Veterans' benefits agency tightens data security
The Veterans Benefits Administration is taking additional steps to ensure that veterans' data is secure.
DHS Special Report | Coast Guard secures facilities with biometrics, RFID system
To understand the promise biometrics and radio frequency identification technology hold for the Homeland Security Department, look no further than two Coast Guard facilities'one in Washington and one in Washington state. At Coast Guard headquarters, a voluntary program'which both campuses use'called RapidGate lets vendors gain easier access to the facility by voluntarily registering for a biometric identification card.
DHS Special Report | Authentication, ID are in the cards
Robert Mocny, deputy program manager for the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, has a simple vision for making the borders more secure.It doesn't have to do with 12-foot fences, or unmanned aerial vehicles or anything fancy. It is a simple card combining two technologies that have been around for decades'biometrics and radio frequency identification.
DHS Special Report | Watch-list data converges at Terrorist Screening Center
Although Donna Bucella prefers to stay out of the limelight, her job doesn't allow it. As director of the Terrorist Screening Center, Bucella oversees one of the most important data sets in the Bush administration's war on terror'the consolidated Terrorist Screening Database.
DHS Special Report | Agencies Look for a Match on Fingerprint Systems
The FBI and Homeland Security Department are closing in on a significant milestone that will get the agencies' fingerprint image systems a step closer to their ultimate goal of communicating seamlessly.
DHS Special Report | Who's Who at the Border
The Homeland Security Department has quietly put together a wide-reaching net of screening and targeting programs, working not only within its several internal organizations'such as Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard and Citizenship and Immigration Services'but with other agencies such as the Justice and State departments.
DHS Special Report | Forward Motion
Even as the Homeland Security Department has stumbled through project failures, stalled during leadership vacuums and withstood withering criticism, DHS has delivered some projects that serve as exemplars of technology management and are improving prospects for better project performance.
GCN Lab Review | For better security, touch your printer
Security is more than just passwords on your desktop. Every agency knows physical security is just as important. However, within a department there is normally not much to protect documents from users already in the building. And that can cause trouble.
Tech Briefs
Nuance Communications Inc. has released version 11 of its PaperPort scanning and document management software. The upgrade features a new compression method that cuts the size of multicolored Portable Document Format files by eight times or more.
GCN Insider | Desktop intelligence
Back in our cub reporting days, we once met a city council president who had whatlooked to be the best low-maintenance way of organizing data.
Feds' view of Vista focuses on security
When asked what most interests the Army about the upcoming Microsoft WindowsVista operating system, Lt. Col. Clinton Wallington III put it succinctly: 'Security. Security, without a doubt.'
Pa. Transportation Department awards Real ID deal
The Pennsylvania Transportation Department, seeking to bolster its IT security for state driver's license processes, has awarded Viisage Technology Inc. a series of contracts worth $45.5 million.
Energy ups security efforts after loss of employee data
The Energy Department has joined a long list of federal agencies that recently have suffered serious breaches of cybersecurity. Unlike those organizations, however, the DOE breach was the result of a targeted intrusion and theft, rather than carelessness.
USDA covers its bases with a detailed plan
The Agriculture Department's wireless policy, updated in April through a series of departmental notices, comprises everything from architectural requirements to acquisition guidance.
DOD wireless policy starts with LANs
The Defense Department has gone back and forth over what to include in the scope of a modified wireless policy and how to coordinate implementation across the services and agencies. After months of work, Defense CIO John Grimes tweaked the focus on June 2 and approved a memo aimed at boosting security on wireless LANs connected to the Global Information Grid.
Agencies, vendors struggle with HSPD-12, surveys say
Two recent surveys signaled just how much trouble agencies and vendors are having trying to implement Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12.
Subcontractor put VA health records at risk: IG
The incident occurred because Veterans Health Administration lost control over its patient information once the information traveled outside the VA system firewall, according to the Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general.
VA IT security gaps extend to contractors
The Veterans Affairs Department has been investigating allegations that an offshore medical transcription subcontractor last year threatened to expose 30,000 veterans' electronic health records on the Internet in a payment dispute with a VA contractor.
Fed IT pros delve into Vista security
In the wake of a massive data breach at the Veterans Affairs Department, government officials grilled Microsoft executives about the security features in its upcoming operating system.
GSA to hold industry day on HSPD-12 product approval
The General Services Administration will hold an industry day later this month to provide the latest information on the agency's Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 product-approval process.
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