Government Information Security Podcast

In an exclusive interview, pandemic expert Regina Phelps explains exactly what this means, discussing:

Phelps is an internationally recognized expert in the field of emergency management and continuity planning. With over 26 years of experience, she has provided consultation and educational speaking services to clients in four continents. She is founder of Emergency Management & Safety Solutions, a consulting company specializing in emergency management, continuity planning and safety.

Lohrmann, in an interview, says preventing data loss is among the biggest IT security challenges the state faces. Speaking with Information Security Media Group's Eric Chabrow, Lohrmann compares how the state governs cybersecurity with that of the federal government, and in many respects, it's not much different. Michigan relies on the Federal Information Security Management Act and guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to keep state IT safe. One advantage, Lohrmann concedes, the state has over its federal counterparts: Michigan isn't graded on compliance by the Office of Management and Budget.

In an exclusive interview, the FTC's Joel Winston discusses:

Winston is Associate Director of the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

That Division has responsibility over consumer privacy and data security issues, identity theft and credit reporting matters, among other things.

Mr. Winston serves on the federal government's Identity Theft Task Force, which was created by President Bush in March 2006. He also is a member of the Advisory Board for the BNA Privacy & Security Law Reporter, and served on the Editorial Board and as an author for a treatise published in 2009 by the American Bar Association, "Consumer Protection Law Developments." In 2008, Mr. Winston received the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, one of the highest honors given to members of the federal government's Senior Executive Service.

In an interview with Information Security Media Group's Eric Chabrow, Stanton discusses the challenges the government faces in adequately attracting and maintaining dedicated experts with the smarts as managers and practitioners to secure federal IT.

To build such a workforce, he says, leadership must originate in the White House, with a respected and influential cybersecurity czar who goes beyond coordination. "The problem is that czars traditionally, at least in the Russian context, have been really bad managers," he says. "What we need in the American context is sound management of this problem."

Among the ways the government can attract qualified personnel is to adopt a program used by the government during World War II that subsidized the salary of scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb.

A lawyer and a former federal government executive, Stanton serves on the board of the National Academy of Public Administration and chaired its standing panel on executive organization and management. He co-edited Making Government Manageable: Executive Organization and Management in the 21st Century (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).

Still Spaf - as he's affectionately known - expresses concern that President Obama isn't going far enough to elevate cybersecurity as a national priority, in part, because the White House cybersecurity advisor is not seen having the clout to create policy. And, he wonders if the president and Congress have the political wherewithal to invest enough money to truly secure federal IT.

In an interview with the Information Security Media Group's Eric Chabrow, Spafford explains that:

Dan Chenok chaired the federal Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board that issued a report entitled Toward a 21st Century Framework for Federal Government Privacy Policy that calls for the creation of a federal chief privacy officer as well as chief privacy officers in major federal agencies and a federal Chief Privacy Officers' Council. The panel also recommended steps Congress and the Obama administration should take to change federal laws and regulations to allow the government to more efficiently use specific technologies, such as cookies, while maintaining citizens' privacy.

Chenok, the one-time highest ranking non-political IT official in the Office of Management and Budget and now a senior vice president at IT services provider Pragmatics, spoke with Information Security Media Group's Eric Chabrow and explains how changing the way privacy is governed will enhance protection for American citizens.

As Moulton explains in this interview with Information Security Media Group's Eric Chabrow, Charlotte and North Carolina don't have the luxury of the Federal Information Security Management Act, the Office of Management and Budget and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to regulate and guide IT security compliance, though NIST guidance is often employed.

Still, cities like Charlotte - population topping 600,000 - look to Washington for ideas, and Moulton says he's closely following developments from the White House as President Obama implements new federal government cybersecurity and wonders what impact that could have on his operation.

As co-chair of the House Cybersecurity Caucus and the influential public-private Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th President, Langevin wanted the cybersecurity adviser to be a special assistant, but would understand that individual a step lower on the White House organizational chart - deputy special assistant - should have enough sway to get the president's ear.

In an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com's Eric Chabrow, Langevin discusses the the responsibilities the White House and Congress have in securing government IT, including the need to provide proper funding, and the role government leaders must play to work with the private sector to safeguard the critical national IT infrastructure.

Nadia Short of General Dynamics, a major government/defense contractor, discusses:

Nadia D. Short is vice president of strategy & business development at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. In this role, she is responsible for strategic planning, business development, international business, marketing and public relations, and customer and corporate relations.

Legislation before Congress would require agencies to implement new ways to measure information security, including detailed blue-team analysis and red-team assaults on IT systems.

Most civilian agencies have not conducted blue/red team analysis, but it's been a common practice for years within Defense and intelligence agencies.

Among the leading organizations conducting blue/red team analysis for the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and some units at the Department of Homeland Security is the three-year-old Vulnerability Analysis and Operations Groups at the National Security Agency.

Tony Sager serves as the group's chief, and he says such testing requires far more planning between his organization and client agencies than most people would expect. "It's not freeform, turn a bunch of people loose," Sager says. "There's a lot of consideration given to what is it that the customer would like to learn."

GovInfoSecurity.com Managing Editor Eric Chabrow interviewed Sager on how blue teams and red teams function.