Maryland has declared itself the epicenter of cybersecurity. At least Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) has. She helped establish the Maryland Cybersecurity Roundtable. That move was recommended by the Federal Facilities Advisory Board last year. Tom and Emily spoke with Len Moodispaw on the Federal Drive. He's CEO of KEYW Corporation and President of the newly-formed Maryland Cybersecurity Roundtable.
The comply-to-connect initiative is about removing much of the people challenges by automating the software patching and updating the cyber processes in real time.
The 2013 FISMA report to Congress shows the Veterans Affairs Department continues to struggle with cybersecurity and has more than 6,000 items on its plans of actions and milestones and continued weaknesses in access and configuration management controls. VA CIO Stephen Warren details several initiatives to address many of the 35 recommendations.
Rob Carey, who recently retired after 31 years in government, said the government must focus on identity management and information assurance as computer threats become more complex and sustained.
Under the continuous diagnostics and mitigation program, DHS wants to ensure systems administrators have data on the most pressing threats and vulnerabilities first so they can fix them as soon as possible. John Streufert, DHS's director of federal network resilience, said the recently-awarded dashboard will be set up to do just that.
Under a construct that's still under discussion, the Defense Information Systems Agency would take charge of some portion of DoD's cyber defenses under a new Joint Force Headquarters.
You are the key to stopping an insider threat and preventing a cyber incident at your agency even if you don't work in the IT department. Richard Stiennon is the host of the Security Current blog, the founder of IT Harvest and the author of Surviving Cyberwar. He says there are two categories of insider threats and identifying the most dangerous kind depends on you.
Talent acquisition manager Mike Bruni will discuss how to get a job in what is a competitive and challenging federal market. May 23, 2014
Few matters have vexed the government as much as cybersecurity. Just recently, officials from the Homeland Security Department pressed Congress for the umpteenth time to pass legislation clarifying who's supposed to do what to protect federal networks. Dan Waddell, who has long cybersecurity experience in government and industry, has just become the director of government affairs for the training and certification group, (ISC)2. He joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp to discuss the biggest cyber challenges agencies still face.
The Cyber Grand Challenge, set to launch for the first time two weeks from now, aims to encourage the development of computing systems that can seek out cybersecurity weaknesses better than humans can.
Larry Zelvin, the director of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate, is expected to tell the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday that the implementation of the advanced intrusion detection and prevention program known as Einstein is hampered by the lack of clarity of the exact role DHS is allowed to play under the current set of cybersecurity laws.
Trust boils down to workers demonstrating a sense of reliability and consistency. With reliability and consistency, "people begin to depend on each other to get things done in the workplace." Without it, an agency can be doomed, says Michael Gelles of Deloitte.
NSA, State and nearly every other agency are developing "fixes" to protect unauthorized employees from taking data. Experts say employees need to understand why the rules are in place and how they benefit both the organization and worker. OMB says one way to improve the situation is by reducing the number of federal employees with security clearances-an initiative that already is underway.
A government report indicates more than 40 Pentagon weapons programs and nearly 30 other defense technologies have been compromised by cyber intrusions from China. The cybersecurity firm Mandiant issued a report last year alleging links between a secret Chinese military unit and years of cyber-attacks against U.S. companies. Alcoa World Alumina, Westinghouse Electric Co., Allegheny Technologies, U.S. Steel Corp., the United Steelworkers Union and Solar-World are just six companies the Justice Department says were victims of Chinese hacking. U.S. officials suggest there are many more amounting to billions of dollars in economic losses.
Anne Altman, general manager of Federal Government for IBM, will discuss a wide range of contracting topics with host Mark Amtower. May 19, 2014