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Video: The Daily Show on Apple's Taxes
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.
Air Force and Army Disclose Budget for Hacking Operations
April 19, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Pentagon has for the first time detailed $30 million in spending on Air Force cyberattack operations and significant new Army funding and staff needs for exploiting opponent computers. Since 2011, top military brass have acknowledged the United States has the capability to hack back if threatened by adversaries in ...
Supercomputer Now Focused on Classified Nuclear Deterrence
April 17, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Energy Department has dedicated a new supercomputer to monitoring the health of the nation's atomic arsenal, officials for the U.S. nuclear program announced this week. The National Nuclear Security Administration successfully shifted one-year-old “Sequoia” from operating unclassified trial simulations to running classified replications of nuclear blasts. The IBM-built supercomputer, ...
Transit Systems Apparently Not a Target in Boston Marathon Bombing
April 16, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Authorities did not halt all subway trains surrounding the Boston Marathon finish line following Monday's violent blasts, likely because there was no indication transit systems were potential targets, counterterrorism experts say. On Tuesday, a marathon runner and spectator told Nextgov the couple was on Boston's "T" subway system, about two ...
Defense Plan for Cyber Intel Sharing Looks Like Controversial House Bill
April 15, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Pentagon’s proposed 2014 budget outlines a cybersecurity program that is similar to a controversial bill the House is expected to vote on this week. The Defense Department's funding request would finance "a comprehensive coordinated cybersecurity information sharing system that will serve as the foundation for cybersecurity information sharing requirements ...
Obama Slashes Border Surveillance by $100 Million, Against Lawmakers’ Wishes
April 11, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
President Obama is asking Congress to dock funding for border security technology by $100 million, just as lawmakers start discussing legislation to require widespread electronic surveillance a decade earlier than planned. An ongoing Homeland Security Department computer project to detect illegal crossings was set for completion within 8.5 years after ...
State Department Looks After the Next Cyber Threat: Africa
April 10, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The federal government increasingly is concentrating diplomatic efforts on protecting Americans from hackers, but less is said about foreign allies who are equally mobile and even more vulnerable. Now, the State Department is paying attention. In emerging economies -- which depend on inexpensive smartphones for everything from banking to crime-fighting ...
Homeland Security No. 2 Departs After Fostering Civilian Cyber Workforce
April 9, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Homeland Security Department second-in-command, who endeavored to boost civilian cybersecurity staffing, is exiting the agency, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Tuesday. Jane Holl Lute plans to enter the field of international Internet affairs, Reuters was the first to report. While at DHS, she strategized to boost morale, if ...
A Week After it was Mysteriously Disabled, U.S. Forces-Korea Website Returns
April 8, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Pentagon early Monday restored the U.S. Forces-Korea website, following a nearly weeklong outage. Officials declined to say who or what prompted what they described as "a hardware failure" that crashed www.usfk.mil early last Tuesday morning. Nor would they comment on whether any data has been compromised. "We appreciate the ...
Hacked U.S. tech contractors oppose anti-China procurement law
April 5, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Technology contractors are warning Congress that a new counter-cyber spy law will leave agencies even more vulnerable to breaches by slowing the purchase of security systems to screen for Chinese-made components. It might seem counterintuitive for companies allegedly robbed of proprietary designs by Chinese hackers to oppose protections. And it’s ...
How do You Create U.S. Cyber Guidelines for Foreign Firms?
April 3, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Fitting foreign companies critical to U.S. society into a domestic cybersecurity framework will be tricky, said a U.S. pharmaceutical executive helping to form the guidelines. On Wednesday, government and industry leaders met for the first time to try hammering out voluntary security standards for private sector networks. A policy is ...
