Homeland Security

Feds@Work: Mobile Technology Employed in US Boarder Security

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This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features Homeland Security medal finalists from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nael Samha, program manager in the Office of Technology, and Thomas Roland, Jr., program manager in the Office of Field Operations.

After an airline passenger flying from Amsterdam to Detroit on Dec. 25, 2009, attempted to set off plastic explosives sewn in his underwear, the Department of Homeland Security ordered a full-scale review of the way federal agents screen and target individuals entering and leaving the United States. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 26, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Federal Agencies Ponder BYOD Policy Details

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As the federal government moves to widespread implementation of mobile device policies, the most attractive and cost effective approach appears to be personnel using their own personal devices to do their jobs.

But while BYOD policies make economic sense, the devil is in the details. This is especially important for the Defense Department and other federal organizations responsible for handling sensitive and classified data. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 24, 2012 at 3:00 PM

Hackers Pose Costly Future For Military Jets Warns Cartwright

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The Pentagon’s most expensive program, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, might prove to be as vulnerable to enemy hackers as inadequately armored Humvees were to roadside bombs, and could prove even more costly to remedy, warned former vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James Cartwright, USMC (Ret.)

“We built the F-35 with absolutely no protection for it from a cyber standpoint,” he said, speaking at the annual Joint Warfighting Conference hosted by the US Naval Institute and the industry group AFCEA, according to a report on Breaking Defense, an affiliate of Breaking Gov. Keep reading →

 /  Published May 16, 2012 at 11:28 AM

Transforming American Governance

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Our nation faces a large — and growing — long-term fiscal imbalance driven by an aging population, which will dramatically increase health care and retirement costs. And while it is just one of many challenges, it is central to a question of whether the nation’s government will adapt new approaches to the management of government itself.

“The government is on an unstable path,” says the recently released Federal Government’s Financial Health. This report, prepared by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Office of Management and Budget (with the assistance of the Government Accountability Office), puts the challenge in stark terms: Keep reading →

 /  Published April 17, 2012 at 10:02 AM

Federal 100 Award Winners Honored At Gala

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This year’s 100 most influential executives in the government IT community were honored at a a gala tonight at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.

The Federal 100 Awards recognize government and industry leaders who have played pivotal roles in the federal government IT community and who “have made a difference in the way technology has transformed their agency or accelerated their agency’s mission.” Keep reading →

 /  Published March 28, 2012 at 8:57 PM

Why Cloud Computing Will Drift In Under FedRAMP CONOPS

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Not only has cybersecurity started to take shape legislatively, cloud computing security has started to take shape administratively in a meaningful way.

You won’t find huge surprises in the grandly named Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP. The 47-page document does fill out the plan, long promised by The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration. What might be surprising is how elaborate the procedures and project plan turn out to be. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 22, 2012 at 1:59 PM

Why We Shouldn’t Dilute The Cybersecurity Bill

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When we hear that getting incentives right and letting the private sector lead or sharing more information will secure the nation, remember that we’ve spent 15 years proving this doesn’t work.

Some people say the threat is exaggerated. This is unfortunate. We are on course to repeat in cybersecurity the 9/11 error of ignoring risk. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 17, 2012 at 5:15 PM

USCIS Officials Expect Use Of Self Check Tool To Surge

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U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service officials expect a significant upsurge in use of Self Check a free, online service that lets workers check their own employment eligibility status.

The tool was launched last March in a limited number of states and expanded to all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on Feb. 9. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 16, 2012 at 3:00 PM

Government Data Centers Under Fire

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A nationwide network of 72 government-supported, state-run data centers used for sharing law enforcement and counterterrorism information are coming under increasing fire as federal budget cuts, intra-agency turf battles and Congressional scrutiny are raising fresh questions about their effectiveness.

Although the federal government has made significant progress in the last decade to improve terrorism-related information sharing, widely divergent operating practices in how information as assembled and used at these so-called data fusion centers have led some in Congress and others in the government to question their value. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 24, 2011 at 8:01 AM

Is It Time For The Feds To Rein In the NYPD?

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When it comes to proactive law enforcement, intelligence and counterterrorism operations, the New York City Police Department – the NYPD – is viewed by many of its counterparts as one of the most innovative and successful police departments in the nation’s history.

However, the NYPD has also gained another, more insidious reputation in recent years for what many regard as an unprecedented challenge to privacy and civil liberties in America and what others regard as overreach internationally. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 13, 2011 at 8:01 AM
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