The Agriculture Department hopes to have 40 percent of eligible employees teleworking by the end of 2012, according to a case study by the Telework Exchange. USDA has more more than 58,000 teleworkers, a sharp increase from 16,000 teleworkers last year. The case study says USDA has revamped its telework program, outlining eligibility provisions and [...]

The Department of Homeland Security is committing to 12 cloud services as part of its “Cloud First” policy vow with the White House. The DHS will offer nine private clouds and three public versions, Chief Information Officer Richard Spires told the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologiesa House cybersecurity subcommittee. Included among the [...]

The Defense Department and some politicians are becoming more vocal about their belief that the Budget Control Act will cause substantially larger defense spending cuts than the oft-advertised $350 billion in reductions by 2023. Aerospace Industries Association chief Marion Blakey estimates the real size of the cuts would be between $460 billion and $480 billion. A Pentagon [...]

The Army can deal with the current round of defense cuts, Army Secretary John McHugh said Monday. During the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., McHugh said service officials will have to shed personnel to fall in line with a reduced budget. Unlike other occasions when defense budgets were cut, the [...]

U.S. Predator and Reaper drones have recently been affected by a computer virus. The virus was detected two-weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, as reported by Wired.com. It has logged pilots’ every key stroke as they fly missions over Afghanistan and other war zones remotely. Currently, it is not known how far the [...]

Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel has the government’s data centers in his sights, aiming to close 472 of the IT hubs by the end of 2012. The number of centers on the chopping block has recently grown as VanRoekel is promoting “bolder steps” in curbing costs. Data center operations and related support currently account for nearly 30 [...]

The FBI by mid-January will launch a nationwide facial recognition service in select states to help local police identify unknown subjects in photos, according to a report in NextGov. The FBI’s fingerprint database is being overhauled to apply other biometric markers, including iris scans and voice recordings, to help identify suspects quicker. Often law enforcement [...]

The eighth annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month was kicked off Oct. 7 at the Michigan Cyber Summit when the state hosted both Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder hosted the event and announced a “Cyber Initiative” in which his state will authorize a [...]

The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is putting its money where its mouth is. The agency has begun a contest with a top prize of $100,000 for creators that can come up with new ideas for the development of drones, according to program manager Jim McCormick. The competition for a drone called the UAVForge is open [...]

President Barack Obama issued an executive order Friday strengthening policies for handling classified information, following a review of policies and practices regarding the handling of classified information. The order requires federal agencies to designate a senior official to oversee the agency’s classified information and safeguarding. Agencies must also implement a program to detect and prevent [...]