People

DIA names Melissa Drisko as deputy

Drisko, a career intelligence official and former director of science and technology at DIA, will assume the role in August.

Cybersecurity

Lawmakers mull full command status for Cyber Command

The move would acknowledge the maturation of the five-year-old command as it supports U.S. operations against Islamic State and other high-level missions.

Cybersecurity

DHS sets privacy rules for mobile apps

The guidelines require DHS mobile apps to have a privacy policy that is accessible to users before and after installation of the app.

Digital Government

DHS issues solicitation for Security Operations Center

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a solicitation for a suite of cyber tools to better protect the agency’s own networks.

Cybersecurity

DOD wants tools to support cyberstrategy

In June or July, the Defense Department's Rapid Reaction Technology Office plans to host a pitch session with firms capable of providing a suite of sophisticated IT security capabilities.

Digital Government

State Department's database vulnerabilities are nothing new

The Consular Consolidated Database has endured IT glitches in the past, and a former U.S. official tells FCW that the system's architecture remains vulnerable to hacking.

Modernization

Army looks to the 'micro cloud' for cyber defense

The Army 'cyber challenge,' administered through the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley outpost, asks tech firms to help develop the service’s cloud infrastructure.

Digital Government

DOD unveils manufacturing center at MIT

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the advanced materials hub will be a boon for the Defense Department's application of new wearable technologies and other gadgets.

Modernization

Army releases long-term networking plan

The 2025-2040 plan calls for attention to dynamic computing; more quickly distilling data into actionable information; human cognitive enhancement; robotics and autonomy; and cybersecurity.

People

DOD's single IT service provider seeks to get synchronized

One challenge the Joint Service Provider has faced is simply getting IT personnel from across the National Capitol Region in the same place.

Cybersecurity

DHS: Over 300 incidents of ransomware on federal networks since June

Two prominent senators had asked the departments of Justice and Homeland Security about the spread of ransomware, which encrypts a computer user’s data until hackers are paid off, usually in the form of a difficult-to-trace crypto-currency.

Modernization

IG: DOD behind on data centers

Consolidating data centers to save money has been a signature initiative of Defense Department CIO Terry Halvorsen, but the DOD inspector general says the department is lagging.

Digital Government

DOD's Work: Automated data can help beat ISIS

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work recently returned from Silicon Valley, where he met with an analytics firm that can ingest open-source data and turn it into national security insights.

Digital Government

OMB gives mobile the category management treatment

The draft policy, the third in a set of category management directives, directs agencies to report all mobile service use and pricing data to a central system.

Cybersecurity

Dunford: U.S. has work to do in cyber deterrence

Improvements in identifying hackers, hardening networks and devices, and managing escalation are needed if the U.S. military is to hone its cyber deterrence, said Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

People

Defense chief's email reveals management style, private-sector outreach

The Defense Department has released 1,336 pages of messages and attachments associated with Secretary Ash Carter's personal email account, some of which shed light on his management style and private-sector outreach.

Modernization

DOD updates cloud requirements guide

This is the second iteration of the SRG, which provides security requirements for DOD missions up to the secret level as they adopt commercial cloud services.

Acquisition

DISA tweaks RFP for $17.5B contracting vehicle

Officials hope Encore III can vault the Pentagon into a new era of secure and interoperable IT use.

Cybersecurity

NIST is looking for a few good cryptographers

NIST's Computer Security Division wants to hire 15 cryptographers over the next five years to tackle emerging areas such as quantum and lightweight cryptography.

Modernization

TRANSCOM wants an IT service 'library'

TRANSCOM's Command, Control, Communications, and Cyber Systems Directorate is in the early stages of adopting an IT "infrastructure library" of best practices to improve the directorate's IT service management.