FISMA

The decision to move to the cloud has always been wrought with anxiety over entrusting one's data to a third-party. Learning which questions to ask of a provider can help mitigate that concern.

Agencies reported a total of 41,776 cybersecurity incidents, compared to just 5,503 in 2006, according to a new GAO report.

Beginning in October, federal agencies will be required to report on their information security posture on a monthly basis, instead of annually.

Senate Republicans on Thursday shot down an attempt to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars gays from serving openly, likely the death knell to a bill that also would have brought major changes to the way the federal government handles information security. A U.S. Senate procedural vote on Thursday to continue debating the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 failed to garner the 60 votes necessarily to move forward. The bill, passed by the House of Representatives in May, contains provisions to update to the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and establish a cybersecurity office within the Executive Office of the President. — AM

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now is responsible for ensuring agencies comply with federal information security requirements, according to a recent memo issued by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

A new government report claims that U.S. federal government agencies' information security management programs are not approved or disapproved annually, as they should be under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002.