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Lieberman Alleges Iran Hacked US Banks

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For several days, Bank of America’s systems had problems. The problems – primarily denial of service disruptions – hit their web site and reportedly their mobile banking services.

For BofA, the nation’s largest bank based on assets, this was not the first issue or attack they experienced in the past year. Nor in fact, was BofA the only U.S. financial institution that has been experiencing what appears to be a series of directed cyber attacks. JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup also are reported to have been struck by similar related aggressive cyber activities, beginning last year. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 24, 2012 at 12:14 PM

Go With White House Exec Order, Says House Cyber Chairman

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Many members of Congress don’t really understand cyber issues and that’s getting in the way of passing legislation to protect the country, said the leader of the House Homeland cybersecurity subcommittee.

The public takes the use of the Internet for granted and that complacency extends to some members of Congress said Dan Lungren, chairman of the House Homeland cybersecurity subcommittee. “It is not just a domain of warfare. It is a domain of everyday living. Everything we do depends on that today,” he said at a recent defense industry conference. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 24, 2012 at 9:30 AM

What The White House Saw In Code for America

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When the White House announced which of more than 700 applicants would become Presidential Innovation Fellows last month, it also gave a subtle endorsement to a concept pioneered by a small, but growing nonprofit organization called Code for America.

Founded by Jennifer Pahlka in 2009, Code for America has been helping to bring experts and entrepreneurs from the private sector to work together with public sector leaders and inject a dose of innovative ideas into government services. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 21, 2012 at 4:30 PM

Issa Proposes Sweeping IT Management And Acquisition Reforms

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Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif) is proposing legislation that would provide sweeping reforms in the way technology is managed and acquired at federal agencies in an effort to eliminate duplication and waste.

The provisions would grant significantly more power to federal chief information officers to control the technology that agencies acquire. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 20, 2012 at 12:31 PM

Feds Weigh Pros And Cons Of Apple’s New Mobile iOS 6

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While iPhone aficionados may have to wait three to four more weeks to get their hands on the new iPhone 5, Apple officially released it latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, today. And that meant federal IT executives had yet another new mobile issue to contend with as they began in earnest to evaluate how the new operating system, which boasts 200 enhancements, might impact the growing use of Apple devices across the federal government.

“I think it’s safe to say that these continually improving and expanding features are a key reason why government workers find consumer mobile devices in general – and iOS devices in particular – so compelling for use in accomplishing their missions,” said Dr. Rick Holgate, assistant director for science and technology and chief information officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). Keep reading →

 /  Published September 19, 2012 at 12:19 PM

Ten Steps To Creating Insanely Great Mobile Apps

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Fueled by the widespread adoption of increasingly powerful mobile devices, we are in the midst of one of the most exciting technology eras ever. Half of American adults now own smartphones and over 20% are already using tablets. This pace of adoption is unprecedented as the first Apple iPhone was only introduced five years ago with the Apple iPad arriving in just the past two years.

The rapid emergence of this mass market has shattered the cost constraints for going mobile for every organization, including government agencies. For a technology geek like myself, what’s most exciting is the opportunity this creates to untether knowledge workers from the desktop so that they can be equally effective in the field. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 18, 2012 at 1:00 PM

White House Showcases Cool Tools For Public Safety

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It’s not easy following Todd Park, the federal government’s chief technology officer, and his breathless on-stage enthusiasm for promoting technical innovation in government and the virtues of collaboration.

Park clearly found an avid proponent, however, in Seth Harris, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor, who made a persuasive case last week in describing the inherent logic for government and the private sector to work jointly in turning information into useful tools for the American public and the U.S. economy. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Federal Superstars To Receive Service To America Medals

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The Partnership for Public Service has announced the winners of this year’s Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, awarded to public servants who are making high-impact contributions to the health, safety and well-being of Americans.

The top medal, Federal Employee of the Year, will be presented to Lynne Mofenson (pictured above) of the National Institutes of Health for her pivotal role in preventing the AIDS epidemic among children by developing ways to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The awards, popularly known as “Sammies,” will be given to the nine recipients at a Washington, D.C. gala Thursday evening. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 12, 2012 at 6:00 PM

Government Business Owners, Not Just CIOs, Need ‘The Risk Talk’

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Communication about the perils of taking inappropriate risk – and how to accept or not accept IT risk in government – is seriously lacking these days. There is clearly a link missing in the chain that connects government business managers with matters of importance such as IT risk.

Take for instance, the Utah data breach and all of the “lessons learned” that have been discussed since following a data breach that exposed the health data of 500,000 people and social security numbers of 280,000 Utah Medicaid recipients. The incident, which took place earlier this year, led the executive director of Utah’s Department of Technology Services to resign in May. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 11, 2012 at 9:00 AM

What 205 Prize Challenges Have Taught Government Agencies

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In September 2010 the Obama Administration launched Challenge.gov, a one-stop shop where entrepreneurs and the public can locate and tackle tough problems – and win cash prizes doing it. Two years later, 45 federal agencies have awarded more than $13.9 million in prize money in 205 challenges, with some 16,000 citizen “solvers” taking part in the competitions.

These impressive numbers demonstrate the impact made by the administration’s efforts to make incentive prizes a key part of agencies’ problem-solving and innovation arsenal, White House officials said. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 10, 2012 at 9:01 AM
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