National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • A savings of $2 million per year is now being realized at the U.S. Mint after an innovative engineer stepped out of the box and asked a friend at another federal agency for help. In part three of our special report, Rainmakers and Money Savers, Federal News Radio takes you inside the lab where a group of engineers and nanotribologists combined their expertise to solve a coin-making problem and, in turn, saved a lot of cash.

    August 14, 2014
  • The National Information Assurance Partnership, the U.S. implementation of what was supposed to be a faster, cheaper process to verify the cybersecurity of commercial IT products, turned out to be so slow and expensive that few companies could afford to go through it. But officials said they hope a recent overhaul in the procedures will breathe new life into the program.

    July 02, 2014
  • It keeps getting easier to manufacture a counterfeit computer chip. Experts say federal information systems increasingly are at risk because of flaws in their supply chains. It is not just a question of fake parts. Genuine ones that have been tampered with, or are just poorly made, can cause damage. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is revising guidelines for agencies to help them secure their supply chains. Jon Boyens is an IT specialist in the security outreach and integration group at NIST. He spoke with Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive.

    June 10, 2014
  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology has launched a four-part plan to help agencies build more secure IT systems. NIST Computer Scientist Ron Ross, who guided a new publication on the issue, tells the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp that the same engineering principles that apply to bridges and buildings should apply to IT. That is, security should be built in, not added later.

    May 15, 2014
  • Homes and buildings aren't built the way they used to be, and when they catch fire, they don't burn the same way either. Newer buildings have more open floor plans and much more use of plastics and synthetic materials. Now the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Underwriters Laboratory have teamed up to educate firefighters on the modern fire. The course is based on a series of controlled burn experiments, performed with the help of the New York City Fire Department. Daniel Madrzykowski, a fire protection engineer and leader of the Fire Fighting Technology Group at NIST, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp what firefighters learn through the course.

    April 29, 2014
  • Federal officials say they need help from Congress to ensure companies are protected under the law for sharing cyber information with the government. Officials also say building up the cyber workforce is a top concern.

    March 27, 2014
  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology brought agency and industry experts to its Gaithersburg headquarters to discuss cloud computing this week. Federal News Radio's Lauren Larson was there. She spoke with NIST Cloud Technical Program Manager Robert Bohn about the key word of the event — interoperability. Read Lauren's related story.

    March 25, 2014
  • The White House will release an updated list of agency high-priority goals and cross-agency priority goals with the annual budget request to Congress in March. Meanwhile, the Office of Management and Budget detailed agency successes over the last two years in meeting current goals.

    February 14, 2014
  • On this week's Capital Impact show, executives from Liberty Group Ventures discuss the roll out of the administration's new cyber framework and how it will affect the private sector. February 13, 2014.

    February 13, 2014
  • The Senate confirmed Sloan Gibson to be the next deputy secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Patrick Gallagher, is heading off to academia.

    February 13, 2014
  • NIST led the year-long effort to develop the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. Agencies now must review regulations to ensure alignment with the framework. DHS also launches a new voluntary program that will offer access to a variety of federal resources to help companies improve cybersecurity.

    February 12, 2014
  • The goal is to more accurately evaluate the security of the government's computer networks and systems. These efforts could bring more consistency to the cyber auditing process and engender more confidence in its results.

    February 06, 2014
  • The inconsistent way inspectors general review the security of federal networks and computers is causing uncertainty around what is working and what isn't in the federal government. A recent State Department IG management alert is a prime example of this growing disconnect.

    February 05, 2014
  • Phyllis Schneck, the deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity at DHS, said the department will release a voluntary cyber program on Feb. 14 as part of the deliverables under President Barack Obama's 2013 Executive Order. Schneck said among her top priorities is to continue to build a trust relationship with the assorted public and private sector stakeholders.

    January 31, 2014