Digital Government

New Federal EC Bills Touch State Efforts

The House of Representatives has taken up two new pieces of digital signature legislation with implications at the state level.

Digital Government

Feds, industry at odds over data, duties

Recommendations that the government form partnerships with the private sector to stave off an 'electronic Pearl Harbor' won praise from a Defense Department official but drew criticism from privatesector representatives during Congressional testimony last week. Air Force Gen. Robert Marsh chairman

Digital Government

Bill to call for online agency forms

Rep. Anna Eshoo (DCalif.) is crafting legislation that would require federal agencies to create online versions of all their forms and put into place mechanisms that would allow citizens to submit these forms and associated payments such as income tax payments via digital signature technology.

Digital Government

FAA launches comm upgrade

The Federal Aviation Administration is considering a program potentially worth billions of dollars to upgrade its entire air and ground system infrastructure to support data and voice communications. The FAA last month released a request for information (RFI) for the development of its NextGenerat

Digital Government

Security standards to merge

A group of information technology vendors last month announced plans to merge a commercial security standard for sending email messages with one used primarily by the Defense Department a move designed to encourage more federal agencies to use secure email technology. Led by RSA Data Security I

Digital Government

Axent lands AF contract for intrusion detection

The Air Force has tapped Axent Technologies Inc. to supply all its bases worldwide with intrusiondetection and security management products in the first known deployment of commercial security technology by an armedservices branch to protect its entire infrastructure. The Air Force will install A

Digital Government

Fed agencies construct electronic reading rooms both lavish, sparse

Spurred on by amendments to the Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA) agencies have begun to construct a mixed bag of 'electronic reading rooms' to enhance public availability of their records. All federal agencies and departments are required to use information technology to deploy their

Digital Government

NASA fears Web server compromised

NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) last week shut down all accounts on its primary World Wide Web server after officials discovered the system's password directory may have been stolen. The possible security breach was detected this month by the space center's security team. According to an Oct. 9 e

Digital Government

Virus infects communications with Mir

A month after the crew of the space station Mir was plagued by its computer shutting down three times in 15 days NASA last week found itself in a battle on the ground with a computer virus that spread from Houston to Moscow to infect workstations that are used for daily communications with the Mir

Digital Government

Hughes completes key test of EOSDIS

Hughes Information Technology Systems last month successfully demonstrated for the first time the functions of a massive NASA database and archival system that ranks as the largest civilian information system ever built. The test of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

Digital Government

Nonprofits get one-stop shop for federal info

Vice President Al Gore this month unveiled the U.S. NonProfit Gateway Web network which is the administration's latest Internet project to deliver federal information to citizens. With a few minor exceptions the NonProfit Gateway is a wellorganized guide to the sometimesburiedbutalmostalwaysv

Digital Government

NIST preps policy plan

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is finalizing a guide designed to help agencies craft a security policy to ward off widespread vulnerabilities associated with Internet use. While Internet connectivity offers enormous benefits to users it is dangerous for sites with low levels of

Digital Government

Court orders NASA to save space station project e-mail

A federal court recently issued a protective order barring NASA from deleting any electronic mail associated with the design and development of its Space Station Freedom project a predecessor to the International Space Station. The recent order from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims which came to li

Digital Government

'Cyber-radar' will alert feds to CPU break-ins

The Defense Information Systems Agency is finalizing plans for a 'cyberradar' system that would link more than 30 sites throughout the Defense Department and various law enforcement and intelligence agencies to beam realtime reports on computer breakins to a central location. The Automated Intru

Digital Government

Industry Watch

Microsoft delays Win 98 Microsoft Corp. last week said it will delay the launch of Windows 95's successor but the company released to manufacturing a new version of Windows NT designed for missioncritical servers. Microsoft said it now plans to ship Windows 98 in the second quarter of 1998 as oppo

Digital Government

Cecom site moving to all-Internet acquisition system

The Army's CommunicationElectronics Command (Cecom) Acquisition Center which researches develops and acquires warfighting systems has launched a World Wide Webbased electronic interchange that is designed to eventually allow its entire procurement process to be completed via the Internet. Poi

Digital Government

NPR's biggest obstacle to IT

The government's inability to ensure the security and privacy of information exchanged electronically between individuals and the government is 'the single biggest problem in delivering on the promises" of the National Performance Review according to the program's deputy director Greg Woods. Altho

Digital Government

Vendors unveil a variety of mainframe-access solutions

Several vendors are rolling out products to meet what they believe is increasing customer demand for mainframe access via World Wide Web browsers. A diverse group of companies is promoting a range of technical solutions that aim to tap mainframe resources through the ubiquitous Web browsers. Networ

Digital Government

NPR: Still more vision than reality

When Vice President Al Gore introduced the National Performance Review four years ago he envisioned federal agencies moving from 'an Industrial Age government to an Information Age government " reinventing themselves using information technology. Despite some progress the NPR still remains more a

Digital Government

Panel urges greater spending to protect U.S. infrastructure

The federal government should invest $1 billion in information security research and development over the next seven years to shore up the defenses of the nation's critical infrastructures against cyberterrorists and hackers according to a presidential commission. Potential vulnerabilities in infor