Some upcoming talks

Sorry for the lack of posts this week – just some calm before gathering storm. April and May are going to be intense. For those interested in these things I’ve a number of upcoming talks I’ll be giving and and conferences I’ll be attending. Many of these are open to the public in case youRead… Read more »

Will unspent FEMA grant money lead to a ‘return to sender’?

Deltek Analyst Evan Halperin reports. According to recent testimony at a congressional hearing on March 20, billions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funds for state and local governments has gone unused. Since 2003, FEMA has provided $35 billion in funding for state and local governments to pay for equipment, training forRead… Read more »

Small and Large Contractors Needed for HUD IT Modernization Efforts

See the latest from Deltek editor Anthony Critelli Budgetary pressure is a major challenge to the IT modernization efforts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), noted director of Innovation and Open Government Stan Buch at a Deltek Federal Executive Breakfast in McLean, Va., on March 22. Deltek analyst Douglas West pointed outRead… Read more »

What the LulzSec Bust Says About Cyber Criminal Investigations

In a recent high-profile bust, the FBI arrested five alleged leaders of the collective Anonymous and related hacking group LulzSec. Understandably, the majority of law enforcement, white hats, and journalists rejoiced at the FBI’s newfound cyber prowess. After months of embarrassment through denial of service attacks, major data leaks, and website defacements, it looked asRead… Read more »

The Future of Mobile [Slide Deck] – Do you have a “mobile” networking résumé?

The growth rate of mobile is staggering. It took AOL 9 years to get to 1 million users. It took Facebook 9 months. It took Draw Something 9 days. Global Internet users will double over the next few years—and most will be mobile…and the dumb-phone conversion to smartphone has only just begun. Check out thisRead… Read more »

Friday Photo: Washington Harbour Edition

Photos can lie. This one certainly does. While it looks like a picture of a lonely and mysterious scene, the night was anything but. I stepped away from friends for a moment to snap this iPhone pic. To the right was a packed bar blaring pop music into the night. It’s an Instagram pic, usingRead… Read more »

Telework – A Rose by Any Other Name?

We’ve got a problem. It’s the word “telework.” The picture it conveys is that of an employee working in a home office (with or without bunny slippers) on an approved one-day-a-week schedule typing away at a computer. Is this really what we are hoping for in promoting the telework concept? I think not. We areRead… Read more »

Friday’s political law links

STOCK ACT PASSED. News here. “The Senate voted 96 to 3 to pass a watered-down STOCK Act, which would bar members of Congress, their staff and some federal workers from profiting from non-public information obtained through their jobs.”. President Obama’s statement is here. PERRY PAC ADVISORY OPINION. Story here. “Texas Gov. Rick Perry has beenRead… Read more »

Avoiding Cyber Threat Amnesia

My involvement in the non-profit educational and research organization Cyber Conflict Studies Association over the last several years has led me to an observation about federal policy makers and cyber security. This observation probably applies to many commercial organizations and to academia (and possibly even to you) so we may be talking about human natureRead… Read more »