Secretary Mike Johanns alerted employees in the Washington area that a hacker broke into a database at headquarters and may have stolen the names, Social Security numbers and photos of about 26,000 current and former workers and contractors.
A year ago, an IT critical infrastructure list circulating in Washington included the headquarters of Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Today, the list is more likely to include virtual assets such as networks that carry data to and from major power plants, government offices and Wall Street.
Federally operated joint field offices will play a significant role in managing response following future natural disasters and other major incidents or attacks, according to several new documents released by the Homeland Security Department.
The Homeland Security Department has launched a simulation of terrorist incidents on the national capital region and a West Coast city, in a tabletop exercise that began yesterday and is set to continue through Thursday.
The Government Printing Office plans to issue a solicitation for a vendor that can establish a repository that will manufacture, personalize and issue Personal Identity Verification cards for smaller agencies.
Hackers, cyberterrorists and thieves are not the only ones from whom agencies need to protect their computer networks and data. As officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs can attest, critical information needs to be secured internally as well.
Eric Cole of Lockheed Martin suggests that organizations put far more effort into identifying vulnerabilities and securing them as the only effective way to protect against multiplying threats, as well as fully integrate security into every layer of organizational IT.
As Congress prepares to approve increased funding for port security grants, contractors said the money is likely to pay for more comprehensive surveillance, domain awareness and information-sharing IT systems which, in many cases, systems integrators are installing.
Many government agencies, if they have not already done so, soon will face the issue of what technology they should use to connect remote workers, and they'll be looking to integrators to help make a decision.
When asked to offer his finger or palm for a biometric vein scan, Claudio Casuccio balks. "That's looking inside your body," Casuccio said. "It is very invasive, in my opinion." His view underscores the cultural differences that can arise as companies take their biometric solutions around the globe.
Industry is uring Congress to intervene in the crisis regarding the Defense Department's cancellation of processing security clearances and proposed a legislative overhaul of the granting procedure.
Real-time locating systems are growing rapidly and could be a major part of the radio frequency identification market within 10 years, according to a new report.
The Transportation Security Administration has announced it will conduct a "full and open competition" for all aspects of the Transportation Worker Identity Card project, including enrollment and data management services.
Federal government testing of digital fingerprint interoperability has evolved into an eligibility test for the federal employee identification card initiative, industry executives said.
