Digital Government

Cyberattacks spur new DOD warning system

The Defense Department has created a new alert system to rate the level of threats to its information systems that mirrors the wellknown Defense Conditions (DEFCONs) ratings that mark the overall military status in response to traditional foreign threats.

Digital Government

Cylink sells wireless division to P-Com

Cylink Corp. announced today that it will sell its wireless communications division to PCom Inc. for $60 million and focus solely on its information security division.

Digital Government

NASA's CIO boosts missions

Stunning photographs and models of various spacecraft are displayed prominently in Lee Holcomb's NASA office, a tribute to the allure of the agency's missions that have kept the new chief information officer working at headquarters for more than 20 years. Holcomb, who was named NASA CIO in November

Digital Government

Infosec vendors build test bed for COTS solutions

A group of systems integrators has launched an information technology laboratory to allow federal government clients to test the integration and interoperability of computer security products in a hardware and software scenario that mirrors their own computing environment. Called the Infosec Resear

Digital Government

A trip to DOT's Web site offers transportation lessons

Several federal agencies have begun to follow a 1997 executive order from President Clinton to develop for teachers and students World Wide Web pages that describe and illustrate agencies' missions. One of the more creative educational efforts to date comes from the Transportation Department. Point

Digital Government

Labor's site sets up virtual meetings

While many agency World Wide Web sites are simply electronic brochures describing missions and services, the Labor Department has launched a site that provides users with nearly the same service they would receive if they were to meet personally with a Labor representative. Labor uses a Webbased e

Digital Government

FMS launches trial for digital checks

In a pilot that may help the government meet a mandate to electronically issue all federal payments by next year, the Financial Management Service plans to cut its first electronic check perhaps as early as this week. During the next 18 months, FMS expects to issue as many as 1,000 digital checks p

Digital Government

CIO Council official slams NIST's security response

A top official with the CIO Council this month called for the council to take over control of a civilian computer security response team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and eventually turn it over to the private sector. Mark Boster, deputy chief information officer at the Ju

Digital Government

DOD taps Netscape for security

In a dramatic change of direction, the Defense Department next month plans to turn to commercial products from Netscape Communications Corp. to provide many of the advanced security features slated for the muchdelayed, billiondollar Defense Message System. The Defense Information Systems Agency,

Digital Government

NASA, DOE help Ukraine avoid nuclear disaster

The Chornobyl (formerly spelled Chernobyl) nuclear power plant's concrete enclosure, which is the only barrier between Ukrainians and deadly nuclear radiation, is crumbling, and two U.S. federal agencies are involved in a project to build a stateoftheart information technology system to fix it.

Digital Government

DOD pushes ahead with PKI pilot

The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to roll out a pilot digital signature program based on commercial products this spring for anywhere from 250,000 users to as many as half a million users. The pilot will serve as the test bed for the development of all types of paperless processes throug

Digital Government

FBI to expand computer intrusion reporting program

The FBI plans to roll out to more than 50 cities an intrusiondetection reporting program that will be one of the first largescale examples of private companies working with federal law enforcement agencies to fight computer crime. The FBI is testing the program, called InfraGuard, in Cleveland [F

Digital Government

Computer system abuse soars

More than half of federal agencies report they have been victims of unauthorized use of computer systems, and agencies' financial losses have risen by more than 3,000 percent from last year, according to a report issued this month. The report, conducted jointly by the San Franciscobased Computer S

Digital Government

Cybercenter Will Trace Net Intrusions

Cybercenter Will Trace Net Intrusions

Digital Government

Three more government Web sites hacked

Just days after hackers broke into three Army World Wide Web sites, hackers today broke into three more government Web sites and altered the material on the Web pages.

Digital Government

Costs to agencies escalate as computer misuse increases

More than half of federal agencies recently surveyed have been victims of unauthorized use of computer systems, with agencies' financial losses rising by more than 3,000 percent over last year, according to a new report being issued today.

Digital Government

Three Army Web sites hacked

On the heels of the recent attack on unclassified Pentagon computer systems, three Army World Wide Web sites were hacked March 8.

Digital Government

Reno unveils center to protect infrastructure

Attorney General Janet Reno last week announced an interagency effort to track and analyze electronic threats to the nation's critical infrastructure, such as the private computer systems used to manage the financial, electrical and transportation industries.

Digital Government

OAO builds management solution

As part of a massive desktop and outsourcing project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), OAO Corp. has designed a remote monitoring infrastructure built around management products provided by Boole & Babbage Inc. One of the first federal desktop outsourcing projects, JPL's $200 million Deskt

Digital Government

Thousands of federal computers attacked

Tens of thousands of federal government machines fell victim to a nationwide denialofservice attack earlier this week on Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT computers, according to a government emergency response team member.