FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IT
AGRICULTURE: Mapping the Big Data Ecosystem of U.S. Agriculture. The Congressional Research Service recently released a report (PDF, 688 kb, 17 pages, January 2016) describing the big data ecosystem for U.S. agriculture. The purpose of the report was to understand the federal government’s role in emerging big data sources and technologies involved in U.S. agriculture. As the report author, Megan Stubbs, points out, there is not even a standard definition of big data. Read more
[DIGITALGOV.GOV.COM]
FBI: New Technologies Give Government Ample Means to Track Suspects, Study Finds. For more than two years the F.B.I. and intelligence agencies have warned that encrypted communications are creating a “going dark” crisis that will keep them from tracking terrorists and kidnappers. Now, a study in which current and former intelligence officials participated concludes that the warning is wildly overblown, and that a raft of new technologies – like television sets with microphones and web-connected cars – are creating ample opportunities for the government to track suspects, many of them worrying. Read more
[NYTIMES.COM]
NSA: Hacker Chief Explains How to Keep Him Out of Your System. Rob Joyce, the nation’s hacker-in-chief, took up the ironic task of telling a roomful of computer security professionals and academics how to keep people like him and his elite corps out of their systems. Read more
[WIRED.COM]
NETWORK SYSTEMS
ETHERNET: 25 Gigabit Ethernet Forges a Path Forward. Since 2014, large network players such as Brocade, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Microsoft have been working to develop a standard for 25 Gigabit Ethernet. According to experts, 2016 will be the year the technology finally makes its way into large data centers. Read more
[STATETECHMAGAZINE.COM]
INCIDENT RESPONSE: How Incident Response Fails In Industrial Control System Networks. Experts say a solid incident response plan is the best way to minimize the damage of a cyberattack–but IR isn’t so simple for the ICS/SCADA world. Read more
[DARKREADING.COM]
STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT IT
CALIFORNIA: Step-by-Step Solution for Its New Child Welfare System. California is dabbling with innovative ways of procuring technology for its new Child Welfare System, transitioning from waterfall procurement to an agile and iterative acquisition that aims to revamp the mammoth system’s services one at a time. Read more
[GCN.COM]
LOCAL GOVERNMENT DATA: 4 Guidelines for Governments to Ease the Cost and IT Burden of Housing Data. Connected, always on and fully transparent – consumer tech trends are hitting state and local governments hard. Many are moving straight from paper files and other analog solutions to complex technologies and the systems required to support them. Data demands are pushing IT limits in cities, so what can these local governments do to support this deluge of data? Read more
[GOVTECH.COM]
NEW YORK CITY: What to Expect From the NYC Tech Scene in 2016. Yeah, it ain’t Silicon Valley. But why does it have to be? Read more
[INC.COM]
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NOW ON SLIDESHARE: Tech Update Summary from Blue Mountain Data Systems January 2016 http://www.slideshare.net/BMDS3416/tech-update-summary-from-blue-mountain-data-systems-january-2016.
SIGN ON FOR IT SECURITY SUPPORT FROM BLUE MOUNTAIN DATA SYSTEMS: 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 Data 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 = 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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