Government IT News For VARs — December 23, 2014
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, Congress passes legislation that bolsters federal cybersecurity, Iowa tests the first digital driver’s license, and FedRAMP releases a two-year road map.
Congress Passes Five Bills That Will Transform Federal Cybersecurity
Fed Tech Magazine reports Congress has passed five new pieces of legislation that include provisions to update the 12-year-old Federal Information Security Management Act, and to codify the role of Department of Homeland Security in overseeing the implementation of security policies and practices for civilian agency-owned and operated information systems. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act will also strengthen the government’s cyber research and development programs by building on existing programs, while The National Cybersecurity Protection Act codifies the authorities of the DHS National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, including the center’s roll in sharing cyber data and analysis with industry.
Iowa Will Be First State To Adopt Digital Driver’s Licenses
This article from the E-Commerce Times reports that Iowa will be the first state to adopt the digital driver’s license technology. The new licenses will be issued in the form of a smartphone app by 2015, which will be “highly secure” and free for drivers, according to Paul Trombino, director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, and will be accepted by Iowa law enforcement officers as well as TSA agents at Iowa’s airports. The article also examines some of the risks and challenges associated with the adoption of this new technology.
FedRAMP Will Release Two-Year Road Map For Program Improvement
Fed Tech Magazine reports FedRAMP officials are releasing a new two-year road map that includes more than 40 initiatives designed to meet three goals: increasing stakeholder engagement, improving program efficiencies through automation of FedRAMP documentation; and adapting FedRAMP to support evolving cloud services and security policies.
Government IT Talking Points:
Information Week reports a new government-backed smartphone app can estimate a user’s blood-alcohol levels and call a taxi if the smartphone owner can’t pass a DUI test. Called ENDUI, the free app, available from the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store, was introduced in Maryland, and uses data input and mind games to estimate blood-alcohol content (BAC). If the user’s level is over 0.04 percent, the app will suggest calling a taxi.
This article from Fed Tech Magazine examines the role that Fibre Channel might play in meeting the increasing bandwidth demands, with Generation 65 storage networking standards that can boost bandwidth to 32 gigabits per second. The first Gen 6 products will appear sometime in 2015, and become widely available in 2016.
For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Government IT Resource Center.