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Aliya Sternstein

Senior Correspondent Aliya Sternstein reports on cybersecurity and homeland security systems. She’s covered technology for more than a decade at such publications as National Journal's Technology Daily, Federal Computer Week and Forbes. Before joining Government Executive, Sternstein covered agriculture and derivatives trading for Congressional Quarterly. She’s been a guest commentator on C-SPAN, MSNBC, WAMU and Federal News Radio. Sternstein is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Results 101-110 of 2187

Hush-hush Data Firm Palantir Snags ICE Case-Tracking Deal

September 29, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded secretive data-mining firm Palantir a $42 million contract to redo the investigation agency's failed case filing system. The deal is part of an $818 million program to replace a 1987 watch-list system, TECS. That tool, which predates the formation of the Department of Homeland ...

Hackers Zero In on Subs, Steal Kentucky Patient Data and Foul Web Developer Site

September 26, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow In case you missed our coverage this week in ThreatWatch, Nextgov’s regularly updated index of cyber breaches: Jimmy John’s Hack Only Recently Was Stopped The sandwich chain learned of a payment system breach back on July 30, around the time KrebsOnSecurity first reported an investigation into the matter. Ex-Worker Pocketed ...

Forget Supersonic Jets. The Military Needs an Odometer for Computer Chips.

September 26, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Consider U.S. airstrikes over Syria hitting a civilian hospital instead of an oil refinery powering Islamic State operations. According to the computer chip industry, that scenario could become reality with the risk of corrupted semiconductors -- the circuits underpinning all computers -- behaving in unexpected ways. Critics of U.S. customs ...

FBI Can’t Find Files After Spending $550M to Digitize Them

September 24, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow This story has been updated to include a comment from the FBI on the status of improvements. FBI special agents and technicians say the agency’s first-ever, decade-in-the-making computerized case system has slowed their investigations and work, according to an internal audit. The computer application, called Sentinel, was flipped on in ...

FBI Plans Rapid DNA Dragnets

September 23, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The FBI is preparing to accelerate the collection of DNA profiles for the government's massive new biometric identification database. Developers of portable DNA analysis machines have been invited to a Nov. 13 presentation to learn about the bureau's vision for incorporating their technology into the FBI's new database. So-called rapid ...

Could the Internet Have Prevented $5.2 Billion From Going to IRS Refund Thieves?

September 22, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow The Internal Revenue Service estimates it has paid identity thieves $5.2 billion this year, in a situation where counterintuitively, online transactions might have reduced fraud. According to auditors, crooks were able to claim tax refunds using stolen taxpayer ID information before the tax agency had time to verify their returns ...

Less than Half of Feds Say Security Is Key Part of Their Mobile Strategy

September 22, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow Opposition from employees and unenforceable smartphone protections are the two biggest headaches for government information technology officials attempting to execute a mobile security strategy, according to new research. Even before the recent iCloud hacks bared celebrities' explicit selfies, there were concerns about agency personnel uploading work to vulnerable cloud locations. ...

Hackers Compromise iPhone Ads, Go Incognito 12 Years in Europe, and Infect Bloggers

September 19, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow In case you missed our coverage this week in ThreatWatch, Nextgov’s regularly updated index of cyber breaches: Ebay Man-In-the-Middle Attack Puts Customer Credentials At Risk Hackers compromised some listings in the online marketplace in a way that redirects shoppers to a site that can steal their personal information. Largest IRC ...

NCI Seals $41 Million Deal to Support Army Cyber Ops

September 19, 2014 FROM NEXTGOV arrow NCI Information Systems has nabbed a contract worth up to $41 million to support Army cyber network operations at a command that recently activated the service's first-ever cyber protection brigade, according to Pentagon officials. The Reston, Virginia-based contractor will work with the Network Enterprise Technology Command, or NETCOM, G-5 on ...

China Wants To Replicate NSA’s Cyber Schools

September 18, 2014 Chinese universities are welcome to adopt the U.S. National Security Agency's cyber education program, the top U.S. computer security education official said, after a recent trip to Beijing. Entrepreneurs in China have voiced support for improving the notoriously spotty relations between the U.S. and China in cyberspace by patterning Chinese ...