TSP's G Fund Helps Delay Debt Ceiling
Sequester Hits Disaster Relief
Feds Respond to Oklahoma Tornadoes
Making Government 'Simpler'
OK Senator Wants Aid Offset by Budget Cuts
Boldly Go Where No Fed's Gone Before
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Aliya Sternstein
Senior Correspondent
Aliya Sternstein reports on cybersecurity and homeland security systems for Nextgov. She has covered technology for nine years at such publications as National Journal's TechnologyDaily, Federal Computer Week and Forbes. Before joining Government Executive, she covered agriculture and derivatives trading for Congressional Quarterly. She has been a guest commentator on C-SPAN, WTOP and Federal News Radio. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Passengers disqualified from new speed-screening program will go on watch list
November 30, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Homeland Security Department quietly added another watch list to the airline passenger screening program. Ironically, the new Transportation Security Administration list is culled from names of frequent fliers kicked out of an expedited screening program. Under the new TSA PreCheck system, known travelers who clear background checks get to ...
Border agency scouts for smartphone accessory to screen people and packages
November 29, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Homeland Security Department wants to outfit border agents with wearable devices that can scan cargo labels and travelers’ fingerprints, according to DHS documents. The smartphone accessories would be designed to let personnel who are guarding the border on foot quickly pull aside individuals and parcels for additional inspection, Customs ...
Cisco takes on rogue suppliers with device to ID counterfeit parts
November 28, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
Computer equipment maker Cisco soon will release a tool that automatically detects imitations of its branded products on federal customer systems, a Cisco executive told Nextgov. For years, many U.S. agencies unwittingly have bought and installed counterfeit Cisco goods from retailers, jeopardizing the security of government networks, according to the ...
Power grid hackers are of greater concern than influential report indicates, DHS official says
November 27, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
A previously classified 2007 National Academies report on power grid vulnerabilities that, coincidentally, was declassified mid-November when many Hurricane Sandy victims remained in the dark after widespread power outages, stated that cyberattacks, unlike natural disasters, probably could not cause lengthy blackouts. But that was not true at the time nor ...
FBI warns of holiday online flash sales operated by ID thieves
November 21, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The feds are out with their annual tips on avoiding Black Friday, Cyber Monday and other holiday-related online scams. This year, flash sales, social media come-ons and mobile shopping apps increasingly are targeting gift-givers, according to the FBI, Homeland Security Department and security researchers. And the schemes net personal information, ...
TSA drops ‘insider threat’ label from spyware buy
November 20, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Transportation Security Administration has reissued a June 20 purchase order for spyware that monitors employees’ computer activities under a new name, explaining that contractors complained the scope of the earlier descriptor was too constricting. The agency now is shopping for “host-based monitoring and digital forensics software” after announcing in ...
Report: Fifty-eight percent of Energy computers went months without bug fixes
November 15, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
A perhaps disturbing summation of the state of federal cyber security: An internal audit found nearly 60 percent of Energy Department desktop computers were missing critical software patches -- and those findings don’t surprise security experts. Officials risk disrupting agency business by applying patches because fixes likely would require pausing ...
Obama directive would allow preemptive cyber strikes
November 14, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
President Obama reportedly issued a secret military directive to defend U.S. networks, bypassing Congress and the American public to advance the administration’s security goals. The new policy directs the Defense Department on how to act against adversary networks when federal or private computer systems are in jeopardy, The Washington Post ...
Twelve-year, $430 million effort fails to get DHS radio users on the same frequency
November 14, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
The Homeland Security Department spent $430 million on a fruitless plan to enable radio users departmentwide to communicate on the same frequency, according to a new audit released Tuesday by an internal watchdog. Of 479 radio users the DHS inspector general tested, only one knew how to tune into the ...
Do we need cyber cops for cars?
November 13, 2012
FROM NEXTGOV
States nationwide are developing safety guidelines for self-driving cars, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn’t even developed safety guidelines for the insecure electronics that come standard in today’s cars. In response to questions about the status of automotive cybersecurity research and regulations, agency officials said in a statement ...
