Army seeks information on protecting data

Army officials want to find out what procedures and techniques industry uses to protect sensitive data that resides on computers and other systems. A request for information about industry information assurance programs was issued Aug. 27 by the Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. Army officials hope to use the information to put language about data security in future acquisitions The service's Army officials want to know how digital data controlled by contractors is identified, marked and protected from unauthorized access and release. They also want to know how contractors handle encrypted data residing on servers, mobile devices and portable storage media, the service said. Those interested in responding to the request must submit a white paper that describes information assurance program plans, or similar plans, that are in place to control unclassified data. The submission also should include a description of non-technical policies and practices that are used to protect data.