Nevada Chief Information Security Officer Christopher Ipsen proposes a four-step model to transform government and the way to safeguard digital assets.

The first in a series of new interviews with the real victims of identity theft. Hear their stories, their struggles and their lessons learned.

This week's top news and views: Ex-Air Force CIO John Gilligan on the Consensus Audit Guidelines; and Al Berman of DRI International on getting business continuity right.

John Gilligan doesn't believe inspector general audits are worthless. If anything, some agencies IGs do a better job than others in identifying problems with IT security, says the former Air Force chief information officer and über-champion of the Consensus Audit Guidelines.

One of the challenges the National Initiative for Cyber Education faces is to create metrics to determine whether the federal government initiative to increase cybersecurity awareness and education among federal workers and citizens is working.

It's one thing to have solid enterprise risk management practices, but quite another to articulate their value to the greater organization.

The Consensus Audit Guidelines -- the 20 critical IT security controls unveiled in early 2009 -- may not have been universally adopted by federal agencies, but they're having an impact on government policies toward securing information technology.

The level of application security threats is rising, but the level of response is not. "That's a serious disconnect," says Jeff Williams, chair of the OWASP Foundation.

In May, nearly a year after President Barack Obama unveiled his cyberspace policy, the administration launched the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education known as NICE to develop a strategy to build a cyber savvy nation through training, awareness, K through post-graduate educational programs and professional development for federal IT security professionals.

44th Presidency Commission Leader on DHS-DoD Cyber Pact