Perhaps you were watching the HHS Secretary Sebelius’ testimony on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act Wednesday, but from our vantage point the most important testimony in town was taking place a few hundred feet away, where NASCIO President Craig Orgeron (MS) testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on the preparedness of state IT systems against a cyber attack. Read on and see what you missed...
Key Takeaway:
NASCIO’s President testified before the House Homeland Security Committee as part of a hearing entitled “Cyber Incident Response: Bridging the Gap Between Cybersecurity and Emergency Management.” The hearing focused on collaboration between state and federal entities in the case of a cyber-attack that caused significant harm or havoc to critical infrastructure or vital services. In his testimony, Orgeron emphasized ongoing efforts to build better governance models and frameworks for securing state systems. In addition, Orgeron stressed the need for maturing the processes for collaboration between state and federal entities, along with the private sector.
To read the full testimony of President Orgeron, click here. You can also watch the entire hearing and read other witnesses’ testimony on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee’s website.
Other Buzz:
Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework Released: After missing an October 10 deadline due to the shutdown, a preliminary version of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework for national critical infrastructure is now officially open for comment following its official publication on Oct. 29 in the Federal Register. The framework is directed toward industry, but can be utilized by any organization. Comments are due by 5 p.m., Eastern Time, on Dec. 13. You can comment directly via the link above, but we encourage you to share your thoughts with Chad Grant and I directly at cgrant@amrms.com and mherckis@amrms.com, respectively.
FirstNet Plans Staffing, Extends BTOP Negotiations: On October 25, the FirstNet Board of Directors announced several new developments during a board meeting held via teleconference. First, they hired a new Chief of Staff, William “Bill” Casey, currently on loan to FirstNet from the FBI. In addition, the Board made a decision to open a FirstNet headquarters in Northern Virginia, and a Technology-focused center in the Boulder, Colorado area in FY 14. In addition to these larger centers, FirstNet plans to create regional offices in each of the FEMA regions in FYs 2014-15. FirstNet also agreed to continue negotiations with BTOP recipients in New Jersey, Mississippi, and Adams County, CO. They hope to come to an agreement with these recipients to be “early builders” of the network. The resolutions authorizing these actions, as well as a PowerPoint explaining more about the office structure, can be found on
NTIA's FirstNet website.
Your Weekly Techbytes:
Why States Need Social Media Policies
No U.S. Action, So States Move on Privacy Law
NIST Releases New Cyber Framework Draft
Don’t Blame IT for Obamacare’s Tech Troubles
Pentagon Moves 10,000 Email Accounts to DISA Cloud
Google could be Sending its Data Out to Sea
Why Do We Still Use Passwords?
Will your Site be Hacked on Nov. 5?