, not to mention the growing sophistication of hack attacks worldwide. The real question is whether the FBI has the expertise to investigate and solve these kinds of cases.

For more on these breaches:
- check out this Christian Science Monitor article

DOT bans truck drivers from texting

Judi Hasson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:58:47 -0500

The Department of Transportation is flexing its regulatory muscle against text messaging. In a big safety move likely to prevent many traffic accidents, the DOT Tuesday banned commercial truck and bus drivers from texting while driving.

Some private commercial fleets already ban texting and cell phone use by drivers. Nineteen states have banned texting by all drivers, and bills are before Congress to extend such a ban nationwide.

This crackdown appears to be the first time that a federal agency has taken this kind of action against mobile technology known to distract drivers. Those who text while driving a commercial vehicle could face civil or criminal penalties up to $2,750.

Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood called the move "an important safety step," and said in a statement that there will be additional efforts to "eliminate the threat of distracted driving." However, it's unclear exactly how DOT intends to police this ban, a tough regulation unless a driver is caught at a toll booth or after an accident.

Officials have known about the dangers of texting while driving for some time. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has found that drivers who send and receive text messages are taking their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting. A person texting while driving 55 mph would have traveled the length of a football field without looking at the road during those 4.6 seconds, DOT says.

For more on DOT texting ban:
- see this Computerworld article

Commerce Department breached

Judi Hasson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:53:08 -0500

Pick an agency, any agency, and you may find a data breach or one waiting to happen.

That's the case at the Commerce Department, the latest federal agency to disclose that personal data--including Social Security numbers--had been released on the Internet through an employee's error.

The bigger problem for Commerce is one of disclosure. A Washington Post article reveals that Commerce dragged its feet on notifying employees of the breach. Although agency heads knew about it since early December, employees just received letters mailed to their homes this past Monday.

The letters read as follows:

"A Department of Commerce employee inadvertently transmitted over the Internet a file containing the PII of Commerce employees to other Department employees. Although the Department employees were authorized to send and receive the PII, the transmission of the PII over the Internet in unencrypted form may have compromised your name and SSN."

Commerce took action within hours of this discovery to protect the information. The letter urged workers to contact credit reporting agencies in an attempt to prevent the opening of fraudulent accounts in their names. There was no reason the agency waited so long to send the letter.

It sounds like this is too little, too late. Every time this happens, we call for better training for employees and more safeguards. And then it happens again. The time is ripe for action, not inaction. And government agencies are only making their security headaches worse if nothing is done.

For more on this Commerce breach:
- see this Washington Post article

SPOTLIGHT: The public likes federal websites

Judi Hasson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:16:36 -0500

Federal websites are growing in numbers and depth as the Obama administration works to open up government and make it transparent. And the public likes what it sees. A survey by ForeSee Results, a market research firm, finds that more than 250,000 citizens gave federal websites a 75.2 satisfaction rate out of 100 points in Q4 '09. That's a slight increase from the 73.6 percent ranking for the first and second quarters of 2009. And it's likely to get even higher as more websites are added to the federal library, giving citizens an unprecedented view of what government is doing. Article