ENCRYPTION
WHY: We Need to Encrypt Everything. Many major websites already encrypt by default. Here’s why encryption and multifactor authentication should be everywhere. Find out more
[INFOWORLD.COM]
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: Suing to See the Feds’ Encrypted Messages? Good Luck. The conservative group Judicial Watch is suing the Environmental Protection Agency under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking to compel the EPA to hand over any employee communications sent via Signal, the encrypted messaging and calling app. In its public statement about the lawsuit, Judicial Watch points to reports that EPA staffers have used Signal to communicate secretly, in the face of an adversarial Trump administration. But encryption and forensics experts say Judicial Watch may have picked a tough fight. Delete Signal’s texts, or the app itself, and virtually no trace of the conversation remains. “The messages are pretty much gone,” says Johns Hopkins crypotgrapher Matthew Green, who has closely followed the development of secure messaging tools. “You can’t prove something was there when there’s nothing there.” Find out more
[WIRED.COM]
NEWS: Make Encryption Ubiquitous, Says Internet Society. The Internet Society has urged the G20 not to undermine the positive role of encryption in the name of security, claiming it should provide the foundation of all online transactions. Find out more
[INFOSECURITY-MAGAZINE.COM]
FBI: $61M to Fight Cybercrime, Encryption in Trump Budget Proposal. President Donald Trump’s budget blueprint for the federal government proposes a $61 million increase for the FBI and Justice Department in fiscal 2018 to better track terrorist communications and combat cybercriminals. Find out more
[FEDSCOOP.COM]
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NOW ON SLIDESHARE: Tech Update Summary from Blue Mountain Data Systems March 2017 https://www.slideshare.net/BMDS3416/tech-update-summary-from-blue-mountain-data-systems-march-2017.
IT SECURITY SUPPORT: Blue Mountain Data Systems is actively involved in implementing FISMA and NIST standards with Federal Civilian Agencies. Due to our extensive experience in this area, Blue Mountain has developed processes and organizational techniques to help ensure security deliverables are completed on time, and performed in the most efficient manner possible. We ensure that NIST-800-53 control requirements are treated consistently during definition, analysis, implementation, auditing, and reporting phases of a system. Find out more about Blue Mountain Data Systems IT Security Support Services. Call us at 703-502-3416.
BLUE MOUNTAIN DATA SYSTEMS HAS THE EXPERIENCE: 1994 to Present – U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. Responsible to the Office of Technology and Information Systems for information systems architecture, planning, applications development, networking, administration and IT security, supporting the enforcement of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act — ERISA. Within the EBSA, Blue Mountain is responsible for design, development and support for its various enforcement database management systems, as well as all case tracking and customer service inquiry systems. Blue Mountain also provides IT security services to the EBSA, in the form of FISMA Assessment and Authorization, System Security Plans, Risk and vulnerability assessments, monitoring and investigation support. Read more.
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