TSP's G Fund Helps Delay Debt Ceiling
CBP Could Escape Furloughs
Feds Flock to TSP's L Funds
EIG 2013 as Told by Your Tweets
Boldly Go Where No Fed's Gone Before
The Big Squeeze: Defense Under Sequester
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.
GSA Database May Have Leaked Contractor Banking and Proprietary Information
March 16, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
A flaw in a government contracting database might have allowed vendors or federal workers to steal other vendors' financial information and trade secrets. Late Friday, the General Services Administration said in a statement that GSA officials found "a security vulnerability" in a registration system "which could allow some existing users ...
Officials Worry About Vulnerability of Global Nuclear Stockpile to Cyber Attack
March 13, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Senators requested a national intelligence assessment of foreign nations’ abilities to protect their nuclear weapons from digital strikes after the Pentagon's chief cyber officer said he does not know whether China, Russia or other nuclear powers, aside from the United States, have effective safeguards in place. What’s more, the resiliency ...
Federal Cybersecurity Misses Targets in Annual Report
March 12, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
More government programs violated data security law standards in 2012 than in the previous year, the White House has informed Congress. At the same time, computer security costs have increased by more than $1 billion, according to the executive branch’s yearly report on compliance with the 2002 Federal Information Security ...
NIST Works to Drum Up Cyber Standards Support
March 11, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has started visiting businesses to rally support for a nationwide cybersecurity program called for by a February executive order. The Feb. 12 mandate directed NIST, a Commerce Department agency, to develop standard guidelines for protecting computer operations in key sectors. On Monday, at ...
Is Carhacking a Serious Threat? Some Analysts Think So.
March 8, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
A U.S. senator drives from Capitol Hill to her home in Virginia, listening to the CD a constituent gave her. Going with the speed of traffic at 60 miles per hour, her brakes suddenly engage. Then an SUV rams the politician’s sedan from behind, killing her on impact. It turns ...
DHS Worries More About a ‘Fundamental Attack’ in Cyberspace than Theft, Napolitano says
March 8, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Homeland Security Department is more devoted to preempting a future cyberattack that could upend the economy or kill civilians than countering ongoing cyber fraud, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said of her agency's multifaceted network protection agenda. “From a standpoint of where we focus most of our efforts -- we ...
DARPA to Turn off Funding for Hackers Pursuing Cybersecurity Research
March 7, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Pentagon is scuttling a program that awards grants to reformed hackers and security professionals for short-term research with game-changing potential, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab. The Cyber Fast Track program, first reported by Nextgov, is managed by Peiter Zatko, a gray-hat hacker himself who goes by the nickname ...
GSA Will Stop Recruiting Cloud Security Testers Until the Fall
March 6, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The government's new program for certifying the safety of browser-based software will not be able to recruit additional testers until the fall, federal officials told Nextgov. Currently, there are 16 government-approved independent testing firms assessing the security of dozens of cloud provider data centers to make sure they are up ...
Thrifty Nuclear Terrorism Nanodetectors Delayed by Funding Uncertainty
March 5, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Energy Department this month announced plans to prop up nanotechnology sensors at airports and other U.S. entry points for detecting nuclear substances, but there is no rollout timetable because of budget uncertainty, according to operators of the counterterrorism program. The new nanotech sensors can be produced for less than ...
Government Canine Handlers Furloughed? Bring in the Robotic Dog Collars.
March 4, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
This spring, Labrador retrievers wearing virtual leashes will begin nosing around for explosives to make work easier for federal law enforcement personnel, according to contracting papers. The five dogs, which will be delivered to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives starting in May, are part of an experiment ...
