The General Services Administration released its step-by-step instruction guide on following FedRAMP procedures Tuesday. The 47-page concept of operations outlines how agencies and contractors should proceed in certifying services so a service from one contractor could be used in multiple agencies. GSA says products including infrastructure-as-a-service tools will be the first to go through the [...]
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little took questions Monday; not from journalists, but from Twitter users. According to AFPS, Little answered questions from hundreds of users on topics ranging from Syria, Iran cybersecurity and Pentagon energy savings initiatives. Little said fielding the questions was a challenge and needed help to manage the questions, but added that [...]
A House subcommittee cleared a bill last week that would create nonprofit organization to promote information sharing across the public and private sectors, Federal News Radio reports. Bill sponsor Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) said the bill makes the Department of Homeland Security the focal point for protecting federal networks and private sector-owned critical infrastructure. Lungren is [...]
A House subcommittee will review cyber threats in the U.S. during a Wednesday hearing, according to the The Hill newspaper. Rep. Greg Walden, (R-Ore.) chairman for the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on communications and technology, said the subcommittee will consider botnets, hacking and supply-chain vulnerability. Industry representatives and security experts are scheduled to testify, addressing cybersecurity [...]
The General Services Administration‘s online library has saved the government tens of thousands of dollars in postage and printing costs, according to AOL Government. The agency launched publications.usa.gov late last year to give users access to government publications via mobile devices. According to AOL, 1.4 million publications were viewed in fiscal year 2011 using either Google Books, [...]
The federal government will not have authority to mitigate electric grid disruptions until at least 2013, a cybersecurity expert said according to NextGov James Lewis, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said a former U.S. senior official told him the country will experience a major disruption and Congress will be held accountable [...]
Lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to fund the Federal Aviation Administration for the next four fiscal years, Bloomberg reports. The bill agreed upon by House and Senate negotiators ends short-term funding trend by providing the agency $63.6 billion, or $15.9 billion a year. The bill also allocates funds for the FAA’s next generation air traffic modernization [...]
Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra is stepping down from his post, the White House announced Friday. A White House official told Federal News Radio that Chopra’s last day will be Feb. 8, but the official did not indicate Chopra’s future plans. FedScoop first reported Chopra’s departure and reports that some have speculated he will run [...]
The National Institute of Standards and Technologies is calling on agencies to take the lead in addressing security and privacy challenges relating to public cloud computing. NIST’s Guidelines on Security and Privacy in Public Cloud Computing do not suggest any specific service or deployment method for cloud computing, but lists several guidelines agencies should follow [...]
Google Plus users can now add the White House to their circles as of Friday. In a Friday blog post, the White House announced that it has joined Google’s social networking service in addition to its active Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. The White House said joining Google Plus is part the administration’s efforts to [...]