Posts Tagged: dhs

Obama Pushes for Cybersecurity Act, Alleged Amazon Hacker Arrested, and More

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: President Obama urged lawmakers to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 that would create a public-private partnership to set cybersecurity standards for critical infrastructure. More here. The U.S. Census Bureau plans to launch an economic statistics app for iPhone and Android devices and is streaming dataRead… Read more »

Does Your Job Have the Correct Security Clearance Designation

According to a new GAO report, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has not provided federal agencies with clearly defined policy guidance for determining whether positions require security clearances. Without this guidance, many agencies use an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) position designation tool that provides inconsistent designations. In April 2012 OPM audited positions withinRead… Read more »

Attacks on Industrial Control Systems Spike, Air Force Smartphone Games for New Recruits, and More

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team within the Department of Homeland Security reports a a 20-fold leap in the number of incidents since the team was created in 2009. More here. The Homeland Security Infrastructure Program gave Colorado authorities fighting deadly wildfires access toRead… Read more »

USAID Cybersecurity Challenges, Mobile Security Guidance, and More

Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: The U.S. Agency for International Development has plans to improve its Federal Information Security Management Act cybersecurity score, which fell from an ‘A’ to an ‘F’ last year. More here. The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Department of Homeland Security will release twoRead… Read more »

Cybersecurity Legislation is Revisited by Lawmakers.

Authored by Doug Kruger and originally posted to Blue Coat’s Federal Blue Print blog. There has been a lot of conversation around the new cybersecurity legislation and several bills have been circulating in Congress as lawmakers are faced with the growing reality of cyber attacks that should cripple critical infrastructure such as water, electricity orRead… Read more »

Cybersecurity Gaps Across Government, New Monitoring Tool, and More

This month, the Department of Energy, in working with the White House, Department of Homeland Security, and power companies, will test a voluntary reporting model to discover cybersecurity gaps in electricity delivery systems. More here. A researcher at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a cyber sensor to track how networkRead… Read more »

Should Hospitals Be Considered a Significant Target Of Terror?

www.homelandsecuritynet.com Many social scientists referred to guerrilla warfare as the “weapon of the weak” and terrorism as the “weapon of the weakest,” using violence to generate fear, and thereby to achieve their political goals, when direct military victory is not possible. Today terrorists usually prefer to avoid attacking heavily defended “hard targets” such as militaryRead… Read more »

How can federal agencies apply the 2012 Tech Trends?

Many of us may know that some of the federal agencies and its leaders are facing many challenges in today’s economy. Innovation has been identified to be a key change agent when facing these obstacles. Can these agencies embrace innovative technology to better meet their missions? The answer is YES, we currently see many federalRead… Read more »

Lax Policies Keep Cyber Security Issues at Forefront

Originally Authored by Prem Iyer Posted to GovWinand Iron Bow TechSourceblogs In an earlier post, Preparing for the Fight, I discussed that most agencies are ill-prepared when it comes to protecting their assets against the latest cyber threats. This point was validated last month when the Government Accountability Office (GAO), as part of the FederalRead… Read more »