AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Sensory Overload
12:00 AM ET The need for robotic eyes on the border seems like a no-brainer for most lawmakers negotiating immigration reform and border security, but calculating costs and cameras per mile might not prove so easy. Until directed otherwise by Congress, the Homeland Security Department is moving ahead with a $465 million plan ...
Hacked Data Brokers Could Spell Trouble for Obamacare
September 27, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
A service that sells personal data to identity thieves has been getting its wares from hacked data brokers storing information similar to what Obamacare marketplaces plan to use, setting the scene for fraudsters to collect government subsidies. According to a new investigative report by cybersecurity researcher Brian Krebs, the service, ...
GAO: Fifty Percent of Feds Aren’t Informed of Cyber Risks
September 27, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Federal agencies for 15 years have been unable to move cybersecurity off a list of the government's most imperiled programs, with a new audit revealing a declining number of agencies -- half -- do not annually train employees on security. Note to feds: National Cyber Security Awareness Month starts on ...
Blackberry Bets Big on the Defense Department
September 24, 2013 The Pentagon is outfitting military networks with software to support tens of thousands of BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 smartphones this year, according to the Defense Department and Blackberry officials who, in recent days, have announced the company will sharply scale back commercial sales. Defense has one of the more sweeping ...
Defense Readies Networks for Latest BlackBerrys
September 24, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Pentagon is outfitting military networks with software to support tens of thousands of BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 smartphones this year, according to the Defense Department and Blackberry officials who, in recent days, have announced the company will sharply scale back commercial sales. Defense has one of the more sweeping ...
ThreatWatch: LinkedIn Sued for Hacking Customers' Personal Email Accounts
September 24, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The professional networking site is accused of stealing users’ identities for marketing purposes by breaking in to their personal email accounts and downloading contacts’ addresses. Read more at ThreatWatch, Nextgov’s regularly updated index of cyber breaches.
Postal Service Prepares to Sell Email Encryption
September 23, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
As reports of mail workers monitoring letters surfaced this summer, the U.S. Postal Service was applying to trademark merchandise aimed at preventing snoops -- outside the government -- from hacking online communications. The potential product line underscores the struggle agencies face in balancing privacy and national security -- all while ...
Energy Industry Website Hacks Resemble Compromises to a Labor Site for Nuclear Workers
September 20, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Computer breaches that are infecting visitors on energy sector websites might be linked to a May compromise of a Labor Department webpage that attracts former Energy Department nuclear personnel, cyber researchers say. Traces of the malicious operation that hit Labor's “Site Exposure Matrices” public website, which helps Labor caseworkers compensate ...
Hackers Revamp Playboy, Mistake NASA for NSA
September 20, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
In case you missed our coverage this week in ThreatWatch, Nextgov’s regularly updated index of cyber breaches: Playboy’s college party guide gets an unrequested redesign A feminist group is suspected of hacking the magazine’s website to promote consensual sex. Belgium telco bugged, and virus’s fingerprints point to NSA Reports say ...
One ID for Military Benefits, Bank Accounts -- and Movies?
September 18, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
A Virginia Web services company has received a $1.2 million grant to test a single, secure login designed to let members of the military community access government benefits and obtain consumer discounts, such as vacation deals. The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced the award to Id.me Inc. this ...
Many Feds Face Furloughs Twice
Dems Back Retroactive Shutdown Pay
How Long Has the Shutdown Lasted?
Agencies Post Shutdown Plans Online
No TSP Contributions During a Shutdown
How Contractors Might Weather a Shutdown
