Modernization

Education data at risk again

Two laptop computers stolen Aug. 11 from a contractor's Washington, D.C., office may have exposed Social Security numbers.

People

Ransom payments set maps free

Jared Benedict raised enough money to centralize 56,000 digital topographic maps in the Internet Archive and make them available for free download.

People

NARA must improve ERA expense plan

The agency has made progress in creating a detailed expense plan for its electronic archives, but GAO auditors say more work remains to be done.

People

Education will alert borrowers to Web glitch

The department plans to contact all 21,000 borrowers who might have been affected by a security breach on its student loan site.

People

Commerce awards Apogen two contracts

Collectively worth $5.5 million, the contracts are for Web-based application development and computer programming for the Census Bureau.

People

Education gets new IT chief

William Vajda, a former NSA information technology official, will oversee the department’s IT efforts to gather data for student assessments under the No Child Left Behind Act.

People

GAO: More specifics needed on e-archive project

NARA's fiscal 2006 appropriations act requires the agency to submit an expenditure plan before allotting funds to the ERA program.

People

NASA’s next mission: Find the missing moonwalk video

High-quality Apollo 11 recordings vanish.

Cybersecurity

Justice adopts vulnerability scanner

The department will use AppDetective to check for and reduce database vulnerabilities.

People

SSA solicits encryption info

The agency's telecommunications office is seeking contractors that can provide a commercial encryption product for data in its Windows 2003 file servers.

Cybersecurity

Unisys offers reward for stolen desktop PC

Unisys, the VA and the FBI have announced a reward of as much as $50,000 for information leading to the recovery of the desktop computer stolen Aug. 7.

Cybersecurity

Nicholson: All VA computers to get security upgrade

Laptop computers will receive the critical data security encryption programs first. Desktop computers will follow.

People

GPO dots the i’s on a new performance-based contract

Safeguards and incentives could make it a model for other agencies, observers say.

People

Labor seeks IT system for online forms

The Employee Benefits and Security Administration will release a request for proposals Sept. 1 for a wholly outsourced information technology system to process and store electronically filed forms.

People

Agencies still in the red on financial performance

Score cards continue to show low grades for most agencies.

People

Census director raises a red flag about the upcoming e-census

Officials warn that several factors threaten to spoil their plans for an electronic census.

People

Study finds low e-records IQ

Many employees don’t know their agencies’ policies for storing and disposing of e-records.

People

IBM buys FileNet

The California-based provider of enterprise content management software is being purchased for about $1.6 billion, or $35 a share.

Cybersecurity

Arrests in VA laptop case please congressman

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) said it was lucky that the veterans' data was not accessed and misused.

People

VA releases details of missing computer

The department believes the records involved are limited to people who received treatment at medical centers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the past four years.