David Valdez Posts

A recent article in The New York Times discussed how security concerns are contributing to the reluctance of federal agencies and businesses to migrate their IT operations to the cloud.  While some of these concerns are legitimate, given the benefits of the cloud, the transition seems inevitable and the longer we wait, the more money is wasted.In the past, businesses of all sizes and government agencies spent billions of dollars on IT hardware and software.  Much of this technology was proprieta ...

It was standing room only at CompTIA’s Tech Summit last Thursday in Washington, D.C., as channel members, business owners and reporters crowded into the Washington Hilton for a Q&A and panel discussion around two topics: cloud computing and mobility.We’re used to hearing about the efficient and cost-effective features of the cloud but the first panel discussion, Security & Cloud Migration Challenges for Business and Government, focused on the darker side— What security questions are crea ...

Earlier this week, there was a joint meeting between the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade and the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology to solicit the position statements on privacy from the following federal agencies: the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).What was clear from the hearing was the recognition among all the policy-makers present that privacy ...

The world of cybersecurity continues to evolve whereby the perpetrators of cyber crimes are becoming emboldened in a way we have not seen before, and the U.S. government’s response to these crimes also has evolved in unprecedented ways.Last month the hacker groups Lulsec and Anonymous joined efforts “to launch 'Operation Anti-Security' or 'AntiSec' to expose corrupt, abusive governments . . . [their] top priority is to steal and leak any classified government information, including email spools ...

Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack stated during a hearing this week that “we are not going to take it anymore,” referring to her efforts to pass comprehensive data notification breach reform, in response to the recent announcements by Sony and Epsilon of its major data breaches. As Congresswoman and Chairwoman of the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee, she also stated that the recent massive data breaches convinced her for the need to introduce the Secure and Fortify Electronic Data Act ...

Those in Washington know that the best way to get steam behind a public policy issue is by building on the momentum of a national news cycle. Well this week the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held a hearing entitled “The Threat of Data Theft to American Consumers”.The hearing was in response to Sony’s announcement on April 26 of a massive data breach caused by computer hackers that resulted in the theft of 77 million user accounts. What caused an even grea ...

Last week Senators Kerry and McCain introduced the “Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights”.  The purpose of the bill is to impose stricter guidelines for the collection, storage and transmission of consumer data.  If enacted into law the bill would require the following: Companies that collect consumer data would have requirements for ensuring that the information is protected and secure. Companies would have to provide more robust notice requirements prior to sharing consumer information with third ...

At the direction of Vivek Kundra, chief information officer for the United States, the National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) is pushing the federal government to the cloud computing finish line with the near completion of a roadmap to assist federal agencies moving to a cloud computing environment.NIST is helping to translate mission requirements into technical portability, interoperability, reliability, maintainability and security requirements.  The roadmap document is the mecha ...

Last week the Obama Administration issued the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace.The Administration is promoting a new online “identity ecosystem”.  The way the system works is that consumers could choose to obtain an online credential (from a variety of third-party certificate providers) that serve as digital key chains to authenticate their online identities.  Thus, when consumers are engaging in online activities, such as accessing proprietary financial and medical records ...

Rep. Jim Langevin the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee of Threats and Capabilities held a roundtable discussion last week with the industry to discuss his bill the Executive Cyberspace Coordination Act of 2011, which he introduced on March 16.  Congressman Langevin stated that the bill would  “establish a National Office for Cyberspace to evaluate and enforce requirements for federal agencies to protect themselves and the public, make certain that the government buys the most advanced and secu ...