A picture is worth a thousand words. At least. From now until 2020, the digital universe will nearly double every two years, with video surveillance reaching approximately 3.3 trillion hours globally by the same time, according to MeriTalk’s new Video Vortex study.

That’s a lot of words.

Behind the Lens
Surveillance cameras, mobile devices, and even drones give Feds the ability to capture more video data than ever.

An overwhelming 99 percent of Feds believe video surveillance will play a significant role in the prevention of crime, theft, and terrorism over the next five years. Bad guys aren’t like you and me – they don’t like to smile for the camera. How many good mug shots have you ever seen?

The Video Vortex examines video surveillance across Federal IT, from the challenges to the opportunities for agencies to enhance the value of their video data assets.

Time to Hit Pause?
All that data can pose problems. For instance, 54 percent of video data is never analyzed.

Feds already tap into some real-time capabilities as 57 percent use the data to track suspicious behavior, 49 percent use it to monitor traffic, and 38 percent harness it for anomaly detection. Imagine what they could do if they analyzed all the surveillance video they capture.

Focus on Solutions
What’s the answer?

If agencies want to keep up with the unprecedented influx of video information, they must constantly revamp their IT infrastructure – storage, computing power, and personnel. Right now, 91 percent of IT professionals say they need to increase storage, 89 percent believe they need to increase computing power, and 84 percent believe they need to increase personnel.

Once organizations tackle storage and personnel, they can use advanced analytics to gain more powerful insights for better outcomes.

Picture This
What if agencies worked a little harder to define roles and collaborate? A whopping 79 percent of respondents believe their agency needs to improve collaboration between physical security and IT to improve their surveillance programs.

Feds need to reach a consensus over who is in charge – 76 percent of physical security managers currently see video surveillance as a collaborative endeavor, but only 33 percent of IT managers believe it’s a shared responsibility.

Feds that work together are more prepared for the influx of data (81 percent versus 24 percent), more likely to analyze at least 50 percent of their data (63 percent versus 47 percent), and more than twice as likely to operate an edge-to-core platform architecture for surveillance (92 percent versus 44 percent).

A picture is worth a thousand words, but only if you’re ready to handle the video.

Join our free webinar on June 11 to hear about video surveillance, trends, analytics, challenges, and insight from Feds on collaboration and infrastructure. Register here.

Read the full report here. And let us know – how many surveillance cameras do you see in a typical day?

Andrew Doggett contributed to the report.

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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

It may be April Fool’s Day, but cyber’s no joke.

John P. Carlin was confirmed as the Assistant Attorney General for National Security a year ago. He’s a serious gentleman with a serious job. At DOJ’s National Security Division, he heads law enforcement’s cyber security efforts.

Heading Off Disaster
In a speech last year at Carnegie Mellon University, Carlin drew a parallel between terrorist threats and cyber threats. Referring to the work of the 9/11 Commission, he said:

“In its report, the Commission noted that: ‘we are at September 10th levels in terms of cyber preparedness.’ They added that ‘American companies’ most-sensitive patented technologies and intellectual property, U.S. universities’ research and development, and the nation’s defense capabilities and critical infrastructure, are all under cyber attack.’

“I could not agree more.

“As the Commission concluded, ‘One lesson of the 9/11 story is that, as a nation, Americans did not awaken to the gravity of the terrorist threat until it was too late. History may be repeating itself in the cyber realm.’”

Starts with “D”
In other words, let’s not sit back and react.

In the past Carlin also has spoken about the three Ds – “detect, disrupt, and deter.” Those are ideas he likely will cover when he speaks at the Symantec Symposium. He may also discuss legal reforms necessary to support international efforts to prosecute the bad guys.

Cyber Command’s Role
Carlin will be joined at the Symposium by Air Force Lt. Gen. Kevin McLaughlin. He’s the deputy commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, which is positioning itself as the nation’s cybersecurity workhorse. The Air Force is working in tandem with a Defense Department-wide initiative to recruit 6,000 personnel from all the services to be part of 133 cyber teams by 2016, according to the Air Force Times.

That’s a big job. But the lieutenant general is a big deal.

Similar Focus
Like Carlin, Lt. Gen. McLaughlin believes in deterrence. He echoed Carlin’s thoughts in a December interview with Stars and Stripes.

“A lot of what we’re doing today is reacting to what happened, so we spend a lot of our time chasing our tails in the cyber command,” he said.

The command’s goal is to get ahead of such threats, perhaps through the analysis of big data from the network that will reveal anomalies to prevent outside incursions before they happen, Lt. Gen. McLaughlin told reporter Wyatt Olson.

Tangled Web
Suzanne Vautrinot, Major General, U.S. Air Force (ret.), will also attend the Symantec Symposium and talk about how cyber threats have evolved from a minor issue to a major problem. The title of her remarks says it all – “Cybersecurity isn’t About Your E-mail. It’s About Your Life.”

It’s not just about servers. Everything’s connected – 25 billion devices by 2020, according to Gartner – from cars to front doors, and everything inside your house.

Get the big picture on cyber from Carlin, Lt. Gen. McLaughlin, and Vautrinot at the Symantec Symposium. Should be an eye-opener… and a full house.

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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Fans will fill out 70 million brackets this week in an attempt to win an NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament pool.

Who’s your pick? Kentucky? U Va? Both look strong.

Apparently the odds of picking a perfect March Madness bracket are less than one in 9.2 quintillion (that’s 9,223,372,036,854,775,808), according to Science Daily, which credits DePaul University Mathematics Professor Jeff Bergen with the calculation.

Could you apply Big Data analytics to improve your odds?

Brackets and Big Data
Every statistic is a data point, and lots of fans will rely on those data points this week as they fill out their brackets. Microsoft’s Bing is offering 10 years of data to fans who want to use analytics to fill the intellectual gap.

Like this: teams that travel less than 100 miles win 77 percent of the time, while teams that travel more than 500 miles win 46.5 percent of their games.

That’s a lot higher than your odds of being audited by the Internal Revenue Service. The Internal Revenue Service audited only 0.86 percent of individual taxpayers in 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Laura Sanders. That was the lowest rate in a decade, according to data released by the agency.

Keeping Score
Big Data has Big Implications for the government in many sectors. Cybersecurity and healthcare, for example. It can help agencies hunt down and stop fraud, waste, and abuse. The amount of money the government loses to those three each year is madness…

But do Feds make the most of their data?

A Better Offense
We plan to find out.

MeriTalk has gathered some top IT talent to discuss data management at the Informatica Government Summit on Thursday, April 23, at the Grand Hyatt D.C. They will discuss:

• New opportunities in big data analytics – fueled by the Data Act, metadata, and emerging data governance models
• The impact of data management on reducing agencies’ attack surface as well as Data Loss Prevention – and how that translates into better security and improved uptime
• How data quality, data accessibility, and data security affect data center consolidation, cloud initiatives, mobility, and other IT initiatives

Leading the Fast Break
Joyce Hunter, Acting CIO at the Department of Agriculture, and Dave Dutton, Chief Data Officer at the Energy Department, will sit on MeriTalk’s Big Data panel. They’ll explain how they’re applying data analytics to solve big problems – sharing their insights so you can do the same.

Learn more about the Data Summit and register here. And let us know how your agency uses Big Data. Can you point to tangible results? And good luck with your brackets – I think this is your year.

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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Continuous monitoring is surging along, but agencies are really bad at authentication.

Cyber attacks were up 15 percent last year.

Agencies spent $12.7 billion on cybersecurity in Fiscal 2014. The annual Federal Information Security Management Act compliance report paints a dismal picture of Federal IT security.

Let’s break it down.

Authentication efforts are lagging. “Numerous agencies have made no progress meeting the Strong Authentication CAP [cross agency priority] goal. SBA, NRC, HUD, Labor, and State were all at 0% Strong Authentication implementation at the end of FY 2014.”

Fifteen agencies “have yet to reach even 50% implementation on the Strong Authentication initiative.”

Fiscal 2014 goal was to have Strong Authentication implementation at 75 percent. That’s a big deal because most cyber threats can be neutralized using Strong Authentication, the report says: “US-CERT incident reports indicate that in FY 2013, 65% of Federal civilian cybersecurity incidents were related to or could have been prevented by Strong Authentication implementation. This figure decreased 13% in FY 2014 to 52% of cyber incidents reported to US-CERT.”

What’s Your Password?
Weak authentication systems plague many agencies, and not surprisingly, those with weak systems suffer more attacks.

“Agencies which have the weakest authentication profile allow the majority of unprivileged users to log on with user ID and password alone, which makes unauthorized network access more likely as passwords are much easier to steal through either malicious software or social engineering. The following 16 agencies fall into this category: State, Labor, HUD, OPM, NRC, SBA, NSF, USAID, USDA, Energy, DOT, Interior, VA, Justice, Treasury, and NASA.”

Sixteen? Yikes.

Ticked Off? Nope.
But agencies are doing much better implementing Trusted Internet Connections, or TIC. Today, the report says, 92 percent of agencies have TIC 2.0 capabilities. Well that’s one bright spot.

Feds Like CDM
CDM looks like a strong point, too. “Based on the IGs’ reviews, continuous monitoring programs were in place at 19 departments. Seven IGs reported that their department had all components of a continuous monitoring program in place.”

At the end of Fiscal 2014, 1.7 million licenses for security monitoring tools and products had been purchased by and distributed to agencies.

It’s a good thing: Cyber attacks increased 15 percent last year, and they show no sign of slowing down.

Feds Respond
Feds aren’t standing still.

First, President Obama announced the new Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center. CTIIC, or “see-tick,” will reside in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, gathering and coordinating data from cyber programs in the intelligence world and sharing it with civilian agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

The idea is to ensure that intelligence agencies don’t hoard their information and that more of it gets to DHS’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), reports The Hill’s Cory Bennett. The center will also ensure agencies are exchanging cyber data with one another. Intel officials aren’t the only ones being asked to take on leading roles. The administration also issued a new executive order promoting information sharing on cyber security in the private sector.

DISA’s New Role
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is taking over day-to-day operations of the U.S. Cyber Command from the National Security Agency (NSA).

The change allows CyberCom to focus on strategic operations and coordination between combatant commands. NSA Director and Commander of the Cyber Command Adm. Mike Rogers told Newsweek CyberCom is behind in terms of building its cyber defenses and creating a framework for when and how to go on the offensive, reports Lauren Walker. “We’re not mature, and we’re clearly not where we need to be,” Rogers said. “I just think, between a combination of technology, legality and policy, we can get to a better place than we are now.”

Reading between the lines: Is this more fallout from Snowden and Wikileaks or just an interesting subplot? Do we have to wait for the sequel?

CIA in on the Act
CIA Director John Brennan is getting his agency into the action, too. The CIA will dramatically expand its cyber-espionage capabilities as part of a restructuring plan, reports the Washington Post’s Greg Miller.

Although smaller than the NSA, the CIA has substantial cyber capabilities. Miller writes: The agency’s “Information Operations Center, which handles assignments such as extracting information from stolen laptops and planting surveillance devices, is now second only to the Counterterrorism Center in size.” He continues: “The CIA also oversees the Open Source Center, an intelligence unit created in 2005 to scour publicly available data, including Twitter feeds, Facebook postings and Web forums where al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups post material.”

Cyber Symposium
The cybersecurity plot thickens at the Symantec Symposium April 15, where cyber experts will be laser-focused on insider threats, mitigating risk, managing information, and information access.

Starring experts from DOD, DHS, NSA, FBI, NCIS, DISA, FCC, CERT, and the State Department, the symposium will deliver unique perspectives and expertise from a range of stars and rising stars.  And don’t miss former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s keynote.

Let us know what agencies can do better to improve cybersecurity and what law enforcement can do to protect consumers from the next Target-like breach.

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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Revelations that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a personal email account to conduct government business as Secretary of State should scare the hell out of CIOs.

The government spends $14 billion a year on cybersecurity, but no amount of spending or regulations will make a difference if top leaders flout the rules and set up a parallel shadow IT system on unprotected public networks.

This is what should be keeping CIOs and other IT leaders up at night. Nearly 54 percent worry about security for cloud installations, but at least with FedRAMP-approved technologies they can rest assured that the security risks have been mitigated. But that should be the least of their worries if employees are going off the reservation.

“What’s the biggest threat to corporate security?” asked Gregory Millman in a Wall Street Journal piece in 2013. “In many companies, it could be the CEO.”

In government, it could be cabinet secretaries, congressmen, agency chiefs, directors, generals, admirals … the list goes on. All have needs to access vast quantities of critical data and staffs eager to make things easier for them. If rules are made to be broken, leaders are the likeliest to break them.

Going Rogue
Of course, once the staff sees the boss going rogue, it’s not long before they’ll do the same. ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ only goes so far.

John Banghart, director of Federal Cybersecurity with the Cybersecurity Directorate of the White House National Security Council, told a MeriTalk gathering of Federal cyber pros last summer: “We [have] often failed… to do a good job with what you might call the cyber hygiene element, configuration management, vulnerability management, asset management.”

Shadow IT networks are among the worst vulnerabilities, because they exist outside the view of IT managers. You can’t catch that with CDM, no matter how much you spend, if everyone in the agency is in on the deception, as may have been the case with Hillary Clinton.

A 2013 MeriTalk study found half of all Federal cyber officials believed their agencies security policies were violated once a week. The Secretary of State and her staff must have been violating them dozens of times a day.

IT companies are investing millions to help ensure Cloud solutions meet maximum security standards, and they should. But all the money they’re investing in FedRAMP is for naught when leaders or rank-and-file employees decide to do their own thing.

“Despite increases in cybersecurity technology investment, a failure to address human factors and engage employees as part of an integrated security strategy leaves today’s businesses and governments critically vulnerable to cyberattack,” Christian Anschuetz wrote last week in a Wall Street Journal blog.

FISMA Be Damned
The White House put out its annual report on Federal Information Security Management Act compliance last week. It noted Federal agencies reported nearly 70,000 information security incidents in fiscal 2014, up 15 percent from FY 2013.

They didn’t know about Clinton. Her staff said they reviewed “tens of thousands” of pages emails and delivered some 55,000 pages of emails to the State Department. Each email amounts to a potential violation.

Don’t think it stops there. Right now hundreds, if not thousands, of government executives and political appointees are wondering what to do about their gmail, Yahoo, Apple and Outlook accounts. Hillary was not unique.

Snowden Moment?
Clinton’s decision to shun State’s internal email may ultimately offer a silver lining: By bringing the issue to light, it is bound to raise awareness about the cybersecurity risks involved – much like Edward Snowden raised awareness about insider threats. And with Clinton likely to make a presidential run, it’s likely to bring the whole issue into the public debate.

Thank you, Madam Secretary.

What do you think? Did Mrs. Clinton make a major error and put data at risk? Or is this just Beltway bluster?

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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Fifty Shades of Grey hit movie theaters last weekend, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele have quite an… unconventional romance.

Romantic tension of a different sort is heating up between Feds and cloud computing vendors.

MeriTalk’s new study, “Cloud Without the Commitment,” digs into that relationship. Seems Feds are getting to know the cloud, but they have some trust issues.

How You Doin’?
Cloud is like the stunning woman at the end of the bar. Feds are the geeks at the other end, trying not to stare. Cloud is the answer to all their dreams – cost savings, improved services, cutting-edge technology. But there are risks to all those rewards.

Feds have to break the ice. Fifty-one percent take the first step by looking at their required IT needs and 55 percent start by assessing data vulnerabilities.

“Talk to her!” Before you miss out on the love of your life.

First Date?
Email, Web hosting, and storage are the common pieces Feds have moved to the cloud. In fact, 75 percent of agencies want to get to know the cloud better but are concerned about losing control of their data.

We know agencies are intrigued by cloud, but they are afraid to make it official.

No Strings Attached?
That’s because agencies are afraid the cloud will turn into the old ball and chain – 53 percent say fear of long-term contracts holds them back from getting more involved with cloud.

It’s more than contracts and losing control of data. The portability of data once it’s in the cloud, moving data out of legacy systems, and data security keep agencies from embracing the cloud. Get it?

Open Relationship?
If there’s one thing Feds like about cloud, it’s open source. Feds who are using – or plan to use – open source software report a more positive cloud experience than those who do not.

Just Friends
So Feds like cloud computing, but they aren’t ready for a long-term relationship. How will this story end? Will Feds fall head over heels for cloud? Will the relationship last?  Read the full report here. Don’t worry – it’s G-rated.
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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Defense wins championships. That’s why New England beat Seattle on Sunday.

Defense also keeps data centers from getting sacked.

This isn’t about Football
Nope. It’s about cyber. And data centers.

We all know cyberattacks are proliferating. So MeriTalk asked Feds how their concerns over cyber affect their data center strategies, and turned it into an illuminating new report, “Heart of the Network: Data Center Defense.”

More than half of Feds say key security measures are missing from their data center modernization plans – things like automation, mobile device management, and endpoint security management.

That’s like playing a game without your linebackers.

Hail Mary?
Think about all the modernization efforts Feds are engaged in – consolidation, virtualization, and moving to the cloud. Two-thirds of those surveyed say the modernization process increases cyber threat concerns.

Yikes. Is it enough to put the brakes on modernization? Nope. But Feds may have their fingers crossed when they begin modernization efforts. Like throwing a Hail Mary, you hope for the best.

Protecting the Quarterback
When it comes to cyber security, agencies remain focused on the perimeter and report being most confident about their perimeter security. But too many Feds ignore the heart of their networks – data centers. A whopping 70 percent of Feds question the strength of their security solutions within the data center fabric.

But data centers are like your quarterback – you have to protect your star player.

A Better Game Plan
Playing good defense isn’t easy. The threats come from all sides. Advanced Targeted Attacks (ATAs)/Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)/zero-day attacks, malware, viruses, denial of service attacks, and unauthorized device access all represent major threats to data centers. The bad guys are always blitzing.

Looking ahead, 46 percent of Feds believe they need to invest in more security measures.

The full report has a lot more than my Cliff’s notes version. Read “Heart of the Network: Data Center Defense,” and let us know how your agency has tackled data center security. Okay, it sort of was about football (and I’m not talking about soccer, Steve). Did your team win the Super Bowl? Are you going through football withdrawal? Me, too.
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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

There’s only one explanation – it’s a belated Christmas miracle.

The 114th Congress is getting down to business, and the president last night outlined his priorities in his State of the Union speech. It just so happens that the legislative and executive branches are singing the same tune on cyber.

The House and Senate majorities and the White House so often seem at odds, but cybersecurity will bring them together.

Steady Drumbeat
The president unveiled his cyber agenda last week – he urged Congress to draft bills that encourage information sharing and require companies to notify consumers of a data breach within 30 days. The vice president also chimed in, saying the Energy Department will make $25 million available to fund programs that churn out cybersecurity experts.

The cadence of the events to promote cybersecurity legislation was impressive, and long overdue.

They’re finally getting it.

Wait, There’s More
The miracle doesn’t end there.

The truly impressive developments occurred when prominent House and Senate GOP leaders endorsed the president’s cybersecurity goals.

Sen. John McCain, a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said he was “glad the administration is coming forward with a proposal” and “guardedly optimistic we can come up with legislation that we can work with the administration on,” AP’s Jack Gillum reported.

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said the president’s proposals would “receive close consideration” as the panel writes a cyber bill.

House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul may receive the award for the best back-handed compliment of the week.

“While it took an attack on Hollywood for the president to reengage Congress on cybersecurity, I welcome him to the conversation,” McCaul said in a report by The Hill’s Cory Bennett.

That’s a lotta love. Maybe he can watch The Interview at the White House with the president.

Devil’s in the Details
With widespread agreement on the need to address cybersecurity, lawmakers and the president are off to a good start. But we all know how quickly things can unravel.

So, fingers crossed that this Christmas miracle isn’t a mirage. What do you think? Can the two sides come up with meaningful legislation for the president’s signature? Are there other cyber issues they should address?

Feel like sharing something Noteworthy? Post a comment below or email me at bglanz@300brand.com.

Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

The attack on Sony and other high-profile data breaches have forced lawmakers to pay attention to cyber legislation. But will the 114th Congress do as much for IT as the 113th? Several lawmakers who can affect IT policy are newly elected or newly assigned to tech-focused committees. Here’s a rundown of the new faces and notable changes:

House
Oversight and Government Reform – Rep. Jason Chaffetz will take over the committee and didn’t waste time making news. He announced on December 16 his decision to create a new Information Technology subcommittee. Chaffetz said the IT subcommittee will have jurisdiction over anything dealing with technology, from NSA data collection to cybersecurity.

Chaffetz picked Texas Republican Will Hurd, a new face, to head the subcommittee. Rep. Hurd is a former undercover CIA agent who worked on issues including counterterrorism and cybersecurity. For the past four years he has been a senior adviser for FusionX, a cybersecurity vendor. “You can chase terrorists and protect our civil liberties at the same time,” Hurd said, according to Politico’s Kevin Robillard. “I’ve done it.”

Intelligence – Chairman Mike Rogers’ retirement opens the door for a new successor. Speaker John Boehner selected Rep. Devin Nunes to succeed Chairman Rogers. Nunes supports government surveillance, so don’t expect a push for NSA reform from this committee.

Energy and Commerce – Rep. Fred Upton will serve as the Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for two more years. In a statement issued December 19, Upton said the committee will hold a series of hearings next year to examine the Sony hack and the broader threat to the economy posed by hackers.

Upton did not specify how many hearings the panel will hold or whether lawmakers intend to introduce new cybersecurity legislation.

Upton has named Rep. Greg Walden to serve as chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

House Homeland Security Committee – No change here. Representative Michael McCaul will remain the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Senate
Commerce – Ranking Member John Thune will become the committee chairman in the 114th Congress. “Senator Thune played a central role in the Senate Commerce Committee’s passage of cybersecurity legislation in the 113th Congress and is expected to continue to play an active role in cybersecurity issues during his chairmanship,” according to an extensive analysis on the upcoming Congress by lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs.

Thune advocates an open Internet with slight government regulation.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – Senator Ron Johnson will become Chairman and Senator Tom Carper will become the Ranking Member. Johnson has made clear that he will focus on cybersecurity, homeland security, and counterterrorism issues.

If Johnson’s past comments on the cybersecurity issues are any indication, his agenda will focus on moving legislation to facilitate industry-driven cyber standards and providing legal protections for companies wanting to share information, according to The Hill’s Cory Bennett.

Intelligence – Saxby Chambliss’ retirement allows Senator Richard Burr to chair this important committee. Burr is a solid ally of the CIA and doesn’t believe that any intelligence should be shared with the public.

Armed Services – Sen. John McCain has announced that the Armed Services Committee, which he is expected to chair, will hold a hearing on the Sony hack within the first two weeks of a new Congress.

Let us know if there are other IT issues lawmakers should delve into. Do you think lawmakers will address cyber?

Drew Doggett contributed to this report.

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Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Feds face a long to-do list and lots of questions about the ability – and willingness – of the legislative and executive branches to work together as the 114th Congress convenes. Six issues lawmakers must grapple with in the New Year:

Who Will Be the Next Federal CIO (and does it Matter)?

The White House has been evaluating candidates to replace Steven VanRoekel as U.S. Federal CIO since he resigned the post in September to join the U.S. Agency for International Development and the fight against Ebola. But whether President Obama will appoint a Washington insider or import a Silicon Valley star to fill the position is not yet crystal clear. In theory, whoever gets the nod will oversee a Federal IT budget of some $80 billion. The Federal CIO doesn’t really control IT budgets – at least not directly. It’s more of a bully pulpit to influence the agency CIOs who really own the budgets.

Insiders predict a Washington native will take the reins because outsiders won’t be familiar with the arcane acquisition rules and other baggage that bogs down Federal policy and procurement.

Inside-the-Beltway candidates could include Dr. David Bray, CIO of the FCC (where VanRoekel also served), Dr. Alissa Johnson, Deputy CIO of the White House, and Richard Spires, former CIO for the Department of Homeland Security. Or the president could again turn to Google, as he did for Michelle Lee at the Patent & Trademark Office and Megan Smith, chief technology officer in the White House Office of Science & Technology.

So does it matter? That all depends on who the president picks – and what that choice does with the federal CIO’s bully pulpit.

Can Feds Make FedRAMP Fast and Flexible?

The Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which facilitates Federal cloud installations, was created by the General Services Administration (GSA) to authorize and accelerate cloud implementation across multiple agencies. Unfortunately, the authorization process to select cloud vendors is still tedious for many agencies.

“Confusion over how best to incorporate cloud security standards in procurements has reached a breaking point,” according to Jason Miller, at Federal News Radio.

But FedRAMP managers in December issued “FedRAMP Forward,” a two-year outline for the program, indicating they want to spread responsibility for cloud service authorization across the government. They’re re-launching FedRAMP.gov to provide additional resources for agencies pondering cloud implementation, and GSA will release automation requirements for vendors and agencies to produce more efficient documentation and issue a draft high baseline for non-classified tech systems under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

Will Congress Tackle Cyber?

From attacks on Home Depot and other vendors to the exploitation of celebrities’ private photos and the hacking of Sony Pictures, cybersecurity is on everyone’s agenda. But will Congress try to legislate us to a more secure cyber world?

Numerous congressional committees are preparing to tackle cyber, but it remains to be seen what they can do to protect industry and consumers. Insider threats, phishing expeditions, and straight-up hackers all pose their own risks. And the fact is the government is as prone to attack – perhaps more so – as any private party. Congress can’t solve this problem with legislation. But it can help, beginning with setting minimum self-defense standards for industry, promoting general awareness and training in government and nationwide, and encouraging international cooperation in cyber defense and response.

Will the FAA Define a Forward-Looking Drone Policy?

The U.S. government isn’t moving as fast as industry wants it to, and the FAA is facing mounting pressure to govern commercial drone operations. While some foreign governments have already moved on the matter, the FAA remains deeply concerned about the safety implications of adding drones to America’s already crowded commercial airspace. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, meanwhile, is playing the international competitiveness card. He argues that the U.S. risks missing out on drone delivery and falling behind economically.

“It’s highly likely that other countries get drone delivery before the U.S.,” Bezos told a conference hosted by Business Insider. “Maybe I’m being too skeptical, but it’s certainly possible.”

U.S. drone makers are the worldwide technology leaders but worry Feds will keep them grounded. They fear a late start in their home commercial market will have them losing out to foreign competitors later on – both abroad and at home.

Will Big Data Rise Up to Defeat Fraud, Waste, and Abuse?

Before 2015, the role of a data scientist/analyst was clear. But the duties and qualifications are blurring as analytics capability rapidly advances.

Data scientists and data analysts have more data than ever to help agencies spot trends and anomalies as they fight an estimated $300 billion a year in fraud, waste, and abuse. Those tools also enable planners to get predictive and more rapidly respond to changing needs in e-government.

Data holds incredible promise and can make Feds smarter, faster, and more efficient. Prescriptive and predictive analytics aren’t reserved for Silicon Valley.

Can Congress Stop Sequestration, Raise the Debt Limit, and Get its Fiscal House in Order?

The clock is already ticking as incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell takes his new role and joins Rep. John Boehner as co-leader of a Republican-controlled Congress.

First up is raising the debt limit, which Congress last addressed in February 2014 and which will need to be raised again between now and March 15. Everyone knows they have to do it, but taking on more debt is a theme that doesn’t resonate well with the Tea Party wing of the party. The government’s current borrowing limit expires in March, but the Treasury can use an “extraordinary measures” fund and the standard tax collections in March and April, prolonging the suspense and propelling us toward a summer showdown.

Another fight over military and domestic spending is inevitable before a deal is struck. And then there’s sequestration. Last year’s deal to suspend those automatic across-the-board budget cuts expires September 30. Mark your calendars – but stand by for a series of half measures and delay tactics. Just ecause we’ve seen a change in which party controls the Senate doesn’t mean Congress will alter is predilection for kicking such big decisions a little bit further down the block.

Feel like sharing something Noteworthy? Post a comment below or email me at bglanz@300brand.com.

Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Federal agencies lose an estimated $300 billion a year to fraud, waste, and abuse. Bad guys are the Grinch – $300 billion could pay a lot of bills. Or pay for better cybersecurity. That’s what agencies want for Christmas.

No agency is safe, according to the esteemed panelists at MeriTalk’s Stealing from Uncle Sam forum.

Lump of Coal
Gary Cantrell at HHS, Dean Silverman at IRS, and Nancy McNamara at FBI discussed the alarming scope of Federal fraud, waste, and abuse.

Health and Human Services, Social Security, IRS – agencies across the board are struggling with identity theft, falsification of financial records, and many other scams.

“There’s more fraud than we are able to address,” Cantrell told the audience.

Avalanche of Data
It’s not all bad news. HHS and other agencies are using analytics and making strides. The IRS has identified and stopped $10 billion in identity theft over the past two years. Take that, Grinches. But fraudsters still get many happy returns from the IRS, and the bad guys are able to pivot quickly.

Many agencies are snowed under by data. The key is to start small. Instead of trying to solve all their problems at once, agencies can use analytics to clean up one program. Then move on.

“It starts with the awareness that you’re constantly under attack,” Joseph Conway, CTO at Fed Centric Technologies, said during the forum’s industry panel.

Tis the Season of Giving
Agencies also need to share data.

“The most effective legislation would provide a framework for agencies to collaborate more openly and effectively,” said Eric Motz, Technical Services Manager at Splunk, the data analytics software firm. “The best defense is visibility into everything so you can go back and trace patterns.”

The private sector succeeded in creating communities where similar businesses could share information to strengthen cybersecurity. But at the Federal level agencies lack standardization and the ability to harmonize so much different data coming at them.

No one should try to crack the code from The Matrix. Keep it basic.

Brand New Toy?
Many panelists urged agencies not to forget about the people behind computers – better training, people with the right skills. It all adds up to better cybersecurity.

Agencies often suffer from near-sightedness – overlooking employees in favor of technology. Advanced analytical tools can detect certain patterns and outliers in sets of information, but it takes skilled workers to program these codes and determine what is relevant.

Some agencies have had difficulty filling the personnel gaps.

“What’s been quite difficult for us is getting the right personnel to do that. We’re developing our analytical cadre, but it’s taking longer than we would like,” McNamara told the audience.

New Year, New Insights
Lots more to come on fraud, waste, and abuse in the New Year, including an interactive research project that will dig deep into the issue. Stay in touch with the MeriTalk Big Data Exchange here. Let us know – does your agency use analytics? Do you have suggestions for others on using analytics to slow fraud, waste, and abuse?

Drew Doggett contributed to this blog

Read Five Ways Big Data Can Fight Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

Feel like sharing something Noteworthy? Post a comment below or email me at bglanz@300brand.com.

Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.

Pot’s legal in DC (unless Congress steps in and says no to drugs). Nearly 70 percent of voters gave weed the high sign. But that’s not smoke in the sky. Those are clouds because there’s a lot of buzz surrounding cloud computing these days.

Cloud and Data Centers: A Joint Effort
Feds are (trying to) consolidate data centers. But they have to weed through the impact of consolidation on their cloud strategies.

We asked Defense Information Systems Agency Deputy CTO Jack Wilmer to talk about data center consolidation and cloud computing at the Data Center Exchange meeting next week.

DISA has a unique perspective on this. The agency hopes to leverage commercial service providers to support Level 5 and Level 6 workloads. That’s as high as DISA gets – Level 6 represents the top grade of classified and secret government information that can be exchanged through cloud services.

Wilmer will talk about:

• Whether cloud hinders consolidation
• How DISA is working with commercial providers
• Cloud security
• Modernizing networks

But wait! There’s more.

Cloud Connect
We asked Jack to stick around and have another conversation with us following the Data Center Exchange meeting.

He said yes!

So we plan to host a half-day event called Cloud Connect. We’ve asked agency CIOs to discuss how they coordinate and manage data across multiple environments – public, private, and hybrid clouds. We know many continue to debate the value of cloud services and struggle with decisions over where best to store data and applications.

Room to Grow
A lot of you saw the report over the summer that said seven agencies surveyed by the Government Accountability Office have moved only 2 percent of their systems to the cloud, up from 1 percent in FY 2012. It also said:

• Among those agencies, spending on cloud services increased to $529 million in FY 2014, up from $307 million in FY 2012
• Those seven agencies collectively had not considered cloud computing services for about 67 percent of their investments

There’s still a lot of room to grow.

These Smart People Will Attend
At Cloud Connect we’ll have a CIO panel, a panel on private cloud, and a panel on hybrid cloud. David Bray, Federal Communications Commission CIO, Steve Cooper, Department of Commerce CIO, Rick Holgate, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives CIO, and Richard McKinney, Department of Transportation CIO all plan to attend.

Find Out the Latest Buzz
Register for the Data Center Exchange meeting here.

And register here to attend Cloud Connect. Both are scheduled for Tuesday, November 18. It’s a cloud doubleheader.

(Remember, both events are only for government employees.)

Join us and share your stories about cloud and consolidation. What has worked? What are agencies struggling with? Does anyone else have the munchies?

Feel like sharing something Noteworthy? Post a comment below or email me at bglanz@300brand.com.

Bill Glanz is the content director for MeriTalk and its Exchange communities. In the past 14 years, he has worked as a business reporter, press secretary, and media relations director in Washington, D.C.