On Monday, June 8, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a final memorandum mandating that all Federal websites implement HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). By December of 2016, all Federal websites will need to implement HTTPS for all communications. Why the Mandate? Privacy, web communications, and encryption are certainly in theRead… Read more »
It’s been a rough nine months for federal cybersecurity. The huge Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack is just the latest in a series of incidents that make people skeptical of Washington’s ability to protect their personal information. Since last fall, we’ve witnessed hacks of the: OPM. Last week’s cybersecurity failure at OPM wasn’t its firstRead… Read more »
The bridge between the IT world and the “real” world seems to be widening. IT folks are tackling complex technology issues of today without fully understanding how minor errors can majorly impact the everyday user. Meanwhile, us common folk don’t even understand what makes the Internet work. The two worlds can’t seem to collide, oneRead… Read more »
>> Want even more information about the OPM breach? Read our recent post, 12 Things You Should Know About the OPM Breach The recent Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach has everyone on edge. The personal information of approximately 4 million current and former federal employees may have been compromised by hackers. The OPM will be contactingRead… Read more »
On June 6, 2015 thousands of people from 106 communities took part in the National Day of Civic Hacking. Organized by Code for America, the annual event helps people come together and collaborate to make their communities stronger. The locally organized events welcome more than just those who crunch code. Around the country, organizers engaged people of all backgrounds, including tech experts, government employees, students, entrepreneurs,Read… Read more »
Why do government systems fail? That is essentially the question raised by MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough following word that IRS data got hacked. MSNBC’s Morning Joe on government IT problems The short but exceedingly provocative discussion that followed spurred me to think: How would I answer that question? What are the big obstaclesRead… Read more »
The future is hard to predict when the present is torn between the living, the living dead, and the never have lived at all. We don’t know the demographics of robots, sensors of the Internet of Things (IoT), learning machines, and drones. Of course, the count of zombies is unknown because they could very wellRead… Read more »
I generally think of the General Services Administration as the agency that runs government. I know, I know. There’s a lot that goes into governing, but just consider the agency’s mission statement: The mission of GSA is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to government and the American people.Read… Read more »
Paper paper everywhere, but not a drop of efficiency to be seen. That could be the mantra of government workers everywhere, who, in order to perform their important duties for citizens, often have to shift through mound and mounds of internal and external paperwork to get anything done. From clerks who must deal with enormousRead… Read more »
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” Actually, this is happening right here in our government. Yes, it’s true: DoD has become the new and modern Death Star! Okay, maybe not quite. But there is a super laser technology now used by the Navy, thanks to Peter Morrison, Program Officer at theRead… Read more »