Cybersecurity

  • New cyber regulations for companies in the defense industrial base are mandatory instead of voluntary. Alex Major, associate in the Government Contracts, Investigations & International Trade Practice Group of Sheppard Mullin, wrote about the new regulations on the Sheppard Mullin blog and he tells In Depth with Francis Rose that contractors and subcontractors may have been drafted.

    October 15, 2015
  • The cyber breaches at the Office of Personnel Management kicked Congress into high gear about making cyber security a priority for agencies. As hacking becomes an ever growing threat, agencies may soon follow the private sector by using insurance to keep its cyber protocols in check. Elana Broitman, shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, wrote about what drives good cyber hygiene for the New America Foundation. She explained it all to In Depth with Francis Rose.

    October 14, 2015
  • The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity is reviewing proposals to find the fastest and most accurate way to catch cyber attackers before they strike.

    October 13, 2015
  • The Department of Homeland Security will reorganize the National Protection and Programs Directorate, but the agency has a long list of cyber responsibilities and goals. Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas talked about the agency's cyber portfolio at Columbia University in New York. Jay Healey, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, hosted the discussion. He's also editor of the book "A Fierce Domain: Cyber Conflict, 1986 to 2012" and co-author of the "Cyber Security Policy Guidebook". He joined In Depth with Francis Rose to share what he heard at the discussion.

    October 13, 2015
  • Some of the Defense Department’s cyber mission forces are now active in operations. The announcement comes as Congress is pushing DoD for a solid cyber policy on how the nation should respond to cyber attacks. Federal News Radio Reporter Scott Maucione has more on what this means for the future of cyber warfare.

    October 13, 2015
  • The loss of data from the Office of Personnel Management continues to resonate throughout the federal government. It sparked a fresh look at how agencies manage their data and their cybersecurity. One cyber expert says it's time to make cyber a real, not an imagined, priority. Ari Rabkin is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute's Technology Policy Center. Federal Drive host Tom Temin asks him, wasn't cyber already a priority?

    October 12, 2015
  • Cybersecurity and customer service were popular additions to many federal agencies' priority goals for 2016 and 2017.

    October 12, 2015
  • IRS commissioner John Koskinen wrote to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that his agency needs to be part of the budget talks for increasing cybersecurity funding.

    October 09, 2015
  • The Cyber National Mission Force Commander says troops are actively participating in operations to protect the United States from cyber attacks.

    October 09, 2015
  • The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency wants to build an early warning system for cyber attacks. Previous IARPA research showed publicly available data sources can be used to accurately predict events like disease outbreaks and political crises. Now with its Cyber-attack Automated Unconventional Sensor Environment, or CAUSE, program, the agency wants to apply that model to detecting cyber attacks. Dr. Jason Matheny, the director of IARPA, joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more on CAUSE.

    October 09, 2015
  • A new independent study by the Ponemon Institute presents some grim realities when it comes to the state of cybersecurity within the government. It found the majority of state and federal IT employees feel that intelligence shared between agencies has little or no positive effect at all. Larry Ponemon is the chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. He joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss information sharing and several other findings in the State of Cybersecurity report.

    October 09, 2015
  • The federal government has been spending money to build a skilled cybersecurity workforce since the 1990s. But a new study by the National Academy of Public Administration says it's time to refocus those efforts. Among their recommendations: more hands-on education for cybersecurity students, more tracking of the outcomes of the hundreds of federally-funded courses, and more support for cybersecurity education by the Defense Department. Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu spoke to two members of the study panel: Dave Wennergren of the Professional Services Council and Karen Evans, the director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge. Evans says the U.S. needs to make the most of its cyber education investments, given the big gap between the supply and demand for skilled workers.

    October 09, 2015
  • Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Steve Russell (R-Okla.) called on the White House to find a more appropriate and secure location to store personal information gleaned from the security clearance process.

    October 09, 2015
  • Security officials for two of the largest ports in the United States told Congress they need help understanding what agencies they should to report a cyber attack to, and how to classify them.

    October 08, 2015