Department of Homeland Security
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The Departments of Homeland Security and State have jointly implemented the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) for land and sea travel, strengthening security along our northern and southern borders by requiring more secure forms of documentation and proof of citizenship. Office of Information Technology director, Chris Milowic, brings us up to speed.
April 14, 2010 -
The White House is stepping up efforts on a key presidential priority: making sure that the nation\'s infrastructure is \"resilient\", and can bounce back from failure due to outside attack, or some other catastrophic problem. As part of that effort, a Presidential advisory council is getting some additional homework on the issue of \"resiliency.\"
April 14, 2010 -
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Controller Danny Werfel says agencies have been developing inventories and now it\'s time to get rid of unneeded real estate. OMB also preparing to kick off cloud computing certification program. And administration\'s performance management portal under development.
April 13, 2010 -
We\'re starting a new weekly segment today called Science and National Security. Each week, Institute for Homeland Security Director Randy Larsen will bring us an interview with someone in the national security arena. In today\'s edition, he speaks with Dr. Michael Nelson, a visiting professor at Georgetown and former director of technology for the Federal Communications Commission, on the future and security of cloud computing.
April 12, 2010 -
DHS also will make Randy Vickers the permanent head of U.S. CERT. Stempfley would become the first permanent NCSD director since 2007. The division\'s oversight of federal civilian networks is growing more important with Einstein and TIC initiative.
April 09, 2010 -
Alan P. Balutis Director and Distinguished Fellow Cisco Business Solutions Group
April 08, 2010 -
Some ex-employees turn to cybercrime
April 08, 2010 -
Federal CIO Vivek Kundra will sign a memo requiring agencies to do another, more detailed survey of their data centers. Agencies also are working on a department-wide plan to consolidate these buildings.
February 26, 2010 -
With a headcount of contractors who work for one of the largest federal agencies in hand yesterday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, began a review of the DHS fiscal year 2011 proposed budget.
February 26, 2010 -
I am moderating a panel at AFCEA’s 9th Annual Homeland Security Conference — creatively named DHS – The 7-Year Itch – Renewing the Commitment: The Definitive Dialogue on Critical Homeland Security Issues. Specifically, the panel…
February 25, 2010 -
Get a sneak peak at what\'s coming up on Ask the CIO this week.
February 03, 2010 -
In addressing the importance of cyber security as a government priority in testimony before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee last fall, Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer, said: \"Our Nation\'s security and economic prosperity depend on the stability and integrity of our Federal communications and information infrastructure.\" Federal News Radio has reportedthat the federal government will spend $8.3 billion on computer security this year - marking a 60% increase in four years. As Federal information security decision-makers allocate dollars and resources to protect our infrastructure, it is important to prioritize the key challenges they face. These include: 1. Increased use of mobile devices.Mobile devices are becoming smaller and faster every day. Agencies face even more challenges as mobile applications have now become widely used and they are even looking to build their own mobile applications to increase their productivity in the field. 2. Continued movement of data into the cloud. Cloud computing has become a pervasive buzzword but in the end, risk stems from a matter of oversight and control. Agencies must rely on strong governance and compliance oversight of their service providers since they do not own or control the systems where their data resides. 3. Changing regulatory environment. NIST has undergone sweeping changes across their Special Publications by introducing a new Risk Management Framework and introducing new nomenclature such as \"Security Authorization.\" OMB continues to press their performance metrics as a part of the FISMA reporting process and could see some changes in the next 9 months. 4. Application security. Attackers have now moved their focus from the network and infrastructure level to the application layer. We\'re seeing more attacks proliferated through applications such as Adobe and web browsers but some high profile data breaches stemmed from custom web applications through SQL injection attacks. 5. Developing/maturing offensive capabilities. \"Understanding the offensive to build the defensive\" has become the mantra for today\'s cyber security efforts. The ability to understand the mindset of an attacker and their methods becomes critical in building defenses that focus on these attack vectors. Reigning in the changes can pose a difficult problem for several agencies but it ultimately comes down to understanding the threats to your particular agency and narrowing your defenses on those areas. Focus and prioritization become key in the constant battle.
February 02, 2010 -
Multiple hearings focus on figuring out what led to the Dec. 25 attempted terrorist attack. FBI, DHS, State offer details on what changes each made in the last month.
January 21, 2010 -
Government workers generally despise the term “bureaucrat” — mostly because it has all sorts of negative connotations. Generally politicians use it dripping with derision as they scoff at the work done by government workers. And…
January 14, 2010