SDFM The Business of Defense
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"The Hunt for Red October", "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger." Part of the genius of bestselling novelist Tom Clancy His intense attention to technical detail and accuracy earned him great respect inside the intelligence community and the military communities --especially when it came to submarines. He passed away at the age of 66 in a hospital near his Calvert County, Maryland home.
October 03, 2013 -
Even though government agencies are in shutdown mode, contractors are still moving ahead in making business decisions. Small businesses are likely to hurt more from the shutdown due to smaller cash reserves and slimmer margins.
October 03, 2013 -
This week on AFGE's "Inside Government" National President J. David Cox Sr. addresses the government shutdown and its impact on employees and public services. AFGE SSA Local 836 EVP Matt Perlinger discusses the importance of engaging younger union members and Professor Jeffrey Hilgert talks about his book, "Hazard or Hardship: Crafting Global Norms on the Right to Refuse Unsafe Work."
October 02, 2013 -
Due to many factors, including security and budget, many of the latest and greatest web and mobile technologies won’t work in some federal agencies.
October 02, 2013 -
So many federal IT employees are on furlough, those left on duty will have a job on their hands when it comes to cybersecurity. ComputerWorld reports, several agencies have issued contingency plans for keeping their systems operating. Most will be in maintenance mode, with a special eye on cyber. VA will furlough 40 percent of its eight thousand IT workers. Others, like the Federal Trade Commission, will have in place only a skeletal staff of six people. Housing and Urban Development will have 13 on the job. The Social Security Administration is leaving 10 percent of its three thousand IT staff in place.
October 02, 2013 -
Computer network security issues at Guantanamo Bay won't stop proceedings against suspects in the September 11th terror attacks. A military judge has decided to let pretrial hearings continue while the Pentagon works on the cybersecurity issues. Security fears had prompted defense attorneys to stop using government email and servers for confidential legal work. They said some data disappeared. Emails mistakenly went to the prosecutors...and their private legal research was subject to monitoring. The Pentagon has agreed to address the complaints.
October 02, 2013 -
All military personnel will continue on normal duty status but about half of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilian employees will be placed on unpaid leave. All military activity not critical to national security will be stopped during the shutdown, according to Pentagon officials. They also say military personnel, who are paid twice a month, would get their Oct. 1 paychecks but might see their Oct. 15 paychecks delayed if no funding deal is set by Oct. 7. Also, most Department of Veterans Affairs services will continue, including the operation of VA hospitals.
October 02, 2013 -
Jim Williams, vice president at DAON, and Conor White, the president of the DAO division, X-Products, will discuss the changing world of identity management in the federal workspace. October 1, 2013
October 02, 2013 -
What is Treasury's management and performance agenda? What is Treasury doing consolidate it office space and right-size its operational footprint? How is Treasury working to transform the way it does business? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and so much more with Nani Coloretti, Assistant Secretary of The Treasury for Management. Nani Coloretti Assistant Secretary of The Treasury for Management Department of the Treasury
October 01, 2013 -
The government of Turkey says it might still reconsider its decision to co-produce a long-range air and missile defense system with a Chinese firm currently under U.S. sanctions, but officials said they are not obligated to adhere to the U.S. blacklist. Turkey, a member of the NATO alliance, announced recently it had chosen the FD-2000 missile defense system from China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp over rival systems from Russian, U.S. and European firms.
October 01, 2013 -
A Senate panel approved a key cybersecurity pick just hours before a government shutdown. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee reported out the nomination of Suzanne Spaulding. The president has tapped her to be the permanent Homeland Security undersecretary for national protection and programs. She now serves in an acting capacity. As such...she is responsible for securing critical infrastructure...federal facilities...and advancing identity management initiatives. Spaulding also has worked on the Hill for the intelligence committees. She was also an attorney for the C-I-A. Her nomination now goes to the full Senate.
October 01, 2013 -
A botnet infecting nearly two million computers has been hit hard by the good guys. ZeroAccess is one of the largest known botnets. Criminals use it for various frauds to the tune of tens of millions of dollars per year. Cybersecurity vendor Symantec found a way to disconnect 25 percent of the machines controlled by ZeroAccess. Computerworld reports, researchers were able to exploit a design weakness in the peer-to-peer architecture of the botnet. Before the cyber thieves could patch the flaw, Symantec performed a procedure called sinkholing. That prevented the owners from regaining control of the infected machines.
October 01, 2013 -
The preliminary version of the framework will be published in mid-October, followed by several months of public comment. NIST plans a final release of the voluntary framework in February.
September 30, 2013 -
A recent briefing between the House Veterans Affairs Committee, VA IT executives and DHS ended with the lead majority staff member walking out before the meeting ended. The rising tensions between the House Veterans Affairs committee's majority and VA come as a report surfaced showing veterans are at a higher risk of identity theft than the average citizen.
September 30, 2013 -
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) and ranking member Michael Michaud (D-Maine) sent Secretary Eric Shinseki a letter asking for an explanation on why VA didn't tell the committee about multiple nation state attacks. The lawmakers call for VA to offer credit monitoring services to tens of millions of veterans.
September 30, 2013