We’re all addicted. Consumers spent 37.5 hours per month accessing apps on their phones in 2014, up 63 percent in just two years, according to the consumer research giant Nielsen. […]

Cloud is all about speed. Cost savings are great and agility is great, but it’s the potential to increase the speed – and therefore effectiveness – of government that is cloud’s greatest potential benefit. […]

Federal CIO Tony Scott might have set the tone for the day when he said the essence of cloud is speed. Cost savings are great, and agility is cool, but speed is what will make the biggest difference, he said. If you didn’t catch Tony there, you can still see him here. But he was […]

Decades of funding shortfalls and tired legacy systems are to blame for the massive data breach at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), says OPM Director Katherine Archuleta, who defended her agency and its staff under heavy questioning in Congress last week. Case in point: OPM was using the most basic version of Einstein, the […]

Hackers stole sensitive information on 21.5 million people in a recently disclosed cyber-attack that breached the Federal government’s database of security background checks, Politico’s David Perera has reported. MeriTalk yesterday said the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was preparing to disclose details of the new hack this week. OPM has previously said 4.2 million current […]

The government created the Internet. Now it’s almost full, and you may have to take a number if you want in. The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), the group that hands out the numerical codes, said last week it is running out of Internet addresses. On July 1, “for the first time, the American […]

Cloud service providers (CSPs) and Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs) must now include social engineering and phishing attacks as part of efforts to test their systems, Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) officials said last week. The FedRAMP Program Management Office detailed the changes in the new Penetration Test Guidance issued July 6. “The new […]

A consortium led by IBM has developed the world’s smallest, functional microelectronic devices – computer chips constructed around circuitry just 7 nanometers wide. The new chips, produced using silicon-germanium by a group comprised of IBM, Global Foundries, the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute and Samsung, use chip geometries that are half the dimensions […]

Microsoft this week began its Windows 10 advertising and promotional blitz, and Federal agencies are squarely in the company’s sites. […]

Data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have prompted a major cybersecurity push in Congress, and two bills propose giving the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) new authority and tools to protect Federal systems. […]

Defense Department spending on IT in Fiscal 2016 will exceed 2015 spending, according to two analyses. How much the IT spend will increase depends on whose analysis you read. Bloomberg Government predicts DoD will fork over $37.3 billion on IT in Fiscal 2016. In its five-year forecast, covering 2015 through 2019, IDC projects DoD will […]

Federal agencies increased their use of authentication and made other changes to improve cybersecurity during the 30-day “sprint” to strengthen computer networks and protect data, said Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott. “Agencies are reducing the number of privileged users and working with (the Department of Homeland Security) to scan their networks on an ongoing […]

An Energy Department laboratory is moving forward with a mobile device management (MDM) program that will consolidate and simplify its approach while broadening access for employees. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory used two separate MDM services to manage its bring-your-own-device initiative and laboratory-owned devices, Jane Edwards reported in Executive Business. But running a MDM environment […]

In its first six-month progress report of the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), the General Services Administration (GSA) said there are more than 1,400 “cloud implementations” across the Federal government and 82 percent of those are FedRAMP-compliant. The new report shows that the number of cloud service providers (CSPs) jumped 41 percent and […]

Two weeks after a spear phishing attack against the unclassified email system of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Tony Scott suggested at the August 11 FITARA Forum that agencies provide a little cyber education to their work force. Scott credited Transportation Department CIO Richard McKinney with coming up with the idea. […]

Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott urged agencies to make the most of their new authority under the Federal Information Technology Acquisition and Reform Act (FITARA). At the August 11 FITARA Forum, Scott said cutting spending on legacy systems represents a unique problem because agencies are spending more than previously believed to prop up old […]

The cybersecurity sprint may have ended, but efforts to improve cybersecurity aren’t over, Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Tony Scott said at the August 11 FITARA Forum. “I wanted to assure you we’re not taking our eye off the ball on that,” Scott said. “I can tell you that I’m very pleased with the overall […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs has named Dan Galik to be the agency’s new acting chief information security officer, MeriTalk has learned. Galik, VA’s former Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Security Operations, will replace Stan Lowe, who announced his retirement on Aug. 7. “Daniel Galik will serve as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary and Chief Information […]

As many as 50,000 Department of Veterans Affairs employees took part in an unauthorized internal social network that may have compromised VA data as far back as 2008, according to the results of an investigation released today. In a heavily-redacted 21-page report, released Thursday in response to a Freedom of Information Action request by MeriTalk, […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) didn’t realize hackers had stolen millions of records until nearly a year after they gained access to the agency’s network, but the agency moved quickly to address the hack once they discovered it, according to a timeline obtained by FCW. An official timeline of the breach prepared for Federal […]

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Chief Information Officer Rick Holgate told colleagues in an email Monday he is leaving government. Holgate said his wife’s nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations mission in Vienna, Austria, will force the family to relocate, according to a Federal News Radio story by Jason […]

The Defense Information Systems Agency last week released the first version of a new best practices guide for Defense Department agencies responsible for purchasing commercial cloud services. It is the first major cloud guidance issued by DISA since December when Defense Department Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen stripped the agency of its central cloud service […]

It takes years to develop, test and field major weapon systems throughout the Defense Department. But when it comes to cyberspace, emerging threats and capabilities are measured in hours, minutes and seconds. The old way of buying defense systems just can’t keep up. The Army, however, is applying a strategy known as the IT Box […]

It’s only been one month since Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 to great fanfare and high expectations for a world of new and better user experiences. And while the initial focus was on the deep integration between the operating system and the Internet, much of that attention has now turned to security. And the timing couldn’t […]

Defense Secretary Ash Carter plans to announce an expansion of the Pentagon’s public-private partnership with Silicon Valley Friday in what is being described as a “major economic initiative.” The visit to the nation’s technology center of gravity is being billed by the Pentagon as a followup to Carter’s trip in April, when he released a […]

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter today will announce a five-year, $75 million contract award to a consortium of companies, universities and independent research organizations to stand up a major manufacturing facility based in the Silicon Valley for bendable and wearable hybrid electronics. The Pentagon’s investment in the FlexTech Alliance Consortium will be matched by more […]

The White House announced a final set of federal spending data standards Monday in what it is calling a “key milestone” in its efforts to make government spending data more consistent and transparent. Nearly four months after releasing the proposed standard data definitions and issuing formal policy guidance to agencies, the Office of Management and […]

A former Facebook executive has been named the first White House director of product. Josh Miller, who founded a messaging company acquired by Facebook and later became the social meda giant’s director of product, announced his new gig Tuesday in a personal blog post. “I’m moving on to something new while also returning to an […]

The Office of Personnel Management and the Defense Department Awarded a $133 million contract Tuesday to Portland, Oregon-based Identity Theft Guard Solutions LLC for identity theft protection services in the aftermath of the massive breach of the Federal government’s central security clearance database. “We remain fully committed to assisting the victims of these serious cybercrimes […]

The FAA awarded a $109 million contract Monday to IT services firm CSC and its team of previous rivals — including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and other strategic business partners — to deliver cost-effective cloud services, data center consolidation and cloud migration capabilities. Under the contract, which could be worth $1 billion over […]