Sneak peak: Does the FPS have what it needs to get the job done?

11-20-09

Every day, hundreds of thousands of federal workers depend on the Federal Protective Service to keep them safe in their offices.

But do the government staff and contract security guards that make up the FPS have what they need to do the job?

Federal News Radio's Max Cacas has a preview of his story for Monday.

Download mp3

0 Comments

DHS official: federal cybersecurity headed in right direction

11-20-09

Cybersecurity Update

Every federal agency is working at keeping their networks safe.

Greg Garcia, former Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security and Communications for the Department of Homeland Security, told Francis Rose on In Depth that the federal government's overall cybersecurity is headed in the right direction.

Also on Federal News Radio

Examining the role of China in U.S. cybersecurity policy

Learn more with the Federal News Radio tag search: cybersecurity.

Download mp3

0 Comments

New report: alternative energy methods key to securing troops on battlefield

11-20-09

By Dorothy Ramienski
Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio

Does the military's need for fuel put military personnel in danger?

That's the take from a new report from Deloitte, Energy Security: America's Best Defense.

Gen. Charles Wald is the former deputy commander of US European Command and co-author of the report.

He is now the director and senior advisor to the Aerospace & Defense Industry for Deloitte and said imported energy has been a major issue for the past 30 to 50 years, and, more recently, things have come to a head, especially with regards to the military.

"It's more than just national security from a strategic standpoint -- we have to import oil from places that don't like us, but, also the energy we use on the battlefield is significant. In 2008, when {oil} went to $145 a barrel, in the Department of Defense, every $10 increase in a barrel was the equivalent of $1 billion of increase in spending."

When looking at what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, the amount of fuel that's carried to remote places is significant.

The report examines a number of factors.

Wald said numbers from the military show that most of what's carried to the troops on the battlefield is liquid. 80 percent is either water or fuel.

Additionally, in Afghanistan, 80 percent of casualties are caused by roadside bombs hitting convoys.

"So, you combine the fact that a lot of that fuel is taken by convoys, with the fact that a lot of the casualties are caused by IED's, you say to yourself -- we need to do something different here. Part of it is we're always going to have to patrol on the road, but we need to cut back on the requirement to get our fuel forward."

On top of this, forward operating bases in Afghanistan use about 300 gallons of fuel a day to operate.

Wald said the most important aspect of the report is that the numbers show that something has to change.

"Our troops in Afghanistan are not only threatened in what we traditionally call combat, but because we're having to do such resupply, we've got a new paradigm here. So, our contention is, unless we do something different, the casualties over the next five years will increase by about 125 percent based on roadside bombings; and, we've also found that, since the Viet Nam War, we've increased our fuel use per soldier by 175 percent."

Reducing the fuel needed at forward operating bases is one solution. Wald said most of that fuel is used for generators, which are necessary to keep the troops comfortable during temperature extremes. They do not, however, necessarily have to run on fossil fuels.

"If we could start getting alternate type energy four our generators. There's a lot of sun in Afghanistan and Iraq -- solar panels would be nice. Other types of locally generated energy of some sort -- we can do that. We have the technology to do that type of thing for our troops."

Wald said this is not about 'going green' or even the economy. It's more about saving lives. The report makes additional recommendations as to how to go about this.

There is, for example, the subject of using alega for fuel.

"When you look at the energy problem, it is so multi-faceted and there isn't any silver bullet. It's a bunch of silver BB's and buckshot. But when you look at algae . . I've been to several places around the United States where they're actually producing algae fuel in different methodologies. . . . That algae-produced fuel is actually is actually going to be comparable in price to what we're paying for oil today. . . . We can produce it in America, rather than have to import it and depend on somebody else that could disrupt the flow. It has the same characteristics as regular fuel, or JP-4 as they call it in the military . . . but you still would have that fuel weight to the battlefield."

What's most important, Wald reiterated, is that a variety of technologies need to be combined for the military to move forward.

Download mp3

0 Comments

Analysis: 4th annual National Leadership Index released

11-20-09

Who in the federal government do Americans trust? In whom do they have the least confidence?

Harvard's Kennedy School of Government has just completed it's fourth annual National Leadership Index.

Tim McManus is Vice President for Education and Outreach at the Partnership for Public Service and tells us the report came to some interesting conclusions.

Download mp3

0 Comments

How federal agencies can move into cloud computing

11-20-09

If you read the Federal Cloud Blog, you already know about David Wyld's report, Moving to the Cloud: An Introduction to Cloud Computing in Government.

Now, Wyld talks to the Daily Debrief about what cloud is, why many federal agencies are looking at it, and what IT managers and CIO's need to be aware of before moving.

Read more on cloud in the federal space at the Federal Cloud Blog.

Download mp3

0 Comments

Examining the role of China in U.S. cybersecurity policy

11-20-09

By Dorothy Ramienski
Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio

China is a country that is developing quickly, both militarily and technologically, and many security experts think the country poses a serious threat to the United States.

Amit Yoran is CEO of Netwitness, a company that focuses on network monitoring, incident response, data leakage and other issues.

He was also director of cybersecurity for the Department Homeland Security during the Bush administration.

Yoran talks about a new report Capability of the People's Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation written by a group of experts from Northrop-Grumman for the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission.

The report looks at what threats China potentially poses in cyberspace.

"There's a lot of activity, as the report eloquently points out, going on in China around cyber. Some of it [is] directly sanctioned as a nation-state; some of it is more ideological, militia-type oriented or research oriented; but, I think, irrefutably there is a high volume of what I would generally characterize as very threatening activity coming from China."

There is an important distinction between the behaviors of spying and malicious attacks.

Yoran said the U.S. government looks at these as two distinct categories of threats, which means they are handled differently.

"One is computer network attack, which is focused on bringing systems down or denial-of-service attacks or other methods of destroying data information or rendering systems useless and making them unavailable. The second is computer network exploitation, which is perhaps more nefarious and more surreptitious. You access a system, you compromise the system, you collect intelligence, you retrieve data, but you don't necessarily tip off your adversary that you've compromised their system."

He said the potential for damage is great with either type of attack, but computer network exploitation seems much more intimidating.

Many countries are not capable of directly attacking the United States, so they choose to covertly maneuver in the cyber-world, instead.

"This is very asymmetric warfare. You wouldn't want to take on the U.S. Military head-on, but this is, in fact, a soft underpinning not only of the U.S. Military but of our government and our economic base. American industry uses technology and IT for advantages and competitive efficiencies -- and, really, that exposure is . . . being actively leveraged by not only China, but other nation-state actors and clearly a lot of online criminal activity."

It's not a black and white situation, however. Yoran said that globalization has changed the dynamics of the relationships between the world's major economic powers.

"That said, while it may make an attack and the bringing down of a power grid less probable or less attractive as a course of action for China or other governments out there, it doesn't make the espionage element of this . . . Any less likely. If anything, I would suggest it makes them more likely. If Chinese companies are competing with U.S. Companies for routers and switches for a global infrastructure or for aircraft sales . . . those very much become fair game in this new world where their government, in organized ways, can go after -- and does go after -- American enterprise."

Unfortunately, Yoran said, this new way of conducting war has a theater of operation that favors the aggressor.

"It is far easier to target, attack and exploit a system than it is to defend any large enterprise, U.S. Government entities or otherwise. The technologies that we have in place -- and we've been placing over the years -- in terms of firewalls and intrusion detection systems, security information management systems and anti-virus products -- these things are really effective technologies at dealing with known threats.

"When you're talking about advanced threats -- when you're talking about a nation-state adversary or a complex criminal enterprise, they're going after you with new methods [and] new techniques that are targeting your particular infrastructure. So, the defenses and the ability to defend ourselves and the products we use to defend ourselves are almost by definition inadequate."

Thus, Yoran said that he feels that it is of critical importance to have a national cybersecurity 'czar'. In addition, it's important to have every federal agency actively engaged in cybersecurity.

"A lot of this is also going to require policy evolution, perhaps even changes to everything from tax code liability and incentive programs. You need a White House focal point to understand what's happening across these agencies and balance the equities and priorities across what are sometimes competing interests between law enforcement, intelligence work and network defense operations. . . . [we need to] start coordinating better and working with the private sector where a lot of these security technologies are developed. . . . I think it is the single most important aspect of success for our nation in cyber."

Learn more with the Federal News Radio tag search: cybersecurity.

Read more on Federal News Radio: Former ODNI CIO Meyerrose talks about cybersecurity's future

Read the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence's report about China's navy.

Download mp3

0 Comments

WTOP's Mark Segraves on patrol with the U.S. Coast Guard

11-20-09

On this past September 11, a United States Coast Guard training simulation of a high speed water pursuit sent panic through our region and grounded planes at Reagan national airport for a short time.

WTOP's Investigative Reporter Mark Segraves went out on patrol with the Coast Guard to find out what happened that day and why the coast guard is training on the Potomac.

He tells the Daily Debrief more about his experience.

Download mp3

0 Comments

Friday Fun Day!

11-20-09

It's the weekend before the Thanksgiving break, and there's plenty to do to help get the family into the holiday spirit around the region this weekend.

We learn more from Recreation News publisher Karl Teel.

Download mp3

0 Comments

Friday Afternoon Federal Newscast

11-20-09

Patrick W. Dunne, the Under Secretary for Benefits for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has announced his resignation for early next year. Dunne, who attained the rank of rear admiral while in the U.S. Navy, has been with VA since 2006. As Under Secretary for Benefits since October 2008, Admiral Dunne has directed the administration of VA's disability compensation, pension, education, home loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation and employment, and life insurance programs through a nationwide network of 57 regional offices, other special processing centers, and Veterans Benefits Administration headquarters. (VA Press Release)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said any new U.S. forces President Barack Obama sends to Afghanistan could move into the country swiftly, despite logistical hassles that force almost all major deliveries of troops and supplies to go by air. Gates and Vice Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the coming troop infusion is a bigger logistical challenge than the Iraq "surge," which added forces at the rate of roughly one brigade a month.

The Pentagon said Thursday it will scour its procedures for identifying volatile soldiers hidden in the ranks following the Fort Hood shooting rampage and lapses that might allow others to slip through bureaucratic cracks. A 45-day emergency investigation will examine personnel, medical, mental health, discharge and other policies in all corners of the vast Defense Department. It will also look at ways to improve security and emergency response at Defense Department facilities.

The Army says there will be an outside review of how body armor for its soldiers is tested. The Government Accountability Office said last month that the Army made mistakes in testing a new body armor design. The Army had said that the criticism was overblown. It also said that no U.S. troops have been killed in combat as a result of any problems with the armor. Nonetheless, Army Secretary John McHugh announced Friday that the National Research Council will do an independent assessment of the Army's body armor testing.

Other News Links

Auditor and lawmakers are skeptical of stimulus data (NextGov)

GAO finds extensive fraud in disabled veteran-owned small biz program (GovExec)

GAO finds fault with stimulus jobs data but touts transparency (Washington Post)

OpenCongress.org

White House Open Government Intiative blog post by deputy CTO Beth Noveck: Open Government Laboratories of Democracy

Beth Noveck on Federal News Radio

Digital Democracy Public Notice, FCC

Recovery.gov's Success (Sunlight Labs)

European e-Government Award Finalists, 2009

A very diplomatic blog: British ambassadors worldwide tell (nearly) all on the web (The Guardian)

One Year, Thousands of GovTwits - GovTwit directory turns 1 year old today

GovFresh.com named GovTwit directory founder Lunceford a Gov 2.0 Hero

What Does Innovative Social Engagement Look Like For Businesses and Governments? (Mark Drapeau)

On the Lighter Side

Be a Martian! (NASA)

Eww/Neat

Museum: Galileo's fingers, tooth are found

0 Comments

A quick look at Social Security's attempt to solve it's backlog

11-19-09

When it comes to Social Security, there's good news . . . and bad.

A House oversight panel is looking at progress made on whittling away at the backlog of Social Security disability claims, but that progress may be offset by the current national economic downturn.

Federal News Radio's Max Cacas brings us a preview of his story for tomorrow.

Download mp3

0 Comments 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 »