Federal News Radio Countdown: Top 3 Federal IT stories of 2011

Former E-Government and IT Administrators Mark Forman and Karen Evans count down the top federal IT news stories of the year.

The Federal News Countdown takes a look back at the top federal IT news stories of the past year.

Today’s guests are two former E-Government administrators in the Office of Management and Budget: Mark Forman and Karen Evans. That office served as the de facto chief information office role for the federal government until the position was formally created in 2009.

Mark Forman’s stories
#3 Little love for big government
From Politico:

Americans’ fear of big government – partly fueled by a sharp spike among Democrats since President Barack Obama took office – almost reached a record high this year and is far greater than people’s concerns about big business and big labor, a new Gallup poll Monday shows.

#2 China’s denials about cyberattacks undermined by video clip
From The Washington Post:

Viewers of China Central Television got an unusual glimpse last month of that nation’s cyber-weaponry: A video clip showed a military computer program on which an unseen user selects a “target” – in this case, a Falun Gong Web site based in Alabama – and hits a button labeled “attack.”

#1 Supercommittee fails: What’s next for feds?
From Federal Computer Week:

Federal employees might naturally worry about sequestration, the across-the-board discretionary spending cuts triggered when the special Congressional committee set up to find more deliberately-chosen cuts gave up hope of reaching agreement.

Karen Evans’ stories
#3 Exclusive: Comedy of Errors Led to False ‘Water-Pump Hack’ Report
From Wired:

Cyberwar watchers took notice this month when a leaked intelligence memo claimed Russian hackers had remotely destroyed a water pump at an Illinois utility. The report spawned dozens of sensational stories characterizing it as the first-ever reported destruction of U.S. infrastructure by a hacker. Some described it as America’s very own Stuxnet attack.

#2 Cloud computing contract with ties to Microsoft and Google needs changes, GAO says
From The Washington Post:

A proxy battle between Google and Microsoft in their ongoing war to provide lucrative cloud computing services to the federal government appears to have resulted in a decision favoring Microsoft.

#1 Social media challenges agency records management
From Federal News Radio:

Agencies are increasingly using social media in their work. But platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer challenges to records management.

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