Modernization

Pentagon Buys Untested Mobile Security System for 300,000 Users

Contract did not require a past performance evaluation of vendors tapped to configure smartphones and tablets.

Digital Government

Congressional Picks for DHS Head Include Backers of Mass Surveillance

Names floated include lawmakers, a former New York Police Department commissioner and a former Coast Guard commandant.

Digital Government

Iris Recognition Specs for DHS Employee IDs Are No Longer Hypothetical

NIST has finalized guidelines for exchanging eye images between cameras and card readers.

Cybersecurity

Hacker Conference to Feds: Stay Home

Many in the community are 'uncomfortable with this relationship' after NSA revelations, says event founder, himself a DHS adviser.

Emerging Tech

Ground-Attack Aircraft Radar to Outmaneuver Overcast Skies

L-3 Communications secures a $2.6 million Pentagon deal to build sensors that use extremely high frequency radio technology to see through clouds.

Digital Government

Finalists Exhibit Tech for $465 Million Virtual Border Fence

The installation of more surveillance towers has drawn rare bipartisan support in the immigration reform debate.

Digital Government

Commerce Trashes $170,000 Worth of Tech to Disinfect Imaginary Viruses

IG: Computer Incident Response Team member assigned to handle the perceived malware wasn't trained, lacked critical skills.

Cybersecurity

Fourth of July Rallies Protest NSA Surveillance

Marchers demanded freedom from the agency's 'unreasonable searches and seizures.'

Cybersecurity

Manager Likely Rubberstamped Snowden’s Foreign Travel

Intelligence community employees must report overseas travel in advance, but a trip to the Far East wouldn't necessarily be scrutinized, officials say.

Cybersecurity

NSA Networks Might Have Been Missing Anti-Leak Technology

Former agency official says a Defensewide system aimed at countering insider threats was not installed as of summer 2012.

Cybersecurity

Pentagon Signs $5 Million Deal for Cyber Battleground

The contract with Apogee Research is part of Plan X, a DARPA program for developing cyberattack gear.

Digital Government

NSA Chief Delivers Pep Talk to Spy Staff

An agencywide memo from Gen. Keith Alexander states he will 'take the heat' for the controversy over ongoing domestic surveillance.

Cybersecurity

Facebook Failed to Notify Federal Social Media Community about Data Leak

A programming error allowed users to see other users’ confidential email addresses and phone numbers.

Digital Government

Senate Champion of NSA's Mammoth Data Center Is Now Silent

Republican Orrin Hatch welcomed the $1.2 billion Utah complex as a tool to protect computer systems from cyber threats, but its role is actually much broader.

Cybersecurity

Auditors and IRS Pan Tax Regulations for Bitcoins

The agency lacks time and money for formal rules on collecting revenue for income earned through the virtual currency.

Cybersecurity

IG: DHS Does Not Track Security Training of System Administrator Contractors

Department relies on companies to perform work historically done by government employees.