Digital Government

DOD's head of Silicon Valley outreach sees post-Sony opening

Last year's hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment put private industry in a mood to do business with the Pentagon, says the head of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit Experimental.

Cybersecurity

Safeguarding Pentagon health records

Hackers have healthcare data firmly in their sights, and Capt. John Windom is keen to keep the Pentagon’s massive health records system from being the next breach victim.

Cybersecurity

DHS banks on data repository for cyber insurance

Insurance is a market-based way to offset cybersecurity risks in the absence of regulations, but the lack of data and disclosure requirements remains an obstacle to widespread adoption.

Cybersecurity

$37 million in emergency OPM funding left out of CISA

The Senate's information-sharing cybersecurity bill cleared a procedural hurdle Oct. 22, but conspicuously absent from the bill was an amendment for $37 million in funding for the Office of Personnel Management's IT modernization efforts.

Cybersecurity

Senate tees up vote on cyber bill

The Senate moved closer to passing an controversial information-sharing cybersecurity bill with an Oct. 22 procedural vote.

Cybersecurity

Former NSA chief: Data manipulation an 'emerging art of war'

Adversaries' ability to manipulate the content of stored data, a phenomenon that is high on U.S. officials' radar, is an "emerging art of war in cyberspace," former NSA director and retired Gen. Keith Alexander told FCW.

Digital Government

DHS CISO eyes shift from perimeter defense to data protection

Federal agencies are investing heavily in perimeter network defense, but in five years DHS' chief information security officer hopes to see a lot more spending on defense of data.

Cybersecurity

DHS chief defends China cyber accord

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told lawmakers it was too soon to tell whether a recent cyber accord with Beijing was altering Chinese behavior in cyberspace.

Digital Government

Sorry, DOD. Silicon Valley's just not that into you

The Pentagon is increasingly courting start-up firms in Silicon Valley, but Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain is not seeing much enthusiasm in return.

Cybersecurity

Exclusive: Official documents, interviews reveal scope of OPM’s financial woes

The Office of Personnel Management, an agency beleaguered by cyber intrusions and challenged by legacy IT systems, is struggling to come up with the money it needs for crucial IT modernization projects worth at least $117 million, according to agency documents obtained by FCW.

Acquisition

McCain blasts Air Force acquisition of GPS

Arizona Republican John McCain blasted an Air Force program to acquire a next generation operating control system that is central to the service’s GPS modernization plans.

Cybersecurity

Army experiments with cyber warfare

The Army continues to experiment with equipping its land forces with cyber capabilities, a recognition that future combat operations could increasingly have a cyber dimension.

Cybersecurity

Webb: Cyber warfare biggest daily threat to U.S.

Although cybersecurity did not figure prominently in the first Democratic debate, long-shot candidate Jim Webb did single out cyber warfare as an acute threat to national security.

Digital Government

Greg Ambrose to depart VA

The VA's deputy CIO for product development, a veteran of the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, is stepping down after just a few months at the agency.

Digital Government

Army readies new cyber strategy

The Army is prepping a cross-cutting cyber strategy that covers signals intelligence and electronic warfare, and includes an increased presence in Silicon Valley.

Cybersecurity

The thin line between military and civilian cyber defense

U.S. Cyber Command's charge includes working with the Department of Homeland Security to defend critical infrastructure from a cyberattack, and that collaboration is very much a work in progress.

Cybersecurity

Grassley tries to revive 'going dark' legislative fix

The Obama administration may have shelved a legislative plan to force firms to decrypt communications, but Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley is not having it.

Cybersecurity

DARPA still seeking to lay foundation for cybersecurity

The Pentagon's research arm wants to take "whole classes of vulnerabilities" off the table when it comes to cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity

Congress vets DHS cyber reorg plans

Lawmakers on Oct. 7 scrutinized the Department of Homeland Security’s inchoate plan to reorganize its cyber bureau, an exercise they said was overdue.

Acquisition

DOD looks to agile to solve software conundrum

Defense Department acquisition officials see agile development as a possible lifeline in the Pentagon’s struggle with the monumental challenge of refreshing the software in its weapon systems.