10 Cybersecurity Game Changers to Watch in 2010

The field of cybersecurity is becoming increasingly relevant to discussions on national security.

President Barack Obama placed cybersecurity in the forefront of his national…

White House Announces New Tool to Aid in Cybersecurity Reporting

The White House has announced an initiative that will make it mandatory for federal agencies to report compliance with cybersecurity regulations. This will be accomplished through a new software tool which will be released this month in a test version. The tool will collect information that is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act.

Required information includes an inventory of systems, assessments of system sensitivity, description of security methods…

The Federal Government’s Latest Takeover: Your Desktop?

Glenn Beck reported on his Fox News television show July 31 that a disclaimer on the website for the federal government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program technically transfers ownership of the computer accessing the site to the federal government while connected to www.cars.gov.  He warns viewers not to access the site at home, because the warning reads “This application provides access to the DoT CARS system.  When logged on to the…

NASA May Be Prototype For White House Cloud Computing Initiative

The White House may decide to make NASA its pilot project for replacing the government’s current IT infrastructure with cloud computing. According to NASA’s associate chief information officer for architecture and infrastructure, Mike Hecker, NASA officials have ”broached the idea of NASA becoming an IT service provider. NASA as an IT service provider takes us into a new realm.” But also said that, “We’re still debating if that’s a good idea or…

Vivek Kundra: Much Room For Improvement In IT Innovation

Vivek Kundra believes America has fallen behind in technological innovation, but that there is hope. At the Open Government and Innovations Conference in Washington D.C. Kundra cited an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report that listed the United States last out of 36 nations for adapting new technology, according to an InformationWeek report. The study included areas such as immigration policy, number of students graduating from college and the use…

IT Dashboard Halts $200M Worth Of Veteran Affairs Projects: Cites Inefficiency

It seems that just after a few weeks in motion the first federal CIO Vivek Kundra’s IT Dashboard is doing its job. The US Department of Veterans affairs announced that 45 of its technology projects that are either behind schedule or over  budget have temporarily been halted. The 45 initiatives are now awaiting approval to continue progress or news of termination.

The Veterans Affairs Department plans to audit the $200 million worth of suspended projects. Kundra…

The President’s CIO Proposes One-Stop Government Cloud Shop

We all know that Obama’s Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra believes cloud computing should be the dominate technology in the US federal government and that it should be the future of IT technology. Kundra plans to make this goal a reality with the launch of a General Services Administration (GSA) ‘storefront’.

At a cloud computing symposium last week, Vivek Kudra said, “We will abstract…

Kundra Creates Blog to Accompany Federal IT Dashboard

Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer, has started a blog to accompany the Federal IT Dashboard that was launched just two weeks ago. The blog is designed to start a conversation on the public’s views of the site and share information that is not included on the actual IT Dashboard site.

According to Kundra, “e can’t simply make this an exercise in federal agency reporting, that is why…

Kundra’s Cloud Computing Interview With InformationWeek

Late Breaking News: Vivek Kundra, the nations first Chief Information Officer, in an interview with Information Week acknowledged the White House’s move towards cloud computing and discussed the pros and cons of his virtual vision. Kundra believes cloud computing will save tax payers money, is efficient and the White House should lead by example so that the private sector will adopt the innovation. Kundra used the tool during his position of Chief Technology Officer for the District of…

Gartner Group: Feds Must Take Operational Cybersecurity Role

The Gartner Group released several recommendations for federal cybersecurity policy, advising the government to shift its focus away from increased reporting of attacks and visibility of the cybersecurity sector toward using its purchasing power to drive private-sector innovation toward eliminating built-in technological vulnerabilities rather than simply increasing firewall spending.

The condensed version looks something like this:

Take Action. The federal government is taking legislative actions (FISMA) and evaluating the shortcomings…