CWIN alerts agencies to cyberthreats
The Homeland Security Department has fielded a network that lets government and industry groups swap information about cyberattacks and other system threats.
OPM speeds IT security worker hiring
To meet what federal managers see as a dire need for cybersecurity experts, the Office of Personnel Management last month gave agencies the authority to hire IT security professionals much more quickly than other workers.
NNSA ordered to fix security at Energy labs
Energy secretary Spencer Abraham has told the National Nuclear Security Administration to overhaul security procedures at the department's nuclear laboratories.
GAO says costs, schedule hamper IRS modernization
The pace and scope of IRS modernization is moving faster than the agency's managers can keep up with, a government auditor said.
Agency knew of CIO's 'degrees'
Jimmy Shirl Parker was named CIO of the Federal Technology Service in 2000. He brought with him more than 27 years of experience in the Army as both a military and civilian employee'and bachelor's and master's degrees from California Coast University in Santa Ana, Calif.
Defense defends appointee who has unaccredited grad degree
A senior Pentagon political appointee lists a master's degree from an unaccredited, unlicensed university on his official biography and in his Senate confirmation statement. Charlie Abell, principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, holds a master's from Columbus University of New Orleans, which requires limited academic work for its degrees and has never been accredited.
The heat is on dubious degrees
As members of Congress, including Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., turn up the heat on federal workers' use of academic degrees from unaccredited institutions, research conducted by Post Newsweek Tech Media publications has uncovered questionable credentials for more than 50 officials in IT-related jobs in government or with federal contractors.
Online Extra: Spotting diploma mills
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation in Washington has issued a fact sheet of warning signs that an organization might be a diploma mill.<br>
IRS has code ready for tax refund checks
IRS officials have gone out on a limb, predicting a smooth process for mailing out more than 25 million checks for one-time tax cut payments this summer. Unlike a similar situation in 2001, this time the agency has a road map.
VA blocks A-76 outsourcing studies
The Veterans Affairs Department has collided with OMB's A-76 competition rule by stopping use of its employees to conduct outsourcing studies of agency jobs.<br>
Sandy Gibbs joining SBA e-gov staff
The Small Business Administration continues to add staff to its e-government office.<br>
Gov't officials use Sandia's bioterrorism simulator
Alameda County, Calif., officials recently joined their federal and state counterparts in a six-hour anthrax-attack drill using a simulator developed by an Energy Department laboratory.<br>
Navy opens test facility for sea-based war systems
The Navy's surface and submarine divisions now have a venue to test technologies for integrated sea-based warfighting systems.<br>
Online Extra: Hiring, keeping the best IT workers
Here is a complete list of verbatim comments from respondents to a GCN e-mail survey about the Bush administration's work-force policies and competitive sourcing/A-76 initiative.<br>
Court cuts Interior's Internet links again
<font color="CC000"> (UPDATED) </font> A federal court again has ordered the Interior Department to disconnect most of its systems from the Internet to protect American Indian trust data.<br>
Calendar
<b>4-8 USENIX Security Symposium</b><br>Washington. Contact Usenix; Web: <a href= "http://www.usenix.org/events/sec03">www.usenix.org/events/sec03</a>; phone: 510-528-8649.
Federal Contract Law: FAR change could be throwback to old-style software buying
Proposed changes to Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 27 covering patents, data and copyrights won't be greeted with shouts of hallelujah. Still, it's nice to see that after 15 years the FAR Council has finally gotten around to updating the standard contract clause used to acquire software.
Agencies adjust to new A-76 rules
Following initial reactions to the recent release of the revised OMB Circular A-76'whether exuberance or anxiety'agency officials are getting down to business to figure out how the new rules affect their plans to outsource jobs.
Make your Mac rock by gearing up with new apps
Federal employees who use Apple Macintosh hardware count heavily on the systems for mapping, imagery, training videos, Web design and old-fashioned paper publication.
The lowdown on super PCs
<b>What are they?</b> The super PCs of the moment come with Intel Pentium 4 processors with multithreading technology running as fast as 3.06 GHz, or AMD Athlon XP 3000+ and 3200+ processors. They should have 512M or more of RAM, a large, 7,200-rpm or faster hard drive, at least one fast CD-RW optical drive, and one DVD-ROM read-only drive or a rewritable DVD drive. Video and sound cards with plenty of on-board RAM, dial-up and 10/100 Ethernet cards, and plenty of IEEE 1394 FireWire and Universal Serial Bus ports should round up the their basic features.
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