Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the military to implement what the Pentagon calls best practices for combating sexual assault. DoD says the measures build on actions Hagel took earlier this year. But as Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu reports, critics are calling them baby steps.

NASA’s goal of bringing in a little of the Silicon Valley startup mentality is taking off. The IT Labs program is finding plenty of options for rapid, low-cost, low-risk projects to improve the space agency’s use of technology. Sasi Pillay is the chief technology officer at NASA. He tells Executive Editor Jason Miller about how the IT Labs innovation program is initiating a new approach to software development.

This is the sixth and last Furlough Friday for many civilian employees of the Defense Department. While furloughs have given employees cause to worry about their own finances, some have made the most of it. Warren Schaeffer is an IT specialist at the Defense Information Systems Agency. He lives in Fredericksburg, Va. where he’s started a Furlough Friday community service group.

We like to think of Federal News Radio as the go-to source for information on sequestration and furloughs. But one Defense Department civilian employee has built a website to rival ours in terms of all that information. Plus he sells furlough-themed t-shirts and mugs through it. Intelligence analyst Eric Lackey is the creator of furlough2013.com.

Budget cuts, hiring freezes and furloughs have been reality for federal employees this year. To add insult to injury, a rise in ID scams has hit the federal workforce. Don’t make things worse by losing your plastic or becoming a victim of credit card fraud. Registered Employee Benefit Consultant Ed Zurndorfer offers advice.