Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast

This morning's federal news as heard on WFED:

The White House formally launches a project that could help agencies hire Veterans. An executive order sets up a dedicated office in most federal agencies to help vets find government jobs. It also directs the Office of Personnel Management to work with agencies on programs that'll help veterans develop their skills.

Health and Human Services takes heat for possibly breaching appropriations law. GovExec reports at issue is the department's role in engaging the public about healthcare reform. The Congressional Research Service says HHS may have violated the law with its HealthReform.gov Web site, which urged the public to send Congress letters supporting health care reform. But HHS officials argue the campaign was appropriate.

Drawing fire from both sides: The government's plan to set up a database for contractor past performance isn't sitting well with industry and open-government advocates. According to Federal Computer Week, the Project on Government Oversight says the system needs to be fully transparent and open to the public. But an industry group, the Coalition for Government Procurement, worries the information could fall victim to security breaches. Federal acquisition councils announced plans for the database in September.

The Defense Department is paying more attention to satellites -- specifically, to make sure they don't crash into one another. The military says it is tracking 800 maneuverable satellites and will add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites this year. The Washington Post reports the increased tracking started after a February crash, when a Russian satellite his a U.S. one. That mixup came as a big surprise.

Nearly 200 top political jobs in the Obama administration are still vacant, nearly 10 months since the president took office. The reasons? Stalled nominations, new ethics rules, long background checks and delays in Senate confirmations. USAToday reports, more than half the vacancies are at the Justice, State, Treasury, Defense and Homeland Security departments. Among the big vacancies: a Medicare and Medicaid chief, and the top person for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Customs and Border Protection is also lacking a chief.

The Federal Housing Administration is one agency that's had a big role in helping people buy homes during the mortgage market collapse. But the FHA has drawn down its reserve funds so far, it might have to turn to the Treasury to replenish its money. The agency collects premiums from borrowers who take out FHA-insured mortgages. It sends them to the Treasury. The Washington Post reports, under the law, the FHA can simply tap the Treasury, meaning it doesn't have to ask Congress for a bailout.

Samuel Heyman, the businessman who founded the Partnership for Public Service eight years ago, has passed away. The New York Times reports that Heyman died due to complications from open heart surgery. He founded the Partnership in 2001, decades after a stint as assistant U.S. attorney for the Justice Department. Heyman was 70.

Cybersecurity Update

Firefox accounted for almost half of all browser vulnerabilities in the first six months of 2009, according to the California based web security company Cenzic. Computer World reports that Mozilla's browser had the largest percentage of Web vulnerabilities, 44% over the six-month span, Apple's Safari came in second with 35%. Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) was third with 15%, while the Opera Software flagship browser took fourth place with just 6%. To compile the data, the company used databases, including the CVE (common vulnerabilities and exposures) database to count the number of known vulnerabilities.

The apps running on those browsers are even worse, according to InformationWeek. Almost 9 out of 10 Web applications have flaws that could lead to exposure of sensitive information. This according to web security company Cenzic in their web applications security trends report released this week. The report shows that more than 3,100 vulnerabilities were identified in the first half of the year, 10% more than the number identified in the second half of 2008. Ninety percent of the Web application vulnerabilities were in commercial Web apps and 8% were the browsers that run Web applications. The makers of the software affected by the top ten vulnerabilities include PHP, SAP, Sun, Citrix, Apache and others.

A new phishing threat targets Facebook and Myspace users. ITP Digital reports that hackers are sending messages that trick users into installing malware. The subject lines look legitimate, telling users their accounts have been reset or updated. But the attachments in those messages install a trojan that can give hackers access to computers.

More news links

Govt Petitions Supreme Court on Background Investigations (SecrecyNews.com)

Defense nominee won't reveal potential conflicts (WashingtonTimes)

Agencies cut water use, one flush at a time (FederalTimes)

Obamas to attend Fort Hood memorial service

Scanning invisible damage of PTSD, brain blasts

Partnership for Public Service founder dead at 70 (FederalTimes)

Plea deal offered in astronaut love triangle case (CNN)

NASA on a crusade to debunk 2012 apocalypse myths (AFP)

Obama pastry chef the Crustmaster

Obama's "crustmaster" shares his pie recipe

Veterans Day 2009: We thank you for your service.