GovernmentExecutive.com

Headlines from around the Web for Friday, March 14, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

Bush Calls for Tighter Cybersecurity
USA Today
The increase and severity of data breaches in the United States in the past year have prompted Bush to recommend a 10 percent increase in cybersecurity funding for the coming fiscal year, to $7.3 billion. That's a 73 percent increase since 2004.

FCC Defends Its Database, Management Tools
InformationWeek
The Federal Communications Commission responded to a 53-page Government Accountability Office report that says the commission doesn't properly collect and analyze data, making it impossible to analyze the effectiveness of its enforcement. According to employees, the FCC has made some changes toward improvement and the GAO report is based on old information and inaccuracies.

D.C. Subway Moves Toward Cell Reception in Tunnels
The Washington Post
Metro is taking the first step toward building a new wireless system that would let all riders talk on their cellphones while riding the subway after years of customer complaints that only Verizon users can get reception underground. This network also would also support Metro's plan to provide real-time information and advertising on flat-panel monitors in rail cars, train stations and buses.

Project Management Skills Still in Short Supply, CIO Council Finds
Federal Computer Week
A CIO Council Information Technology Workforce Capability Assessment issued on Thursday found that the number of respondents who said they are project managers decreased by 3.4 percent since 2004, and their proficiency in the skills necessary has remained largely unchanged.

Congressman Issues Warning Over Contractor Bill
Washington Technology
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday passed the Contractors and Federal Spending Accountability Act, and Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) is warning this could result in the removal of prominent government contractors.

Maxwell Air Force Base Has High-Tech Aims
The Montgomery Advertiser
The 754th Electronic Systems Group at Gunter Annex has changed its approach to cybersecurity. Recognizing that the enemy will, at times, access military networks, the group aims to protect information from within.

Md. Governor Joins Tech Tax Opposition
The Baltimore Sun
Gov. Martin O'Malley threw his support behind a growing effort to repeal a $200 million tax on computer services. The governor, a Democrat, said it was unfair to expand the sales tax to just one industry and echoed the sentiments of many lawmakers who believe the application of the levy was not thoroughly vetted when it was approved in November.

Cyber-Curious Seniors Explore the Digital Age
The Baltimore Sun
Senior citizens once adverse to the technology have begun exploring e-mail and instant messaging to stay in touch with friends, children and grandchildren. To aid them in their quest, senior centers, retirement communities and long-term care facilities have opened Internet cafes and have begun offering classes to teach older Americans what many of them swore they would never need.

FBI Found to Misuse Security Letters
The Washington Post
The FBI has increasingly used administrative orders to obtain the personal records of U.S. citizens rather than foreigners implicated in terrorism or counterintelligence investigations, and at least once it relied on such orders to obtain records that a special intelligence-gathering court had deemed protected by the First Amendment, according to two government audits released Thursday.

In an editorial in the New York Times Thursday, the paper calls the 2007 Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act, " a bad idea compounded by the notoriously bad state of federal government records."

The act would, among other things, "force all workers, including citizens, to prove they have a right to earn a living," by relying on the Social Security Administration to verify Social Security numbers for workers, the paper contends. The problem is that one SSA database has a 4 percent error rate, which would mean possibly thousands of workers would face firings and discrimination.

Other federal databases contain errors. The inspector general at the Justice Department reported last year that the Terrorist Watch List, which is used to screen 270 million people a month to identify possible terrorists, has a large error rate. "In an examination of 105 records, for example, the auditors found that 38 percent of the records contained errors or inconsistencies that the [Terrorist Screening Center's] own quality-assurance efforts had not found," according to a Washington Post article.

As the federal government relies more on information technology to support critical decisions, the importance of how clean its data is rises.

How confident are you that your data is error free?

Headlines from around the Web for Thursday, March 13, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

How Did H-1B Visas Get Such a Bad Reputation?
NetworkWorld
As the April 1 deadline to file H-1B visa applications nears, the debate is heating up among IT industry watchers and skilled workers over whether the often maligned program adequately serves U.S. companies or American workers as it was originally intended.

Harvard Grad Students Hit in Computer Intrusion
ComputerWorld
Harvard University is offering a year of free credit monitoring to over 6,000 individuals after their Social Security numbers were compromised when a Web server for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was hacked in February.

CIOs Promote 'Fusion' Strategy
ComputerWorld
Forget about mere IT-business alignment. At many companies, the new name of the game is melding technology and business operations, with CIOs getting a say in setting not only IT plans but business strategies as well.

Microsoft Executives Urge More Long Term U.S. Investment in Tech
InformationWeek
The United States risks falling behind other countries in innovation if the government doesn't invest and shape policy to keep it ahead,Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and chief research officer Craig Mundie warned in a speech and discussion with Virginia's technology leaders Thursday.

United States, Germany Will Share Biometric Data
Federal Computer Week
The United States and Germany will share some biometric information in their respective fingerprint databases, officials from both countries announced Tuesday. It is hoped the arrangement will help stymie the efforts of known and suspected terrorists from entering each country.

Is Parallel Computing the Next Big Thing?
CIO Insight
Parallel computing has been hyped for years as the next big thing in technology. But now, Microsoft's chief research officer thinks it's time to set the company's long-term technological direction in line with this idea.

NTP Soon to Feature Extra Timeliness
Government Computer News
Internet Engineer Task Force engineers are sharpening the Network Time Protocol's granularity of time measurements, as well as making the veritable time-synchronization standard compatible with version 6 of the Internet Protocol.

Winter Olympics Security Hinges on Information Sharing
Washington Technology
Information sharing needs to improve between the U.S. and Canadian governments, and between public agencies and the private sector, to prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, an industry expert told Congress yesterday.

Password-Stealing Hackers Infect Thousands of Web Pages
InfoWorld
According to McAfee researchers, hackers looking to steal passwords used in popular online games have infected more than 10,000 Web pages in recent days. The infected Web sites look no different than before, but the attackers have added a small bit of JavaScript code that redirects visitors' browsers to an invisible attack launched from the China-based servers.

Next Tax Proposed to Replace Md. Tech Tax
The Baltimore Sun
Support is mounting in the General Assembly for a plan to replace Maryland's new computer services tax with an income tax surcharge on top earners. If approved, the income tax would take effect July 1, the day the technology tax would otherwise go into effect.

Government Executive's Bob Brewin reports today that the Pentagon has come closer than ever to admitting it will engage in offensive cyberwarfare if provoked, including knocking out satellites and networks operated by adversaries. That's not a good idea, says Richard Clarke, former special advisor on cybersecurity for President Bush who spoke today at the inaugural Source Boston security conference, according to an InfoWorld article.

"The concept of mutually assured destruction that was employed by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War to discourage nuclear attack doesn't port well to the world of cyberspace, but the president's advisors seem to think that it will, he said," InfoWorld reports.

Says Clarke:

In cyber-space, who knows what capability anybody has? It's much more important to know what you could do if someone launched an attack on the U.S., how much could [someone] really shut down and what would be the effect, I suspect that the U.S. is much more vulnerable than other countries, because we are more wired and dependent on cyberspace. China has structured its infrastructure such that it can shut itself off, and create [its] own environment if it wants to; so it seems that there are asymmetries.

Clarke says the United States should focus more on telling American corporations and government agencies where common infrastructures and applications are vulnerable and how to patch them.

Richard Clarke, former special adviser on cybersecurity for President Bush and an outspoken critic of the Bush administration, recently criticized Bush's national electronic security initiative Bush signed in January. According to an article posted by InfoWorld today, Clarke raised the specter that Americans' privacy could be at stake because the imitative focuses on "securing the government's own computing and communications networks, and adopting a more proactive approach to engaging in cyber-warfare," according to the article.

If that is true, Clarke says:

There's the idea that somehow these are government networks that we're talking about, but they really aren't, all these government sites are running through the same network of routers and the same fiber channels as everything else, there's no segmentation on these carrier networks. This means that [the plan's authors] either don't know that and merely think they need to reinforce security on state-owned servers, or data in their own facilities, in which case thy are missing most of the problem, or that they plan to do monitoring of everything going through the carriers' systems.

Headlines from around the Web for Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

Bill Gates Says Immigration, Education Reform Needed For U.S. To Compete
InformationWeek
Bill Gates told members of the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology they need to to help America remain globally competitive by increasing funding for science and math education, basic science research, and to raise the cap on green cards and H-1B visas for foreign talent.

A Heart Device Is Found Vulnerable to Hacker Attacks
The New York Times
While the threat is largely theoretical, a team of computer security researchers plans to report that it had been able to gain wireless access to a combination heart defibrillator and pacemaker, reprogramming it to shut down and to deliver jolts of electricity that would potentially be fatal — if the device had been in a person.

Philadelphia Pays Consultant $200,000 for Wi-Fi Work
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia's CIO admitted on Tuesday that Wireless Philadelphia, the municipal Wi-Fi network that was to be built for free, has a $200,000 price tag in the form of a consultant serving as technical project manager.

Union Decries Increasing Number of Outsourced IT Contracts for California
The Sacramento Bee
A report compiled by the Service Employees International Union notes information technology contracts awarded by the state have tripled since 2003, and California could save up to $100 million annually by reducing its reliance on contractors.

New Collaboration Tools Provide Support to Soldiers Anywhere, Anytime
Government Computer News
The Army’s Telemaintenance Program, based at Fort Monmouth, N.J., can provide this direct support to warfighters by using a combination of Adobe Connect Professional, satellite communications, a headset and laptop PC. Similar satellite communications are proving essential for the U.S. Africa Command.

CDT Launches Health Privacy Initiative
InfoWorld
Privacy needs to be a higher priority as the U.S. government and other groups push for adoption of health IT as a way to improve the country's healthcare system, said the Center for Democracy and Technology , which has launched a health privacy initiative.

Box Repels Youths, but Adults Can't Hear It
The Baltimore Sun
A British inventor's security device repels youths with its high-pitched pulsating sound that can mostly be heard only by teens and people in their early to mid-20s. And it's being used and abused on both sides of the Atlantic now.

It’s Easy, and Expensive, to Forget About Old Equipment
The New York Times
Sloppy inventory control can cause major headaches for companies -- including potential tax and legal consequences. So one entrepreneur has started a company to develop a method for continuous tracking of assets from the warehouse receiving dock to the dumpster.

U.S. News & World Report outlines in an article posted today five ways you use your PC can get you fired. Of course, there's the viewing of inappropriate content and playing games like Solitaire. (New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg fired an employee after seeing the game on his computer monitor.) But also included on the list are some not-so-obvious uses, such as blogging, posting photos on your social network site and writing inappropriate or offensive emails. These offenses happen more than you may think: "Nearly one third of bosses have fired workers for misusing the Internet, according to a recent study by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute," U.S. News reports.

Headlines from around the Web for Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

Tech Companies Feel Skilled Labor Shortage
NetworkWorld
The National Foundation for American Policy released Monday its findings that U.S. technology and defense companies average 470 and 1,265 high-skilled job openings, respectively. Research was conducted between December 2007 and February 2008.

Senator Describes Black Market in H-1B Visas
ComputerWorld
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said yesterday that the White House isn't enforcing the H-1B program, and he cited a number of abuses in a letter to Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff asking him to detail what the department is doing to enforce the program.

Security Must Evolve, CERT Official Says
ComputerWorld
Security has to evolve into something that supports business, rather than the other way around, according to Lisa Young, senior member of the technical staff at Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team. She explains the tendency is to want to start locking things down, so security is something that disables, not enables, business.

Should You Hire a Convicted Hacker?
InformationWeek
The very skills that can land hackers behind bars are skills they share with high-achieving, law-abiding IT security professionals. However, convicted hackers looking for legitimate employment are not necessarily finding it in the enterprise after they complete their sentences. Some high-profile hackers have become teachers, lecturers and journalists.

Coast Guard Tests Fingerprinting at Borders
USA Today
In an ongoing test program, the Coast Guard has been taking digital fingerprints of people picked up on boats headed to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic. The fingerprints are then checked against a government database that shows deportation orders and criminal records; this practice has led to more than 100 prosecutions in the past year.

Ohio Supreme Court Refuses to Interfere with Secretary of State's Directive for Paper Ballots
Government Technology
The Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously denied the Union County Commissioners' request for an order that would have prevented Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner from implementing a recent directive she issued to require county boards of elections using touch screen machines to have backup paper ballots available for voters who want them.

Candidates Use Predictive Analytics to Seek Votes
eWeek
With only so much money to go around, candidates are trying to court voters in smart ways. One emerging method is microtargeting, a means of helping campaigns target their funds toward the right voters — those who haven't decided to vote for another candidate achieved by analyzing combinations of demographic, marketing and other forms of data.

Cyber Storm II Underway
Federal Computer Week
Players from nine states, four foreign governments, 18 federal agencies and 40 private companies that work in information technology, telecommunications, chemicals, and pipe and rail transportation infrastructure have begum the weeklong exercise sponsored by the Homeland Security Department.

NSA Extends Access Control to Network Storage
Government Computer News
The National Security Agency is leading an effort to extend its access control work into the arena of network file storage. Their approach calls for deploying the NSA's security architecture so organizations can ensure that machine intruders don't hijack programs to execute malicious tasks.

Fed Networks Increasingly Under Siege
Federal Times
Last year, federal agencies reported more than 5,600 cases of computer attacks, intrusions, probes and plantings of malicious code from unseen enemies around the world. That’s up 56 percent from the previous year and up 80 percent from two years ago, according to a new report by the Office of Management and Budget.

Headlines from around the Web for Monday, March 10, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

IT Harnesses the Power of Project Management
Network World
With an ecomonic downturn in sight, Industry watchers argue project and portfolio management (PPM) processes - in some cases augmented with commercial tools - can help IT managers deliver more successful projects, prioritize projects based on business need, and maximize financial resources when deploying technology.

ICANN Looks Toward End of U.S. Agreement in '09
ComputerWorld
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is starting to look at how the organization might function after its current memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Commerce expires in September 2009, suggesting it should become independent of Commerce Department oversight. Representatives from countries other than the U.S. question why the American government should have primary oversight of the organization.

U.S. Military Restricts Google Maps
InformationWeek
When the Department of Defense became aware that Google's roving photographic vehicles had taken pictures of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, and that images of the base were loaded onto Google Maps' Street View feature, military officials contacted Google to make clear that Google's image capture efforts are not allowed on bases and other restricted sites.

Online Vote Discussed for Florida
Miami Herald
While the Democratic Party debates redoing the Florida presidential primary, advocates of Internet voting say they could orchestrate a voting process that would offer security at least equal to that of an equally rare ballot by mail, while attracting more voters -- and at about half the cost.

New Sign Emerges of IT Job Weakness
CIO Insight
According to a CIO Insight analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, for the first time in nearly three years, the number of people employed by IT services firms has declined, ending a 32-month stretch of employment gains in the sector the government tags computer systems design and related services.

CREW: White House Misled Court About Missing E-Mail
Federal Computer Week
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group participating in a lawsuit against the Bush administration over the alleged loss of millions of e-mail messages, asked a federal court to hold administration officials in contempt, saying the Office of Administration’s chief information officer appeared to have knowingly submitted false, misleading and incomplete information to the court in January.

VA Adopts Microsoft's Rights Management Services
Government Computer News
When Veterans' Affairs employees send Word, PowerPoint or Excel files, or Outlook e-mail messages to others, they can set permissions on what the recipients can do with those documents. This is one measure the department is taking in hopes of increasing its data security.

States Falling in Line with Read ID
Government Computer News
All but four states have made preparations to comply with a May 1 deadline for compliance with the federal Real ID law, according to specialists inside and outside the federal government. However, a number of states are grappling with the technical issues of setting up systems that will ensure that applicants for driver's licenses are vetted for proof of identity and legal presence in the country.

AF Cyberstrategy to Focus on Disrupting Attacks
Washington Technology
The new Air Force Cyber Command issued a strategic vision statement Thursday outlining the military unit’s goal of strengthening cyberspace capabilities to defend national interests. The report noted The Cyber Command’s vision is to develop capabilities to defend against cyber attacks, to “create effects” in cyberspace against hostile attackers and to integrate those abilities with the military’s other systems.

Rural Internet Access in Maryland on Hold
The Washington Times
Though state lawmakers voted two years ago to set aside the money to build a "spine" of fiber-optic cable in three rural regions of the state where Internet-service providers don't always provide high-speed access, work has stopped at the Choptank River. Enivronment officials declare a $1-a-foot annual permit is required in order for the cables to put in place.

Food Industry Tests Techno-Tasters to Judge Flavor
The Washington Post
The successful test of an electronic tongue and nose was one of several in recent years hinting that automated food and beverage sensors may someday match, or even outperform, their human counterparts. Illustrating this point is the USDA, which has begun testing a machine to grade sides of beef.

Concerns that the Total Information Awareness system (a network to sift through Americans' personal data) never truly was killed, was resurrected (again) by the Wall Street Journal in an article published March 10. "According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency [National Security Agency] now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records," according to the article. The Journal cites a Federal Bureau of Investigation program to track telecommunications data called the Digital Collection System, which has attracted the attention of Congress.

One of those speculating that this has been going on for some time has been National Journal's Shane Harris.