Facebook and the Gov Team Up for Jobs – Plus DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• Security, mobility and usability are the cornerstones of Microsoft’s latest operating system – Microsoft 8. So the question is should your agency make the switch? Click here for the full recap.
  
• Now that the 2012 election has come to an end, doors are closing for thousands of temporary campaign offices across the country. As campaigns have continued to collect more detailed and sophisticated voter information, these temporary offices have become more technologically advanced. With offices from national to state and local campaigns all shutting their doors, what is being done with devices that house that sensitive data? Click here for the full recap.

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. Former CIA director David Petraeus confirmed he’ll testify Friday about the Benghazi, Libya, terror attacks that killed a U.S. ambassador. Petraeus’ biographer and mistress, Paula Broadwell, was found to have classified documents in her home. She’s lost her security clearance. Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, says he’ll cooperate with a Pentagon investigation into his relationship with a Florida socialite. The two exchanged thousands of e-mails. FBI Director Robert Mueller met with lawmakers to explain the investigation into Petraeus. In his press conference, President Obama said he saw no evidence that national security has been compromised.
2. The Cybersecurity Act failed in the Senate on a 51-47 vote, leaving the option open for an executive order by the White House, The Hill Newspaper reports. However, the administration still believes “comprehensive legislation is needed to fully address the threat we face in cyberspace.”
3. Meanwhile, the President Barack Obama has signed new cyber-warfare guidance that allows the military to go on the offensive when foiling web attacks on U.S. government and private computer networks, according to The Washington Post. FCW reports, the framework addresses both defensive and offensive action, and “attempts to settle years of debate among government agencies about who is authorized to take what sorts of actions in cyberspace and with what level of permission.
4. The U.S. Postal Service suffered a record loss of $15.9 billion in fiscal 2012, which ended Sept. 30. Federal Times reports, seventy percent of that loss — $11.1 billion — was for two large payments to prefund future retirees’ health benefits. By law, the agency is required to make annual payments of roughly $5.5 billion each into the retirees’ health care fund, but the required 2011 installment was delayed by Congress until this year, forcing the Postal Service to make two such payments in 2012. In both cases, the Postal Service defaulted on those payments.
5. The Internal Revenue Service is warning Congress: the fiscal-cliff limbo is messing up preparations for tax filing season. Acting Commissioner Steven Miller sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees. In it, he said the filing season could be disrupted substantially because of uncertainty over the Alternative Minimum Tax and expiring tax breaks. Miller said the IRS normally starts preparing for the filing season the summer before. That’s when it trains customer-service employees, modifies tax forms and reprograms its technology to reflect changes in tax laws. The Wall Street Journal published Miller’s letter.
6. Defense News Reports, BAE Systems has agreed to acquire Marine Hydraulics International in a $69 million deal that will boost the British-based company’s U.S. maritime repair and upgrade business.
7. And on GovLoop, have you seen our new GIS infographic. The interactive infographic shows the power of GIS in our daily lives. GIS continues to play an important role in our daily lives, and is transforming the way decision makers arrive and make informed decisions to improve citizen lives across the country.

A few items from the DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder

• Facebook and government team up to promote jobs. Red Orbit reports, Facebook unveiled its long awaited Social Jobs app on Wednesday, the culmination of its yearlong collaboration with the Department of Labor and other government agencies to help unemployed Americans find work. “When it comes to economic growth, few issues are more important than matching qualified candidates with great jobs. In that spirit, we know that the power of social media – the connections between friends, family and community – can have an outsized impact on finding jobs,” Facebook said in a blog post announcing the new job board. The new service connects job seekers with recruiters, and consolidates job listings with partners such as Monster, Jobvite, USJobs and BranchOut, Facebook said.