News, analysis and context on enterprise technology for the CTO
With this post I'd like to draw your attention to a great firm that has been helping serve a group of warriors most deserving of our nation's thanks and support. KippsDeSanto is a firm who's core purpose is to serve other firms, but they have done so in a way that serves a larger community, including service to charities such as the CIA Officers Memorial Fund and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The text below (from: … [Read more...]
[Editor's note: this analysis predates any official announcements by NASA] Recently, some news of a NASA hack-and-dump passed my twitter deck. I decided after watching a few of my friends re-tweet the news that it might be worth checking out. At least I'd see if I could perform some password analysis on any dumped credentials, or even test out the new Crucialpoint Cloudera Hadoop password cracker on any leftover hashes. What follows is a … [Read more...]
The White House photo of the day for 31 Jan 2012 is one to remember. It shows proof positive that the megatrend towards a consumerization of IT is not only unstoppable, but is changing enterprises everywhere in very positive ways. The photo, shown below, shows two iPad's in use, one each for the President and for Robert Cardillo, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration. Cardillo is reviewing several key items from the … [Read more...]
Last week I attended a Carahsoft webinar with Virtual Instruments' Doug Norton and our very own Bob Gourley. The topic was the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, and what Virtual Instruments can do to help prepare your agency for consolidation. The key capability that Virtual Instruments brings to the table is the ability to identify and create real metrics for your data center and across the SAN. VI uses fibre channel technologies to copy … [Read more...]
Special Operations Command (SOCOM) recently released a Broad Agency Announcement soliciting proposals for several types of technologies that they are looking for in cooperation with the private sector. We are interested in all forms of disrupting technologies at Crucial Point LLC and after looking this wish list from SOCOM it is pretty clear they are looking for disruptive technologies as well. Below is a breakdown of what they are looking for. If … [Read more...]
The Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) is an important initiative in the federal space that seeks to enhance how the government delivers IT services in agencies and in some cases to citizens. Consolidating data centers offers opportunities for CIOs and CTOs to change IT strategy and implementations. The FDCCI should lead to improved federal capabilities while lessening the financial brunt on the taxpayers. Join Carahsoft, Doug … [Read more...]
The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) was founded in 1990 as a donor funded non-profit with a focus on fighting for internet freedoms. They frequently bring those fights to the courts by bringing lawsuits against large corporations and the government. They also work to provide information to inform legislators and the public at large. The EFF is cool, but of course you don't have to agree with every position they have ever taken. That said, all in … [Read more...]
Thursday January 19, 2012 Carahsoft and Cloudera are presenting a webinar on Big Data in the federal space. The following is from their announcement site: Join us as we describe big data technologies including Apache Hadoop and how government organizations have been successfully deploying these technologies. We will discuss the fundamentals of Hadoop and how it fits into government initiatives. In this live webcast, Bob Gourley, Editor of … [Read more...]
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a government-wide program established in December 2011 to speed the adoption of cloud computing. FedRAMP includes a set of requirements for federal cloud computing and universal procedures for approving services and providers to work with the government. When contractors feel that they have met FedRAMP requirements, they must have their security control implementations independently … [Read more...]
In December 2011, the Executive Office of the President’s National Science and Technology Council released Trustworthy Cyberspace: Strategic Plan for the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Program, a set of R&D priorities for U.S. government agencies. The White House released Trustworthy Cyberspace to guide research, development, and funding by organizations DARPA, IARPA, and the DHS Science and Technology Directorate towards current … [Read more...]