Is Your Privacy Worth 50 Foiled Terror Plots?
Postal Service Eyes Cuba
Tangherlini As GSA's Mr. Fix-It?
Lew Cleans Up Signature for the Nation's Currency
The Plan to Open More Military Jobs to Women
Should Leaders Ever Lie?
AUTHOR ARCHIVES
Brittany Ballenstedt
Blogger
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
DHS Creates Cyber Internships for Community College Students, Veterans
April 22, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Homeland Security Department on Thursday announced a new honors program designed to draw students to cybersecurity programs at community colleges. The new Cyber Student Initiative, which is part of the Secretary Honors Program announced last fall, is an attempt to engage community college students, including veterans, in cybersecurity work ...
Homeland Security Acts on Cyber Workforce Recommendations
April 19, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The Homeland Security Department is working to implement 11 recommendations from an advisory council to better develop, recruit and retain sophisticated cybersecurity talent. In a webinar on Thursday sponsored by Government Executive and Northrop Grumman, Dr. Doug Maughan, director of the cybersecurity division at DHS, said the department is moving ...
Tech Pros Often Don't Negotiate Salary, But They Should
April 18, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Qualified technology professionals continue to be in high demand, so it’s a bit of a surprise that more than half accept job offers without negotiating salaries or hourly rates. While this may be good news for government -- which often has little room to negotiate salaries because of preset pay ...
Is Big Data a Big Problem?
April 18, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
While big data could provide tremendous value to federal agencies, it also poses challenges for agencies that do not have adequate staff to leverage it, according to a new study. The study "Big Data, Big Brains," released Thursday by MeriTalk and NetApp, found that all 17 federal and private sector ...
House Passes Bill to Enhance Cyber Workforce
April 17, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The House on Tuesday passed legislation that aims to help the federal government recruit, hire and train cybersecurity workers. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (H.R. 756), sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, passed the House by a vote of 402-16. The bill would establish a task force with representatives from the ...
New Tool Can Help Agencies Assess Cyber Skills
April 17, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
A new tool released Wednesday can help organizations like federal agencies to better recruit cybersecurity talent and assess the skills of current cyber staff. The new CyberTalent Assessment Tool, developed by the SANS Institute, helps recruiters and HR professionals have a better understanding of cyber job candidates, particularly in verifying ...
Teaching Teens About Tech
April 16, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
One industry group is hoping to educate youngsters on how the technology and devices nearly all of them use actually work, in hopes of inspiring the next generation of IT professionals. Todd Thibodeaux, CEO of CompTIA, said last week that the trade association is launching a new effort in hopes ...
Companies Partner With NIST to Share Cyber Staff
April 16, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Eleven private organizations on Monday agreed to partner with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to share cybersecurity staff and best practices to help better combat cyber threats. In a signing ceremony at NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, the 11 organizations agreed to collaborate with federal agencies as ...
Cybersecurity Jobs Continue to Pay Better Than Others
April 15, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
Demand for cybersecurity professionals continues to climb, and while overall pay for security staff dipped slightly this year, cyber pros are still earning more than their counterparts in general IT jobs, according to a new survey. InformationWeek’s 2013 Salary Survey of 682 IT security professionals found the strong market for ...
Is Government Cool Again for IT Pros?
April 12, 2013
FROM NEXTGOV
The government often gets a bad rap for lacking the “cool factor” when it comes to attracting and hiring talented technology professionals into federal jobs. But one expert contends that the government may well be the “coolest” place to work if you’re an IT pro. “I think people in the ...
