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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.
Pentagon will require security standards for critical infrastructure networks
February 15, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The first-ever cybersecurity certification requirements for private utilities and other vital infrastructure supporting the military are set to be released this fall and take effect within a year, Pentagon officials told Nextgov. The Defense Department rules had been in the works before President Obama on Tuesday issued an executive order ...
Napolitano: Sequestration Could Compromise U.S. Computer Networks
February 14, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The day after President Obama tasked the Homeland Security Department with persuading operators of dams and other vital commercial systems to secure their computers, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said impending budget hacks could weaken the department’s ability to carry out the job. Given that some Republicans seem open to letting ...
Obama’s cyber executive order lays foundation for mandatory regulations
February 12, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Late Tuesday, President Obama signed an executive order on cybersecurity that offers industry more carrots than sticks to lay the groundwork for eventually mandating security standards and corresponding privacy protections. The long-awaited order and accompanying policy directive, which Obama signed before delivering his State of the Union address, call for ...
Defense and the intelligence community pursue conflicting cloud plans
February 12, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The intelligence community and Pentagon each are developing portable technology services for exchanging information such as cyber threats -- but the arrangements are incompatible right now. The Defense Department's "joint information environment" and the intelligence arena's "intelligence community information technology environment" share the same goal of decreasing costs and increasing ...
Hackers execute sophisticated strike on government cybersecurity contractor Bit9
February 11, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Unprotected computers at a cybersecurity contractor that services the Defense Information Systems Agency and many other federal agencies were compromised in a way that enabled the company's product to run viruses on customer networks. The incident echoes a 2011 hack job at security vendor RSA where outsiders stole the contractor's ...
DNA Backlog Stymies Development of 'CSI'-like Inventions
February 8, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The need to clear a bottleneck of unanalyzed DNA is undermining the Justice Department's ability to drive innovations that could more quickly solve both the backlog problem and new cases, some law enforcement experts say. While police technology is nowhere close to what audiences see on forensic science dramas such ...
Prospects for Comprehensive Cyber Reform Are Questionable
February 7, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Congress is unlikely to pass a comprehensive cybersecurity reform bill this year, largely because public concern about computer hacking doesn’t sway elections, a recently-departed House Homeland Security Committee senior aide said. That prospect is likely to change only after an event involving major property damage, casualties and a direct connection ...
Should feds adopt a DNA program that cracked a 1999 Dutch murder case?
February 6, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The National Academy of Sciences unsuccessfully recommended the federal government establish an independent agency for advancing forensic science similar to one in the Netherlands that recently helped authorities conduct a DNA sweep to nab a rapist who in 1999 murdered a 16-year-old. The academy in 2009 advised the U.S. government ...
Menu of safety-approved cloud products grows to three
February 4, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Federal agencies soon will have more options when shopping for certified cloud facilities that don’t need security tests. Following the first-ever low-risk guarantee, which was granted to Autonomic Resources in late December 2012, the Web services supplier on Friday said private networks soon will be available for instant installation. And ...
Defense positions a military cyber squad on DHS turf
February 1, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Pentagon plans to deploy a military cyber squad to guard U.S. networks sustaining hospitals and other vital commercial sectors drew hopeful skepticism from technology experts -- and silence from counterparts at the Homeland Security Department. A recently-disclosed blueprint shows the Defense Department would significantly expand Cyber Command, which has been ...
