General Alexander’s Vision, the New DARPA Director, and More

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news:

• Kim Dotcom and his Megaupload associates offered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to fly to the United States without an extradition hearing in New Zealand in return for a fair trial garuntee and funds for lawyers and living expenses unfrozen. More here.
• The Government Accountability Office says the Department of Defense should clarify electronic warfare oversight and strategy. More here.
• The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is launching a residency program for “radical” innovation in data analysis. More here.
• The Army plans to buy broadband radios for tactical vehicles that operate in frequency bands to be auctioned off for commercial use. More here.
• General Alexander of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency said that the government’s sprawling cybersecurity infrastructure hinders defense. More here.
• General Alexander also gave his assurances that the NSA will not look inside private emails. More here.
• In the same talk, the general also called theft from cyber attacks ”the greatest transfer of wealth in history.” More here.
• The Department of Homeland Security halted its purchase of a geo-tracking service using license plate databases to locate fugitive aliens. More here.
• The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Network Security branch is finding an overwhelming number of security flaws while red teaming government agency networks. More here.
• Arati Prabhakar will become the new director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on July 30 after working for the venture capitalists who backed Solyndra. More here.
• Daniel Weitzner, deputy chief technology officer in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology called for a broad and flexible regulatory framework for the Internet. More here.
• The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency for improvements in laptop and wireless network security but noted that more work needs to be done. More here.
• Google has agreed to a $22.5 million penalty in a privacy settlement with the Federal Trade Commission which now awaits approval. More here.
• The Electronic Privacy Information Center raised concerns over President Obama’s Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions executive order. More here.
• The Office of Management and Budget will hold duplication and waste reviews of government agencies’ full information technology portfolios this month. More here.
• The State Department Inspector General found that State’s cloud service is not actually a cloud according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. More here.

This post by AlexOlesker was first published at CTOvision.com.

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