DHS cyber has a hiring, not a retention, problem, says Stempfley
Departures at the executive level have garnered some attention in recent years starting with the departure in fall 2011 of Sean McGurk, then the head of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. "What does it say about the department's cyber organization when it cannot retain its senior cyber leadership as well?" said Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.).
Federal judge rules in favor of FBI use of stingray
A federal judge in Arizona says the FBI can use evidence collected by a device that masquerades as a cellular base tower, triggering an automatic register response from nearby devices and routing communications from those devices through it.
Data security isn't just for the intel community, says Commerce CIO
Many people think data security is only an issue for the Defense Department, the intelligence community or the Homeland Security Department, said Commerce CIO Simon Szykman while speaking May 14 at the FOSE conference in Washington, D.C. "Even if the confidentiality of the data is not key, the long-term integrity of the data is," he said.
Public says critical infrastructure cybersecurity framework should be risk-based, says NIST
An analysis of comments received so far by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to the cybersecurity framework called for by President Obama's February cybersecurity executive order shows respondents so far show risk management approaches to be a matter of nearly universal concern.
House Appropriations proposes $786 million DHS cybersecurity budget
The House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee fiscal 2014 spending bill, to be marked up by the subcommittee May 16, proposes spending $786 million for Homeland Security Department cybersecurity operations, says a committee statement. That amount would total $24 million below the White House request and $30 million above the fiscal year 2013 enacted level, the committee adds.
VanRoekel: Open data may require additional infrastructure investment
During a May 15 press briefing, Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel acknowledged there could be downstream infrastructure costs associated with successful data liberation. These costs will be dealt with on an individual basis, said VanRoekel.
Holder defends seizure of journalists' phone records; Using big data to predict cyber attacks;
Auditors uncover IT vulnerabilities at EPA Office of Research Division facilities
Environmental Protection Agency auditors say information technology controls at Office of Research Division research facilities need improvement following an assessment of five facilities that uncovered vulnerabilities such as unsecured workstations.
Benefits of brandishing cyber weapons not obvious, says Rand paper
The Cold War staple of deterrence through brandishing weapon capabilities is far more complex when it comes to the cyber domain, notes a Rand scientist in a paper commissioned by the office of the secretary of defense.
Savings from data center consolidation unclear, likely minimal so far
Savings so far from federal data center consolidation are difficult to estimate for their lack of reporting, but are "believed to be minimal" as of last November--nearly 3 years after the Office of Management and Budget launched an initiative to reduce the number of federal data centers by 40 percent--says the GAO.
White House warns of open data mosaic effect
Beyond asking agencies to guard against the release of data with personally-identifiable information, the Open Data Policy published by the White House May 9 directs agencies to account for the "mosaic effect" of data aggregation. The mosaic effect occurs when information alone is not identifiable but when coupled with other available information poses a privacy or security risk.
GitHub tool kit covers nuts and bolts of White House Open Data Policy
Along with its Open Data Policy, the White House unveiled May 9 Project Open Data, a GitHub-hosted tool kit it hopes will be the living, breathing implementation arm of its policy. The online repository provides tools for coders to adopt the policy within agencies' 6-month timeline.
DoD proposes to lower spending on major ERPs, with notable exceptions
Spending for major key enterprise resource planning systems would overall go down, with some notable exceptions, under the Defense Department fiscal 2014 budget proposal. DoD OCIO data shows some ERP budgets would increase substantially should Congress approve the request.
Consolidating IT cuts costs and makes agencies more efficient, Interior CIO says
Consolidating online services and integrating information technology sytems not only cut costs, but also made the Interior Department more efficient, Interior Chief Financial Officier Rhea Suh said May 13 at the Excellence in Government conference in Washington, D.C.
2014 Budget Request: DoD IT and DISA
The Defense Department's fiscal 2014 budget proposal includes $39.6 billion for information technology, shows an overview from the departmental office of the chief information officer released earlier this month.
FEMA privacy practices needs improvement, find auditors
The Federal Emergency Management Agency initially believed it possessed 430 unauthorized information technology systems after declaring a 2 week amnesty in March 2012 for their owners to come forward and report them. Before the amnesty, FEMA has 74 systems with an authorization to operate, 46 of which had undergone a privacy threshold analysis.
Canada backs off from Internet voting, for now, while California legislature pushes it forward
The Canadian agency charged with conducting national elections has decided against a planned pilot of Internet electoral voting before the 2015 general election due to budget cuts, Canadian media has reported. Internet voting enjoys a high rate of opposition among information technology experts, including officials from the Homeland Security Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Poll ties productivity to mobile devices among federal workers
In a FierceGovIT-Market Connections PulsePoll™, we asked federal civilian and military workers directly to describe their experiences with mobile devices. Do they really make you more productive? How, and how much more? Does it depend on the device?
Audio: WH officials on the open data memo and manufacturing innovation institutes
A White House memo and executive order ordering agencies to make machine-readable open data the default when standing up new systems or modernizing existing ones will "create opportunities around transparency and efficiency inside the walls of government as well as fuel economic opportunity on the outside," said Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel during a May 9 White house press call.
White House releases open data policy
Under the new policy, agencies must build and modernize information systems in a way that "maximizes interoperability and information accessibility, maintains internal and external data asset inventories, enhances information safeguards, and clarifies information management responsibilities," says the memo.
