In many ways, the worst thing that can happen for cybersecurity in the public sector is an interruption of operations. During the 35 day shutdown of the U.S government which occurred between December 22, 2018 and January 25th of this year, massive furloughs left IT systems unmanaged throughout federal agencies. From FBI, to DoD and […]
The National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) defines security standards that must be followed by U.S organizations (government and corporate) with access to classified information. Among other things, the NISPOM provides guidelines to: • Ensure proper clearance for access to classified information• Provide adequate security training/briefings to personnel• Regulate outgoing and incoming visits to […]
In July of 1982, a British man by the name of Michael Fagan climbed a drainpipe in London, broke into Buckingham Palace and triggered several alarms on the premises. Readers might imagine that he was quickly spotted and apprehended by the Queen’s Guard; that Scotland Yard was called onto the scene before quickly apprehending and […]
As 2018 draws to a close, it’s a good time to reflect on cybersecurity compliance. This year has seen a rise in mobile threats, ransomware, data breaches, and increased focus on the energy sector which has been the target of foreign attacks. Thankfully it’s not all bad news: as the pressing need to protect the […]
Background When Amazon Web Services was proposed in 2003 by Benjamin Black, it had already been a year since the U.S Government completed its effort to create and finalize the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) – which defined IT security across public agencies and partners. This update to U.S. law had taken fifteen years […]
In 2017 the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) acting in its capacity as the Security Executive Agent (SecEA) announced a third revision to the Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD), now known as SEAD 3. Although announced last year, some agencies have only achieved full compliance with SEAD 3 within the last few months. Aiming to […]
In the past decade, it has become clear that the U.S security clearance process is in a state of crisis. Security clearance is required by all federal employees or employees of cleared contractors with access to classified information – those who need it range from janitors to senior management, and as of 2017, 700,000 individuals […]
In 2014, Sony was ostensibly held ransom by North Korean attackers calling themselves the ‘Guardians of Peace’ in retaliation against anti-DPRK film The Interview. The incident made headlines around the world, along with chilling images left across company screens depicting a skeleton and links to the publicly leaked data. It was a sensation which gave […]
The essential prerogative of the U.S Department of Defense (DoD) is to regulate national security, and a large part of that function entails keeping the wrong information out of the wrong hands, and safely sharing it with authorized government agencies and partners. This latter aspect of DoD is commonly designated in pop-culture as “classified information”; […]
On May 1st, we hosted our highly-anticipated annual client appreciation dinner in Northern Virginia. Timed to take place during the popular IMPACT conference in Chantilly, our customers joined us for an evening of dinner, drinks, and door prizes at Chantilly National Golf and Country Club in Centreville. […]
