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Obama’s choices for DoD and CIA, DISA Executives on AFCEA Panel and more

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DISAHere are the top cyber news and stories of the day.

  • Obama taps Hagel to lead DOD, Brennan to CIA - President Obama has recently tagged two people to fill key national security slots. Former Senator Chuck Hagel (a veteran of Vietnam with two purple hearts) has been chosen to be the next secretary of defense. John Brennan, White House counterterrorism advisor, has been tagged to lead the CIA. Via FedScoop, more here.
  • Feds Dismantle Piracy Ring That Stole Super-Expensive Software - A Chinese national has been accused of orchestrating a $100M software piracy ring. He has cracked access controls on software such as Agilent Advanced Design System (which retails for $229K). Via ThreatLevel, more here.
  • USPS outlines plans for one-year Federal Cloud Credential Exchange pilot - The Postal Service has plans for a new program designed to demonstrate next-generation online government applications requiring multi-factor authenticationUSPS intends to award a one-year FCCX contract to a supplier or multiple suppliers for a software-as-a-service solution that will meet the federal government’s “need to provide a consistent approach to authentication for citizens seeking online access to individualized federal agency systems and applications.” Via FierceGovernment IT, more here.
  • DISA executives discuss agency’s future - FedScoop has a great wrap-up of the DISA panel at the AFCEA event on Monday. It included their CTO, director for strategic planning and information, their chief information assurance executive and the component acquisition executive. Via FedScoop, more here.
  • 99% Of All Mobile Threats Target Android Devices - Kaspersky’s 2012 security bulletin found that 99% of all mobile malware is aimed at Android devices. The most common threats are SMS Trojans. While it may seem that Android devices are insecure, users are almost always complicit in these attacks. Via BizTech2, more here.
  • GAO launches key issues website - The GAO has recently launched a website that will serve citizens and congress members with information about what GAO is doing. This site has 50 issue areas that run the gamut of GAO’s operations. Via FedScoop, more here.

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More Stories By Bob Gourley

Bob Gourley, former CTO of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), is Founder and CTO of Crucial Point LLC, a technology research and advisory firm providing fact based technology reviews in support of venture capital, private equity and emerging technology firms. He has extensive industry experience in intelligence and security and was awarded an intelligence community meritorious achievement award by AFCEA in 2008, and has also been recognized as an Infoworld Top 25 CTO and as one of the most fascinating communicators in Government IT by GovFresh.

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