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October 2007
October 31, 2007
Letter: Overburdening program managers puts security at risk
Information security is a full-time job, not another responsibility for overloaded program managers to assume, writes one reader.
Letter: Don't make gender a contracting issue
Giving women business owners special breaks is reverse discrimination, a reader says.
October 26, 2007
Military needs offensive cyber operations
Rogue nations and corporate entities have been conducting cyber operations for decades, and it's about time that the U.S. military steps up, a reader writes.
October 24, 2007
Letter: Idea of cyberwarriors is scary
A reader envisions someone misinterpreting a "flashing button on some automated control panel as a target and launching a cyber photon torpedo, making a direct hit on [my] Internet service provider."
October 23, 2007
Letter: Military pay differences explained
A retired Air Force colonel points out inconsistencies in a blog post.
October 22, 2007
Contracting officers are easy target
Program managers are a large part of the problem with flawed contracts.
October 19, 2007
Over-reliance on contractors is nothing new
In response to a story about DHS relying too much on contractors, a long-time fed suggests providing more training and guidance to agency officials who oversee contractors.
Letter: Encryption, digital signatures and bandwidth
Government agencies should not underestimate the bandwidth requirements of good security, a reader writes in response to an article on digital signatures.
Letter: Harsh words for the Defense Travel System
In response to a recent article about DTS, an Air Force reader highlights numerous shortcomings of the software -- and suggests a face-off between the system and a human with a typewriter and phone at hand.
October 18, 2007
Letter: Security must be designed into systems
Building in security upfront takes time and money, but it is still preferable to the skyrocketing costs and schedule delays that result when vulnerabilities are uncovered late in the process, a reader suggests.
October 16, 2007
Letter: Agency employment biased toward high-level employees
Lower-level positions are often contracted out, making it hard to compare industry pay and public-sector pay.
Letter: Consolidation of competing military offices should be welcomed
It would improve efficiency, reduce redundancy and rapidly bring university research and industrial products to the commanders and soldiers on the battlefield.
Letter: VA must stop being efficient with ineffective processes
Efficient data extraction, ensured data quality and an effective change management strategy are department's most significant challenges, a reader says.
Letter: GSA praises Power Player
Martha Dorris manages the programs that simplify citizens' access to official government information and services, an agency official says.
October 15, 2007
Letter: E-mail separation anxiety? Toss messages in a folder
Then purge the oldest items in the folder every three to four weeks, a reader suggests.
Letter: CBP has no plans to change card technology
It also has no plans to accept TWIC cards as a secure Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative-compliant document for entry through a port of entry, a reader writes.
Letter: Army needs to fill vacancies
Doing more with fewer people leads to job burnout.
Letter: 'Cyber sidearm' is telephone
A reader says cybersecurity is already at his fingertips.
October 12, 2007
Letter: Are all official communications saved?
The implications of lawsuits about missing e-mail messages are 'enormous,' a reader says.
Letter: Pay for performance bad from taxpayers' perspective
Although pay for performance is good for workers, the government must define who judges performance and what performance is.
October 11, 2007
Letter: How much do long-time feds earn?
They are maintaining systems that will take years to replace.
Letter: Government work unattractive to engineering grads
They can get better jobs, pay and benefits by working in the private sector.
Letter: Smart cards can also be RFID cards
Combining the technology into one is possible.
October 10, 2007
Letter: Give service-disabled veteran-owned businesses a break
Put those businesses into the same category as Alaska native-owned companies.
Letter: Local responders need access to online database
Local organizations are the ones in charge of dealing with emergencies, so they should have access to FEMA's planned National Emergency Management Information System.
October 9, 2007
Letter: Bush to nominate new DHS general counsel
Gus Coldebella has worked at the department for two years.
Letter: Last-minute spending not new but a fix would be
A reader wants to know what solutions could help the problem.
Letter: Better communication needed on grants issue
Reauthorization of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 would at least make the federal government continue some communication.
Letter: DOD prototyping policy is long overdue
There is no substitute for experience with a working system -- even if it is just modeled -- to test policies and procedures, technologies and processes, algorithms and heuristics.
October 8, 2007
Letter: VistA outage not so bad
If nine hours without power leads to months of data entry, woe are we for all the paper systems in use almost everywhere else.
October 5, 2007
Letter: Management, not pay, system is broken
Without effective management, any pay system will be abused and eventually viewed as inadequate and broken.
Letter: Stop exacerbating health care problems
The government has socialized the U.S. health care system enough already, a reader writes.
Letter: DOD drops the ball with Cyber Command
To place an organization vital to national security in a climatic danger zone is reckless and irresponsible, a reader says.
October 4, 2007
Letter: Replacing people with technology is not the answer
At a time when there are too few government employees, it's odd for a presidential candidate to suggest even fewer are needed.
Large contractors need to give small biz more chances
Large prime contractors tend to let small businesses take on jobs the big guys won't make a lot of money doing, a reader says.
October 1, 2007
Letter: DISA behind the SOA curve
The agency wastes money on testing when industry solutions already exist.
Letter: Voting laws, not technology, are the problem
Had state election laws been on par with technology in 2000 and 2006, elections those years would have been automatic do-overs.
Letter: State Department Web site still dry
The new Dipnote blog has not made a difference in openness or entertainment, a reader says.
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